Roosevelt and the New Deal, 1933-41

Features of the Election of 1932

1. Americans were debating on whether to give Hoover's methods a chance, or to give somebody else a go. The election was between Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt. 2. Roosevelt had new methods of approach for the depression. He said he would use federal money to help the unemployed directly. He called his plans 'The New Deal' and 23 million voters agreed to give it a try. 42 out of 48 states voted for him. He gave his party, the Democrats, majority in Congress.

Features of programmes for the old and disadvantaged

1. Before 1935, there were not pensions or unemployment insurance for workers. The Social Security ACt was created for a federal pension system. Employees paid into a pension scheme for their retirement and support funded by federal matching grants provided money for very old people, families with dependent children and disabled people. INcluding blind people.

Effects of the Works Project Administration

1. IN May 1935, The Works Progress Administration (WPA) was set up. Harry Hopkins, Head of FERA, was put in charge of this. The WPA spent $11 billion helping poor men and women from towns and the country whether they were white or black.

Effects of Industry aiding agencies

1. Many businesses improved working conditions after recognizing the benefits of the code. INcentives were offered to those businesses not abiding by the code: Any business that followed the code could wear the Blue Eagle badge for NRA. THis became popular and it ensured that 2.3 million businesses took part in the scheme by July 1933. 2. It gave workers the right to join unions. This meant they could fight for better pay, working hours and conditions. It caused union membership to rise from 3.1 million in 1932 to 3.9 million in 1939.

Effects of the Election of 1932

1. ON March 1933, Franklin Roosevelt took office as President with congress. On inauguration day, he promised Americans to get them back to work, save their homes and protect their savings. 2. He set his aims for the New Deal as RECOVERY, RELIEF and REFORM. HIs aims were to give daily contact to his fellow Americans using 'fireside chats' to share his messages directly to the people, utilise his majority in congress to turn his New Deal policies into laws, restore the economic activity by using government money to create jobs (also known as 'primping the pump') and expand federal government by setting up the alphabet agencies.

Features of the Second New Deal

1. Roosevelt set up the second New Deal after some of the agencies fromt he first New Deal were shut down by the Supreme Court. This new deal would: Provide more work relief for the unemployed, support workers in industry, help the poor rural get their own land and provide for the old during retirement.

Features of the Alphabet Agencies

1. Roosevelt turned his attention to other economic problems by using the Alphabet agency. 2. Agriculture - the Agricultural Adjustment Act set up the Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA) to help farmers. 3. Problems in INdustry - The National INdustrial Recovery Act (NIRA) established the National Recovery Administration (NRA) which had rules for industries to follow. 4. Help the unemployed - Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) provided relief payments. 5. Raise Funds - The Beer and Wine Revenue Act was the first step to end Prohibition , making it legal to buy and sell alcohol below 3.2 % which the government taxed to raise funds to help finance the New Deal.

Features of the HUndred Days

1. Roosevelt used his first 100 days in office to introduce a number of measures to tackle the depression. 2. In 'fireside chats', Roosevelt explained the new laws and agencies which he was going to create using an informal tone. 3. Roosevelt needed to deal with the bank crisis. He asked congress to pass the Emergency Banking Act which closed banks for 4 days. Federal checks were carried out and financially sound banks were allowed to re-open. ON his first 'fireside chat', he asked Americans to once again deposit their savings.

Features of farmers aid agencies

1. Roosevelt wanted rural poor to have their own farms rather than working for wealthy landowners. He set up the Resettlement Administration which helped resettle families from overworked land. It was replaced by the Farm Security Administration (FSA) to help the rural poor buy their own farms and get new equipment to use on them. By 1941, it had $1 billion in loans to help farmers. 2. 7. Another AAA was announced after the Supreme Court destroyed the old one, so therefore the new version made it compulsory to limit production. These were effective because it did not rely on co-operation form farmers. INstead, it was enforced on heavy taxes, letting the government control how much was produced.

Features of Unemployment aiding agencies

1. The $500 million for states by FERA during the Hundred Days provided for direct relief with immediate problems created by unemployment. 2. The unemployed were at risk of being thrown out so the Home Owner's Refinancing Act as introduced to extend mortgage payments. Homeowners were given 20 years to pay off mortgage. 3. Roosevelt believed that Americans should be given work, not handouts. SO he set up the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) which took unemployed men into the countryside and gave them outdoor jobs including train building and reservoir digging for $30 a month. 4. Roosevelt set up the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to help southern states recover from the depression. He aimed to: provide work for southerners, generate ad extend coverage of electricity to remote farms and control flooding and improve the productivity of land. The plan was to build 20 dams which would meet all three aims.

Effects of unemployment aiding agencies

1. The 20-year extension of the HORA made it easier for 1 million people to keep their homes. 2. The CCC was as successful project. It involved 17-23 year olds so had employed 500,000 men by 1935. Congress established the Public Works Administration (PWA) whihc gave $3.3 billion of federal money to spend on big construction projects, such as the Grand River Dam in Oklahoma to create jobs for construction workers. However, big projects take a long time and winter was soon approaching so Head of FERA, Harry Hopkins, set up the Civil Works Administration (CWA) and used a budget of $400 million to work on short-term projects like refurbishing schools and road building. In early 1934, it helped 4.2 million workers survive the winter. 3. The building of the dams for TVA prevented droughts and dust storms.

Feature of Rural Electrification

1. The Electric Home and Farm Authority (EHFA) which aimed to help farmers buy electrical supplies. They encouraged appliance companies to make cheaper models and provide loans to help the farmers buy them on an instalment plan.

Effects of housing programmes for the poor

1. The FSA helping migrant workers didn't help them find work, but it kept them alive and healthy. 2. Only three suburban towns were constructed and the Housing Act was passed to create new homes to replace shanty towns.

Features of aid for labour unions

1. The NIRA was declared invalid by the Supreme Court in 1935 and so Senator Robert Wagner proposed the Wagner Act in which: Workers were legally entitled to join a union and unions could operate closed shops. Firing union members were banned. 2. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) supervised union negotiations and defended workers who had been fired.

Features of Industry aiding agencies

1. The NRA worked with major industries which create industry-wide codes. This set out how much was produced, controlled prices and set wages, limited working hours and banned child labor.

Features of housing programmes for the poor

1. The Resettlement Administration built new suburban towns for urban families. 2. The National Labor Relations Act was designed to help improve working lives of industrial workers. 3. The FSA took action to help migrant workers by setting up migrant workers camps to provide shelter for those had left the Dustbowl for California.

Effects of the Second New Deal

1. The Second New Deal helped many poor people find employment. Work Relief projects such as the CCC and PWA received $4 billion (along with the WPA).

Effects of Rural Electrification

1. The TVA electrification programme was super popular which led to its expansion in the second new deal. From 1935, the Rural Electrification Administration took over the electrification programme and also made loans to rural cooperatives across the US. 2. Schemes were a success because they: Electrified farms, in 1941, 35% of farms had electricity and the EHFA by 1938 had arranged 100,000 contracts for electrical goods. 3. By 1945, 40% of farms had electricity.

Effects of the Hundred Days

1. The banking strategy worked and $1 million were in their banks. Roosevelt took further measures to save the banks by passing a law to insure bank deposits up to $2,500 and restricting how they use the money. If the bank failed, the people knew they could get their money back. Confidence was once again restored in the banking system.

Effects of Agricultural aiding agencies

1. This reduced the amount of farm goods for sale and increased prices. SOme farmers struggled to sell goods and therefore struggled to pay mortgages. This resulted in them losing their farms. HOwever, the Farm Credit Administration (FCA) helped to improve mortgage arrangements for around 20 % of USA's farms.

Features of Agricultural aiding agencies

6. Ending Over-Production - The AAA aimed to raise prices on agricultural goods. If a farmer keep an acre of land, he received $11 to make up lost income. As a result, less wheat and cotton were produced but the demand remained the same, causing the price to rise. However, there were still extra goods in warehouses ready for sale, so the Commodity Credit Corporation which paid farmers to keep extra goods in their warehouses.