For each program, answer the following:
1. Full name of the program and the abbreviation (for example, AAA)
2. Which of the 3 R’s is it and why?
3. What problem is this program addressing?
4. What solution is the program using to combat this problem?
Emergency Bank Relief Act
One day after taking office, Roosevelt declared a national bank holiday and closed all banks to
prevent further withdrawals. Then he persuaded Congress to pass the Emergency Bank Relief Act,
which authorized the Treasury Department to inspect the country’s banks. Those that we sound
could reopen at once; those that were unable to pay their debts remained closed. Those that needed
help could receive loans. This measure revived public confidence in banks, since customers now had
greater faith that the open banks had been approved and were in good financial shape.
The Glass-Steagall Banking Act
& The FDIC
Within a few weeks of taking office, Roosevelt had restored the people’s confidence in banks. After
people began to put their savings back into the banks, Congress took a step to reorganize the banking
system by passing the Glass-Steagall Banking Act. Among other things, this law established the
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), which provided federal insurance for individual
banks accounts. This meant that in the future, if many people wanted to withdraw their money at
the same time and the bank did not have all of the money on hand, they could get the money from
their insurer. The FDIC still exists today, and the Glass-Steagall Banking Act reassured millions of
Americans that their hard-earned money was safe.
The Agricultural Adjustment Act
The AAA sought to raise crop prices by lowering production, which the government achieved by
paying farmers to leave a certain amount of every acre of land unseeded. Essentially, the
government, for the first time ever, was paying farmers not to plant. The theory behind it was that
reduced supply of crops would create a higher demand for those crops, therefor boosting prices. In
some cases crops were too far advanced for the acreage reduction to take effect. As a result, the
government paid cotton growers $200 million to plow under 10 million acres of their crop. It also
paid hog farmers to slaughter 6 million pigs. This policy upset many Americans, who protested the
destruction of food when many people were going hungry. It did, however, help raise farm prices
and put more money in farmer’s pockets.
The Civilian Conservation Corps
The Roosevelt established many programs to provide help through government works projects and
cash payments. One important program was the CCC, which put young men, age 18-25, to work
building roads, developing parks, planting trees, and helping in soil erosion and flood-control
projects. The CCC paid a small wage, $30 a month, of which $25 was automatically sent home to
workers’ families. It also supplied free food and uniforms. By the time the program ended in 1942,
almost 3 million young men passed through the CCC. Many of the camps were located on the Great
Plains, where within a period of eight years, over 200 million trees were planted. This tremendous
reforestation program was aimed at preventing another Dust Bowl.
The Public Works Administration
& The Civil Works Administration
The PWA, created in 1933, provided money to states to create jobs. Harry Hopkins, the head of the
program, thought that giving people money was helpful for buying food, but giving people a job
enables people to gain confidence and self-respect. These jobs were chiefly the construction of
schools and other community buildings. When these programs failed to make a sufficient dent in
unemployment, President Roosevelt established the Civil Works Administration. This provided 4
million immediate jobs. Some critics of the CWA claimed that these work programs cost too much
money, but the CWA built over 40,000 schools and paid the salaries of over 50,00 teachers in rural
America.
The National Industrial Recovery Act
The NIRA sought to promote industrial growth by establishing codes of fair practice for individual
industries. It created the National Recovery Administration (NRA), which set prices of many
products to ensure fair competition, and established standards for working hours and a ban on child
labor. The aim of the NRA was to promote recovery by interrupting the trend of wage cuts, falling
prices, and layoffs. Competing businesses would meet with representatives of workers and
consumers to draft the codes of fair competition. These codes both limited production and
established prices. Because businesses were given new concessions, workers made demands.
Congress met their demands by passing a section for the NIRA guaranteeing workers’ rights to
unionize and bargain collectively.
The Work Progress Administration
The WPA set out to create as many jobs as possible as quickly as possible. It received a budget of $5
billion, the largest sum any nation had ever spent for public welfare at one time. Between 1935 and
1943, it employed more than 8 million people. WPA workers, most of them unskilled, built 850
airports throughout the country. They constructed or repaired roads and streets, put up libraries,
schools, and hospitals. Sewing groups, employed by women, sewed garments for the needy. The
WPA employed many professionals as well – writers, teachers, artists, musicians, and actors. These
professionals were hired to create art, music, and scholarly studies. They wrote guides to cities,
collected historical slave narratives, painted murals on the walls of public buildings, and performed
in theater troupes around the country. At the urging of Eleanor Roosevelt, the WPA made special
efforts to help women, minorities, and young people.
The Fair Labor Standards Act
Congress passed the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to establish maximum hours an minimum
wages. The Fair Labor Standards Act , for the first time, set a national minimum hourly rate for
wages; 25 cents an hour at first, 40 cents an hour by 1945. It has also established a national
maximum workweek; 44 hours to begin, followed by 40 hours in two years. In addition, the act
banned factory labor for workers under the age of 16, and provided mandatory overtime pay for
workers working over the maximum number of hours per week. The hour and wage restrictions set
by this act are still enforced today.
National Youth Administration
Created to specifically provide education, jobs, counseling, and recreation for young people, the NYA
provide student aid to high school, college, and graduate students. In exchange, students worked full
or part time positions at their schools. This work program gave young people a chance to work for
themselves, to earn money to pay for clothes, school supplies, food, and other essentials. For
graduates unable to find jobs or youths who had dropped out of school, the NYA offered part-time
jobs working on highways, parks, and the maintaining public grounds.
The Social Security Act
One of the most significant policies of the New Deal was the creation of the Social Security system
through the Social Security Act. The act had three major parts. The first was old-age insurance for
retired individuals over the age of 65 which was a supplemental retirement plan. Half of the funds
came from the worker and half came from the employer. Although some groups were excluded from
the system, it helped make retirement possible for millions of people. The second provision was
unemployment compensation for those who had been fired, funded by a federal tax on employers
which was administered at the state level. The third provision was aid to families with dependent
children and those who are disabled. This welfare system is still in effect today, in three separate
entitlement programs (Social Security, unemployment, and Medicaid).