1. Relief, Recovery, Reform
FDR’s New Deal
Relief, Recovery, Reform

2. Franklin Delano Roosevelt
New York native
New York State Senate
Assistant Secretary to the Navy
New York Governor (Democrat)
Polio
Wife = Eleanor Roosevelt
Easily won election of 1932
In office *4 Terms

3. Fireside Chats
Addressed the nation by radio to explain to them what he was trying to accomplish
First main chat over the Emergency Banking Relief Act
Encouraged people to trust having their savings in banks
Restored confidence in banking system
Gave Americans confidence and hope

4. 100 Days
When Roosevelt took office most banks were closed and ¼ workers were unemployed
First New Deal
Beginning of term in which 15 major acts to resolved economic crisis were passed
Banking Relief
Needed to restore confidence in banks
Emergency Banking Relief Act
Bank Holiday
Closing banks before Runs on Banks could put them out of business

5. Relief Programs

6. Emergency Banking Relief Act
Required federal examiners to survey the nation’s banks and issue Treasury licenses to those that were financially sound
Placed banks on a temporary holiday until they could examine soundness
Gave citizens confidence in banking system and ended banking crisis

7. Civilian Conservation Corps
Offered employment to unmarried year olds
Planted trees, fought forest fires, built reservoirs
Men lived in camps near work areas
Earned $30/month
$25 of that was sent back to families
Returned home after about 6-12 months
Gave jobs to 3 million men

8. Public Works Administration
Gave jobs to people building dams, sewer systems, highways, schools, and other gov’t facilities
PWA awarded contracts to construction companies and insisted they not discriminate in hiring practices
Broke down racial barriers in construction business

9. Civil Works Administration
Hired workers directly instead of giving contracts like the PWA
Built or improved airports, roads, school buildings, playgrounds and parks
Employed 4 million people including 300,000 women in the winter of 33-34
Closed down after winter because Roosevelt was worried about how quickly the agency was spending money
Spent 1 billion in 5 months

10. Recovery

11. Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)
Provided Electricity, Flood Control, and Economic Development to the Tennessee Valley region
The region included Tennessee, and portions of Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, N. Carolina & Virginia – areas that had been hit really hard by the Great Depression

12. Home Owners Loan Corps
HOLC bought the mortgages of many homeowners who were behind on payments
Restructured loans with longer terms of repayment and lower interest rates
If people could not make loan payments they would foreclose on their house

13. Farm Credit Administration
Help farmers refinance their mortgages
Able to push interest rates lower
Saved millions of farms from foreclosure

14. Agricultural Adjustment Act
Prices for farm goods was low due to a surplus of goods
Pay farmers to not raise certain livestock or not grow certain crops
Acres were plowed and livestock was destroyed in an effort to raise prices of farm goods
Farm surplus fell, food prices rose, and farmers income rose
However, many were upset that while families didn’t have enough to eat crops were purposely being destroyed
Another criticism was that poor tenant farmers, many were African Americans, lost jobs and homes when landlords took their fields out of production

15. National Industrial Recovery Act
Focused on industry
Codes of fair competition: set prices, established minimum wage, limited factories to 2 shifts per day, shortened work hours, and guaranteed right of workers to join unions
Goal was to ensure more people could get jobs
Those that agreed to these codes received signs to put in windows to encourage consumers to only buy from those stores
Failed because you didn’t have to sign codes
Many didn’t because not like unions
Felt minimum wage required them to raise prices of goods
Difficult for NRA, who ran the program, to administer codes

16. Reform

17. Glass-Steagall Act
Separated commercial banking from investment banking
Commercial banks that handle everyday deposits and lend money for mortgages could no longer use depositor's money to play the stock market

18. Securities Exchange Act
Required companies that sold stock to provide complete and truthful information to investors
Securities Exchange Commission regulates the stock market and prevents fraud & illegal trading

19. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Provides government insurance for bank deposits up to $250,000
Increased public confidence in banks

20. Impact of First New Deal
Did not restore prosperity
Reflected Roosevelt’s willingness to try to improve the economy
Banks were reopened
More people employed
More people retained homes and farms
Improved American spirit
2 programs unconstitutional: AAA and NRA