Chapter 24 The Great Depression and the New Deal The American People, 6 th ed.

I. The Great Depression

The Depression Begins  Farmers had suffered throughout the 1920s and were the first group to plunge into depression  Businesses increased profits while holding down material costs and wages, thus suppressing consumer spending power  Global economic problems created by World War I were the main factors

Hoover and the Great Depression  President Hoover took aggressive action to stem the depression by using the power of the federal government  He created a wide variety of agencies and boards that contained the best minds in American business to suggest solutions  He also sponsored a tax cut hoping to stimulate the economy

II.Roosevelt and the First New Deal

The Election of 1932  Hoover’s unpopularity denied him his second term and ushered Franklin Roosevelt into the White House  Roosevelt promised a “New Deal” for Americans and relief from the depression  “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

III. One Hundred Days

The Banking Crisis  Many American banks had closed immediately after the stock market crash and the public no longer trusted them  Roosevelt tabled an emergency Banking Relief Act that gave the executive broad powers of financial reform  Additional legislation followed strengthening the Federal Reserve and establishing the FDIC to insure deposits

Relief Measures  The Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA)  The Civil Works Administration (CWA)  The Public Works Administration (PWA)  The Agricultural Adjustment Act: stabilized prices on farm produce through paying farmers to reduce their acreage under cultivation

Industrial Recovery  The National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRC)  The National Recovery Administration (NRA)  National Labor Board

IV. The Second New Deal

Work Relief and Social Security  The Works Progress Administration (WPA)  The National Youth Administration (NYA)  The Social Security Act of 1935

V.The Last Years of the New Deal

The Battle of the Supreme Court  As the first act of his second term, Roosevelt announced a plan to reform the judicial system  Angry with the Supreme Court for foiling several New Deal measures, the president was determined to create a more willing court  His scheme was complex and produced a public outcry of dictatorship; Roosevelt quickly pulled back his plan  Ironically, the Court began passing practically every new initiative after this event