1. The New Deal & Its Legacy
Relief, Reform, & Recovery

2. Hoover’s Response
Did not believe the government should give aid to the needy
Worried aid would undermine self-reliance and encourage people to become reliant on the government
Believed his job to generate optimism and restore public confidence
Hoovervilles: Homeless Americans built cities out of cardboard boxes
Asked healthy banks to loan money to failing ones
Reluctantly created the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC)- issued government loans to banks, railroads, and big business
RFC loaned money to states to help with needy- financed public works projects

3. Hoover’s Response

4. Hoover’s Response
Trickle-Down Theory: Government gives money to business  they hire more employees  more people earn money
The problem with the trickle down solution – the poor could not wait for money to trickle down.
Hoover battled the Bonus Army
Hoover called in troops to push the Bonus Army out of DC - used tear gas and tanks
Americans mad at the use of tanks to push out disabled veterans

5. Election of 1932 Republican – Herbert Hoover
Democrat – Franklin Roosevelt
2-term governor of New York
Distant cousin of Theodore Roosevelt
Roosevelt won an overwhelming victory
Immediately set to work formulating a set of policies for his administration
Came to be known as the New Deal
Focused on 3 general goals: Relief, Recovery, & Reform
Expanded the role of the federal government

6. The First One Hundred Days
Emergency Banking Act - Reformed banking system giving the federal government more power to supervise banks
March 5 – Bank holiday
Sound banks would reopen
Insolvent banks would remain closed
March 12 – 1st Fireside Chat

7. The First One Hundred Days
Banking Act of 1933
Created the FDIC - ensured every account up to $5,000
Limited freedom of banks to invest in stocks and bonds
Securities Exchange Commission (SEC)
Required companies to publish important facts about their business

8. The First One Hundred Days
National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA)
Established the National Recovery Administration (NRA) – Set minimum wages, maximum working hours, & minimum prices at which goods could be sold
Created the Public Works Administration (PWA) – oversaw large-scale construction projects

9. The First One Hundred Days
Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA)
Helped farmers by reducing crop production & raising prices
Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)
Developed construction jobs in the Tennessee Valley

10. The First One Hundred Days
Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC)
Gave young men jobs planting trees & working on other conservation projects
Federal Emergency Relief Act (FERA)
Sent funds to states to distribute to the needy

11. FDR vs. the Supreme Court
By the end of his first term, FDR faced opposition from the Supreme Court
In 1935, the Court ruled that the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) was unconstitutional
The following year, they struck down the Agriculture Adjustment Act (AAA)

12. FDR vs. the Supreme Court
After winning re-election, FDR was ready to take on the Supreme Court
He proposed a plan to add a new justice for every justice over 70 years old
Labeled by critics as “court-packing”

13. The Second New Deal Wagner Act Fair Labor Standards Act
Protected the rights of workers who joined unions & went on strike
Fair Labor Standards Act
Regulated conditions in the workplace
Set a minimum wage- .25
Set maximum hours- 44
Ended oppressive child labor
Social Security Act
Provided a pension for retired workers & their spouses & helped people with disabilities

14. The Second New Deal Rural Electrification Administration (REA)
Established hundreds of publicly owned electric cooperatives, built generating plants, & strung power lines
Works Progress Administration (WPA)
Set out to create as many jobs as possible as quickly as possible
In its 1st year, the WPA put 3 million Americans to work

15. Critics of the New Deal Conservative Critics
Believed that New Deal had gone too far in expanding the role of government
Compared the New Deal to socialism
Father Charles Coughlin
Al Landon
Robert Taft

16. Critics of the New Deal Radical Critics
Believed the New Deal should give greater aid to the needy
Huey Long (LA)
“Every Man a King”
Wanted to take money from rich & give every family a grant of $5,000, a guaranteed job, & an income of $2,500 a year
Frank Townshend
Proposed a guaranteed income plan for senior citizens
Led to the creation of the Social Security Act

17. The Legacy of the New Deal
Established the concept that Americans have the right to economic security, including:
A job
Adequate wages
A decent home
Medical care
Good education
Expanded the role of government
Increased deficit spending
FDR borrowed money to pay for his New Deal programs