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The New Deal, 1932-1938Chapter 21
Unit 5, 1920-1945
Election of 1932
• Democrat Franklin Delano Roosevelt defeated Republican Hoover
• FDR promised the American people “a new deal” involving relief, recovery and reform
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Hundred Days
• FDR relied on his brain trust, a group of academic advisors, to develop New Deal policies
• “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself..”
• Congress passed a record number of acts between March and June, 1933 to provide relief from the depression
Banking• The Emergency Banking Act closed all banks
• Federal loans were provided to reopen large banks and consolidate small ones
• Glass-Steagall Act prevented commercial banks from speculating on the stock market
• Repealed in 1999
• Federal Deposit Insurance Company (FDIC) insured accounts up to $2,500
• Currently insured up to $250,000
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Creating Jobs• Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC),
Public Works Administration (PWA), and Civil Works Administration (CWA) provided millions of jobs around the country
• Worked in national parks, built public buildings (schools and hospitals), and repaired infrastructure around the country
• Tennessee Valley Authority built and maintained hydro-electric dams
Farming
• Agricultural Adjustment Act tried to regulate farm production
• Farmers were paid to destroy part of their crops or herds
• Less production would mean higher prices
• Dust Bowl in Oklahoma and Texas Panhandle made farming impossible
• Drought and mechanized damage to topsoil caused dust storms
• Many “Okies” moved to California
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Labor
• National Industrial Recovery Act required each industry to develop regulations and codes
• Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional in A. L. A. Schechter Poultry Corp. v. U.S.
• Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) unionized workers based on industry instead of skills
• Sit-down strikes were more effective then earlier walkouts
Second New Deal Programs
• Works Progress Administration provided jobs for unemployed laborers, artists, and authors.
• Many San Antonio sights, including the Riverwalk, were WPA Projects
• Social Security Act of 1935 provided insurance and pensions for the elderly, unemployed, and disabled
• Paid for by taxes on paychecks
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Support for FDR
• Working class voters were the key to FDR’s reelection in 1936
•FDR effectively used radio broadcasts to improve morale
• Fireside chats helped him educate Americans about New Deal programs
• Eleanor Roosevelt changed the role of first lady to be more politically active
Court-packing and the end of the New Deal
• FDR proposed the President be allowed to appoint a new supreme court justice once the sitting justice turned 70
• He was concerned the Supreme court would overturn more new deal programs
• Federal Labor Standards Act of 1938 prohibited child labor, and setrequirements for minimum wage and overtime pay
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Government debt and the Welfare state
• Economist John Maynard Keynes advocating for deficit spending
• Public spending by the federal govt. could stimulate economy
• Southern congressmen placed restrictions on social security that limited benefits for minorities
• Low level of benefits attached a social stigma to welfare
Impact of the New Deal
• Expanded the role of the federal govt. in the American economy
• Redefined American Freedom to include economic security and equality
• Failed to address racial inequalities• May have actually made it worse
• Did not generate prosperity• 15% of workers unemployed in 1940