THE NEW DEAL
The New Deal
Roosevelt pledged “a new deal for the
American people.”
 This New Deal was a set of programs adopted
under Roosevelt’s administration to combat the
Great Depression of the 1930s.

The First 100 Days
“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
 From FDR’s first day in office, he focused on
mobilizing the federal government to rescue
the nation from the Great Depression.
 FDR promised to create government policies
based not only on the advice of government
officials but on the needs of “the forgotten, the
unrecognized but the indispensable units of
economic power…the forgotten man at the
bottom of the economic pyramid.”
The First 100 Days
Roosevelt began by targeting the bank crisis by
closing all banks for four days. Government
officials inspected bank records allowing only
banks with sufficient funds to open again.
 To help Americans understand this drastic step,
he addressed the nation by radio.
 When banks reopened, more people put
money in than they took out.
 Roosevelt was pleased with this outcome and
continued to use “fireside chats” to explain his
programs to the public.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9CBpbuV3ok
(1st fireside chat – 5 min)
New Deal Programs
Roosevelt’s New Deal programs had three goals:
Relief
Recovery
Reform
 Some business leaders objected to this use of
government money, saying that in the long run it
would be better to help businesses provide more
jobs. A member of Roosevelt’s staff responded,
“People don’t eat in the long run. They have to eat
every day.”

(The New Deal – 8 min)
http://player.discoveryeducation.com/index.cfm?guidAssetId=831435AA-4BF5-49F0-9E24-7ABC0E76B02A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5Pls1Xc3bw&feature=related
Relief
Provides immediate need to
help the disadvantaged –
starving & homeless
Relief Programs
Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA)
 Provided funds to offer direct relief to the needy
Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
 Employed young men to work on environmental
projects in exchange for food, lodging, and a
small salary.
Homeowners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC) and
Farm Credit Association (FCA)
 Lowered mortgages so families wouldn’t lose
their homes
Federal Emergency Relief
Administration (FERA)
Gave direct relief in the form of money as aid
to states and localities for distribution to needy.
They used it to fund work relief projects,
including construction, projects for professionals
(e.g., writers, artists, actors, and musicians), and
production of consumer goods
 Ultimately FERA distributed about $3-billion in
relief to 8 million families – one-sixth of the
population.

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
Employed young men (age 18-25) to work on
environmental projects in exchange for food,
lodging, and a small salary
 CCC workers built public parks, cut fire trails,
planted trees, built small dams, helped with
flood control, reclaimed ruined land, drained
swamps, and helped with conservation.

Young men at work at the U.S Department of Agriculture in MD as part of the CCC.
Homeowners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC)
and Farm Credit Association (FCA)
HOLC
Lowered mortgages so families wouldn’t lose
their homes
FCA
Helped the 40% of farms that were
mortgaged by providing low-interest loans for
50-year terms.
Recovery
Longer term projects to help the
nation recover and come out of
the economic depression.
Recovery Programs
Federal Securities Act (FSA)
 Allowed government to investigate stock market
National Recovery Administration (NRA)
 Created labor and industry standards to help
revive American industry.
Works Progress Administration (WPA)
 Provided jobs, often building public works
National Youth Administration (NYA)
 Helped provide jobs for students to keep them
in school
Federal Securities Act (FSA)

Allowed government
to investigate stock
market
National Recovery Administration
(NRA)
Created labor and industry standards to help
revive American industry.
 Recognized the right of labor to bargain for
working hours, wages and conditions

Works Progress Administration (WPA)
Established to put men to
work on jobs of public
usefulness.
 5,900 schoolhouses built or
repaired; parks, playgrounds,
and pools built; roads, streets,
and sewage plants built;
1,000 airfields laid out;
2,500 hospitals placed in
areas not previously served.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aq5UiGdje8U&feature=related (4 mins)
National Youth Administration (NYA)
Helped provide jobs for
students to keep them in
school
 500,000 helped in colleges
 600,000 in high schools.

Reform
Actions taken to ensure the
country never returns to as dire a
situation as they were in.
Reform Programs
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)
 Guaranteed (insured) bank deposits to help people
regain confidence that their money was safe in banks.
Security & Exchange Commission (SEC)
 Regulated stock & bond trading & rules for disclosure
Social Security
 Provided aide to the elderly and the temporarily
unemployed
Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)
 Developed electricity and other resources in the
impoverished Tennessee River Valley.
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
(FDIC)

Guaranteed (insured) bank deposits to help
people regain confidence that their money was
safe in banks.
 Today – insured up to
$250,000
Security & Exchange Commission
(SEC)
Regulated stock & bond trading
 Regulated exchanges where stocks and bonds
are sold
 Legislated requirements
for disclosure of fair stock
information.

Social Security
Provided aide to the elderly
 Also the temporarily unemployed, dependent,
and handicapped.
 Financed by taxes paid by employee, matched
by employer and Federal government.

Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)

Developed electricity and other resources in the
rural "pockets of poverty" in the Tennessee
Valley that could not afford lines.
Workmen string lines to bring TVA
electricity to Valley farmers.
(Photo courtesy of the New Deal Network)
Impact of the New Deal
The New Deal helped millions of Americans
survive the Great Depression.
 Permanently changed the role of the federal
government.
 Americans were persuaded that the government
had a responsibility to help people who could
not help themselves.
 They accepted government regulation of some
parts of the economy
 Resulted in the federal government becoming
larger than ever.

NEW DEAL FOR YOU
EFFECTS OF THE
GREAT DEPRESSION
Which New Deal programs still exist today?