1. A new deal fights the depression
Module 10 (lesson 1)
A new deal fights the depression

2. C. Key Terms & People

3. a. Franklin roosevelt
2-term reform governor of new york & distant cousin of pres. Teddy roosevelt
Democratic presidential nominee with a ‘can do’ attitude & an air of friendliness/confidence that attracted voters
He won in an overwhelming victory capturing nearly 23 million votes to Hoover’s 16 million
The democrats reclaimed a 2/3 majority in the senate and won almost 3/4 of the seats in the house of reps

4. b. New deal
Fdr had to wait 4 months (nov. – march) before he took office & was able to carefully pick his cabinet & come up with a rescue plan for the great depression (new deal
This new deal focused on 3 general goals…
Direct relief for the needy
Economic recovery for the nation as a whole
Financial reform for our banking industry
During his 1st 100 days, congress passed more than 15 major pieces of new deal legislation which significantly expanded the fed. Gov’t.s role in our economy & in peoples’ lives & changed the relationship between the federal and state governments

5. c. glass-steeagall Act
Congress wanted to reorganize our banking system so it passed this act in 1933
Established the federal deposit insurance corporation (fdic) which would provide federal insurance for every individual bank account up to $5,000 (why important?)

6. d. Federal securities act
Congress & fdr wanted to regulate the stock market after the crash so they passed this act in 1933
Required corporations to provide complete information on all stock offerings & made them liable for any misrepresentations
The securities & exchange commission (sec) was created that same year to be the enforcer of this act, especially when it came to ’inside trading’ (what do you think this is?)

7. e. Agricultural adjustment act
Experiencing the double whammy of the dust bowl & the great depression, farmers were hardest hit
This act sought to raise crop prices by lowering production
The gov’t. paid farmers to leave a certain amount of every acre of land unseeded
By reducing supply, it would boost prices (law of supply and demand)
The gov’t. also paid cotton growers $200 million to plow under 10 million acres of their crop & paid hog farmers to slaughter 6 million pigs
This act was criticized by many for destroying food during a time when people didn’t have any

8. f. Civilian conservation corp
Unlike hoover, fdr knew that people needed $ in their pockets to pay rent & buy food/clothing
The civilian conservation corp (ccc) put almost 3 million young men (18 -25) to work building roads, developing parks, planting trees, & helping in soil-erosion/flood control projects
They were paid $30.00/month with $25.00 sent home to their family (they had to leave for months at a time)
The ccc camps were located in the great plains and they planted over 200 million trees which really helped the dust bowl situation
Also built the 100-mile overseas highway linking miami to key west

9. g. National industrial recovery act
National industrial recovery act (nira) was an attempt to create more jobs for americans
This act created the public works administration (pwa) which provided $ to states to create jobs (school construction & other community buildings)
It also created the civil works administration (cwa) which provided 4 million jobs where men built over 40,000 schools & paid for the salaries of over 50,000 teachers in rural areas; also built more than 500,000 miles of roads across america

10. h. Deficit spending
One of the major problems of the new deal was that it created a situation where our gov’t. was engaging in deficit spending (spending more $ on gov’t. programs than we collect in taxes)
This would put our gov’t. in serious debt because we would have to borrow $ from foreign banks & countries to pay off this difference (the interest payments from these loans would skyrocket)

11. i. Huey long
Senator from louisiana who originally supported the new deal but then turned against fdr when he felt that it wasn’t doing enough to take from the rich
He proposed a nationwide ‘share-our-wealth’ program to eliminate the gap between rich & poor
At its height in 1935, there were over 27,000 clubs with over 7.5 million members
Long had dreams of becoming president but was assassinated in 1935

12. d. Study questions

13. a. How did fdr change the role of the fed. Gov’t
a. How did fdr change the role of the fed. Gov’t. during his 1st 100 days
He significantly expanded the federal government’s role in our economy & in our lives & changed the relationship between the federal & state government where the federal gov’t. became more powerful than the state governments
He declared a bank holiday where all of our nation’s banks would close down while they were examined by the federal reserve and then reopened once they met certain guidelines for stability

14. b. How did the public benefit from the federal securities act?
Shortly after the stock market crash, 1000s of banks were closing and people had lost confidence in our banking system
To regain this confidence the federal securities act created the fdic which insured bank accounts up to $
This benefited the public because now they can reinvest their $ into bank accounts knowing that if something happens to the banks investments on the stock market, their accounts will be insured!

15. c. Why did some people oppose the new deal?
Some people felt that the gov’t. was doing too much and overstepping its boundaries and authority and creating programs & direct relief that were not found in the constitution
Others felt that the new deal wasn’t doing enough to help the poor and called for more ‘taking from the rich’ and ‘giving to the poor’ to equalize the playing field for all americans

16. d. Why did conflict develop between the supreme court & other branches of gov’t. over aspects of the new deal?
The supreme court felt that fdr & congress werre overstepping their roles and becoming too powerful
They questioned the constitutionality of many of these acts and were fearful that our federal government was abusing its powers over the states and our nation’s economic interests (private business)