1. The New Deal

2. Questions….
What does a “stable” society look like??
What does an “unstable” society look like?

3. Election of 1932 Herbert Hoover vs. Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR).
FDR wins, and Democrats control the Senate and House by wide margins.
This means that Democratic policies have a great chance at getting implemented, due to them controlling the Executive Branch AND Legislative Branch.

4. “The Brain Trust”
Prior to taking office Roosevelt sought out the most talented professors, lawyers, and journalists to serve as his advisors. They became known as the Brain Trust.
Together they formulate a plan to fix the Great Depression, and they name their plan “The New Deal.”
The plan would focus on 3 goals
Relief- help
Recovery- fix
Reform- change

5. Reforming the Banks
Once taking office he immediately declared a “Bank Holiday” and all the banks in the US closed.
Congress passed the Emergency Banking Relief Act which allowed the Treasury Department to inspect all the country’s banks.
Those that were operating well (taking in money and able to pay their debts) could reopen immediately.
Those who were not operating well remained closed, but were offered loans.
This greatly increases the public’s trust of the banking system.

6. Fireside Chats
When the first banks were set to reopen, he held his first “Fireside Chat.”
This was done over the radio, and it was him speaking informally to the American people.
He made his case that it was necessary for the government to intervene in the economy, something many Americans were wary about.
These chats continued during his presidency and it greatly helped his popularity.

7. More Banking Reform
The Glass-Steagall Act created the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or FDIC.
This provided federal insurance on accounts of up to $5,000 dollars.
The Federal Securities Act required all corporations to be completely transparent about their business to their stock holders, and allowed for punishment if they misrepresented themselves.
The Securities and Exchange Commission or SEC would regulate the stock market and prevent people from trying to “rig” it.

8. 21st Amendment Alcohol is back!
This is not just for fun, it actually was to help the economy by taxing alcohol.

9. Helping the American People.
After working on the banks, Roosevelt turned his attention to the farmers.
The Agricultural Adjustment Act or AAA sought to raise crop prices by lowering production. They paid farmers not to produce so many crops, which led to higher prices.
This was a tough sell to the American people who thought destroying food when people were starving was insane, but it actually did end up helping the farmers and got more money in their pockets.

10. Work Projects
The Civilian Conservation Corps or CCC took able-bodied year old men and put them to work building roads, developing parks, planting trees…basically just doing stuff to justify giving them money.
The young men would go to work camps, get free food and lodging, and 25 bucks a month which was automatically sent home to their families.

11. Helping fix homelessness.
The Home Owners Loan Corporation provided government loans to homeowners who couldn’t pay their mortgage so that they could remain in their homes.

12. New Deal comes under attack.
The New Deal was controversial because it greatly increased federal power and it was based on “deficit spending,” meaning that we spent more than we had.
Neither of these things are typically “American” (at least back then) and many people were skeptical.
Plus…….it didn’t really end the Depression.

13. Supreme Court
In the middle of the 1930’s the Supreme Court made a few decisions that struck down some of the New Deal programs as being unconstitutional.
FDR gets congress to pass a “court-reform” bill that would allow FDR to reorganize the Judiciary, and appoint 6 new Supreme Court justices.
This was known as the “Court-packing bill.”
This didn’t really end up happening, because in 1937 a Supreme Court justice retired and FDR appointed a more liberal judge, which shifted the balance of power to the liberals, thus ensuring that the New Deal Programs would be upheld in court.

14. The Second New Deal. It started with Farmers….again.
The Soil Conservation Act rewarded farmers who did not plant crops that severely depleted the soil, like all those people in the Dust Bowl had done.
Resettlement Administration gave small farmers loans to buy land so they could stop being migrant workers or sharecroppers.

15. More Dealin’
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) set out to create as many jobs as possible. It spent 11 Billion Bucks to put workers to work, creating airports and repairing roads.
This continued on the success of the CCC.

16. Labor Conditions
The Wagner Act strengthened the rights of labor unions.
The Fair Labor Standards Act set the maximum hours of work at 44 per week.
It also increased the minimum wage from 25 cents to 40 cents an hour.
Set rules for employment of workers under 16.

17. Social Security Act Provided Old-age insurance for people 65 or older.
Set up unemployment compensation program to help the unemployed.
Set up aid to families with dependent children and disabled children.