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The New Deal — A Guide to FDR’s Plan for Relief, Recovery, and Reform

The New Deal was a series of programs and policies implemented in the 1930s by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in response to severe economic and social issues in the United States.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1944. Image Source: FDR Presidential Library & Museum on Flickr .

New Deal Summary

The New Deal was a series of programs and policies implemented in the 1930s by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt — commonly referred to as FDR — in response to severe economic and social issues in the United States. Each New Deal program and policy fell into one or more of three areas, known as the “Three Rs” — Relief, Recovery, and Reform.

At the end of the Roaring Twenties, the 1929 Stock Market Crash triggered the Great Depression started when the stock market crashed in 1929. Starting in 1931, the southwestern Great Plains suffered from a severe drought, which led to massive dust storms. The area was called “The Dust Bowl” and thousands of people were forced to abandon their homes and move west. In the wake of these events, Roosevelt ran for President in 1932, promising a “New Deal” for Americans, and defeated incumbent Herbert Hoover.

Roosevelt was inaugurated on March 4, 1933. In his First Inaugural Address, he delivered the famous line, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” FDR moved quickly to ease the effects of the Depression on Americans by passing New Deal legislation during “The First Hundred Days” of his Presidency.

FDR started by restoring faith in banks, which had suffered due to the stock market crash of 1929. A Bank Holiday was declared and Congress followed by passing the Emergency Banking Relief Act, which allowed the government to inspect the financial health of banks before allowing them to reopen.

The New Deal aimed to tackle unemployment by creating programs that provided job opportunities. The Civil Works Administration (CWA) and the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) employed millions of Americans to work on infrastructure projects, such as building roads, bridges, and schools. Other programs, like the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), developed hydroelectric power plants to bring electricity to communities where none existed.

The New Deal also addressed labor relations by passing the National Labor Relations Act — also known as the (Wagner Act). It protected the rights of workers, allowing them to join unions and engage in collective bargaining. The act also established the Fair Labor Standards Act, which set a minimum wage for workers.

The New Deal programs and policies created a significant expansion of the Federal government. They also redefined the government’s role in dealing with economic and social issues. The New Deal was controversial when it was implemented, and its legacy continues to be debated by historians, economists, and others. However, the significance of the New Deal and its impact on the United States during the era leading up to World War II cannot be denied.

What did the New Deal do?

This video from the Daily Bellringer provides an overview of the New Deal and its programs. It also touches on the controversy caused by the New Deal which was caused by the expansion of the Federal Government.

New Deal Facts

• The name “New Deal” came from Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1932 acceptance speech for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination. In the speech, he said, “I pledge you, I pledge myself, to a new deal for the American people.”
• The New Deal was designed to deal with the economic and social issues created by the 1929 Stock Market Crash, the Great Depression, and the Dust Bow.
• On March 4, 1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected President. He gave a speech on Capitol Plaza in Washington DC to 100,000 people. He said the “only thing we should be afraid of is fear itself.”
• He took action right away by calling Congress into a special session known as “The Hundred Days,” during which legislation was passed to deal with the Depression and provide economic aid to struggling Americans.
• In an effort to restore the public’s confidence in banks, FDR declared a Bank Holiday and Congress passed the Emergency Banking Relief Act.
• The New Deal dealt with unemployment by creating programs like the Civil Works Administration (CWA) and the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), providing jobs for millions of Americans and improving the nation’s infrastructure.
• The New Deal was followed by the Second New Deal, which included the National Labor Relations Act, the  Works Progress Administration, and the Social Security Act.
• The New Deal also included labor-related legislation, such as the National Labor Relations Act (Wagner Act) and the Fair Labor Standards Act, which gave workers the right to join unions, negotiate collectively, and established a minimum wage.
• The New Deal paved the way for the repeal of the 18th Amendment, which established Prohibition. The Beer-Wine Revenue Act of 1933 amended the Volstead Act by raising the amount of alcohol allowed to 3.2 percent and also levied a tax.
• Social programs established by the New Deal are still in effect today, including Social Security and the “Food Stamp Plan.”

New Deal AP US History (APUSH) Terms, Definitions, and FAQs

This section provides terms, definitions, and Frequently Asked Questions about the New Deal and the Second New Deal, including people, events, and programs. Also, be sure to look at our Guide to the AP US History Exam .

The New Deal was a series of policies and programs implemented by President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the 1930s in response to the Great Depression. The New Deal aimed to provide relief to the unemployed and poor, promote economic recovery, and reform the financial system. The New Deal included programs such as the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), and the National Recovery Administration (NRA). It also created numerous agencies and programs such as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and the Social Security Administration.

The second phase of the New Deal, which was enacted in 1935. The Second New Deal focused on providing economic security to Americans through the creation of Social Security and other welfare programs. It also included measures to stimulate the economy, such as the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The Second New Deal was instrumental in helping to alleviate poverty and providing employment opportunities during the Great Depression.

FDR’s Alphabet Soup refers to the numerous programs and agencies created during Franklin D. Roosevelt’s presidency as part of the New Deal. These initiatives, often known by their acronyms, aimed to provide relief, recovery, and reform during the Great Depression. Examples include the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps), the TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority), and the WPA (Works Progress Administration).

The New Deal was a series of economic programs and reforms enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the Great Depression. The New Deal sought to provide relief, recovery, and reform to the American economy. It included programs such as Social Security, the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), and the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). These programs were instrumental in helping to protect workers’ rights and providing employment opportunities during the Great Depression. However, the New Deal was controversial, with some arguing it was a “raw deal” for workers and others arguing that it helped to alleviate the suffering of millions of Americans.

The three Rs of the New Deal were 1) Relief for the needy, 2) Recovery of the economy, and 3) Reform of the financial system. Each of the New Deal Programs generally fell into one of these areas. The goal of the three Rs was to keep the United States from falling into another Economic Depression.

New Deal People and Groups

Herbert Hoover — Herbert Hoover served as the 31st President of the United States from 1929 to 1933. He faced the immense challenges of the Great Depression and was criticized for his belief in limited government intervention. Despite his efforts to address the crisis, Hoover’s presidency is often associated with economic hardships and the initial response to the Depression.

John L. Lewis — An American labor leader who was instrumental in the formation of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) in 1935. He was a key figure in the Second New Deal and helped to pass the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). He was also responsible for leading several major strikes during the Great Depression, including the United Mine Workers strike of 1934. Lewis worked to protect workers’ rights and provide employment opportunities during the Great Depression.

Franklin D. Roosevelt — Franklin D. Roosevelt was the 32nd President of the United States, serving from 1933 to 1945. He was elected to the presidency during the Great Depression, and his presidency is closely associated with the New Deal, a series of policies and programs aimed at addressing the economic crisis and promoting economic recovery. He was re-elected for an unprecedented four terms and his leadership during the Great Depression and World War II solidified the role of the Federal government in the American economy and society.

Eleanor Roosevelt — The wife of Franklin D. Roosevelt and one of the most influential First Ladies in American history. She was an advocate for civil rights and women’s rights, and she used her position to promote social reform.

FDR’s Brain Trust — A group of advisors to President Franklin D. Roosevelt who helped him develop the New Deal. They included prominent academics and intellectuals such as Raymond Moley, Rexford Tugwell, and Adolf Berle.

New Deal Democrats —  New Deal Democrats were a faction within the Democratic Party during the 1930s and 1940s that supported Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal policies. These Democrats supported increasing government intervention in the economy and expanding social welfare programs.

United Mine Workers — A labor union that was formed in 1890. The union was instrumental in the formation of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) in 1935 and led several major strikes during the Great Depression, including the United Mine Workers strike of 1934.

Hundred Days Congress — The Hundred Days Congress was a special session of the United States Congress that ran from March 9 to June 16, 1933. It was called in response to the economic crisis of the Great Depression and was used to pass a number of laws known as the New Deal. During this period, President Franklin D. Roosevelt proposed a series of sweeping reforms designed to provide relief for those affected by the depression, as well as to stimulate the economy. The Hundred Days Congress passed a number of laws, including the Emergency Banking Relief Act, the Glass-Steagall Act, and the National Industrial Recovery Act.

New Deal Events

1932 Presidential Election — The 1932 Presidential Election marked a pivotal moment in American history as the nation grappled with the Great Depression. It was primarily a contest between Republican incumbent Herbert Hoover and Democratic candidate Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR). FDR emerged victorious, promising a “New Deal” to combat the Depression and implementing a series of reforms that fundamentally reshaped the role of the federal government.

Bank Holiday — A bank holiday is a period of time during which banks are closed, usually by government order. In 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared a national bank holiday in order to address the banking crisis caused by the Great Depression. During the holiday, which lasted four days, the government examined the books of all banks and only those that were found to be sound were allowed to reopen. This action helped stabilize the banking system and restore public confidence in banks.

Fireside Chats — The Fireside Chats were a series of radio addresses given by President Franklin D. Roosevelt during his presidency. The chats were designed to provide the American people with information about the government’s policies and actions and to explain the reasoning behind them in plain language. The chats were informal and conversational in tone, and they were delivered from the White House, often in the evening, giving the impression that Roosevelt was speaking directly to the American people from the warmth and comfort of their own homes. The Fireside Chats were a powerful tool for Roosevelt to communicate with the American people, build public support for his policies and maintain public confidence during a time of economic crisis.

Great Depression — The Great Depression refers to the severe economic downturn that occurred in the United States and other countries during the 1930s. It was characterized by widespread unemployment, poverty, and a sharp decline in industrial production and trade—ultimately leading to a fundamental restructuring of the American economy and significant social and political changes.

Roosevelt Recession — A period of economic contraction that occurred during the Great Depression, starting in 1937 and lasting until 1938. It was caused by a combination of factors, including President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s decision to reduce government spending, an increase in taxes, and the Federal Reserve’s decision to raise interest rates. This resulted in a decrease in consumer spending and investment, leading to a decrease in economic activity. The Roosevelt Recession was a major setback for the New Deal and led to increased unemployment and poverty.

United Mine Workers Strike of 1934 — A major strike led by the United Mine Workers Union during the Great Depression. The strike was in response to wage cuts and other grievances. It lasted for several months and resulted in a victory for the miners, who were able to secure higher wages and better working conditions.

New Deal Programs

Agricultural Adjustment Act (1933) — A law passed by Congress in 1933 as part of the New Deal. The AAA was designed to help farmers by providing subsidies for reducing crop production and encouraging soil conservation. It also established the Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA), which was responsible for implementing the provisions of the act. The AAA was instrumental in helping to stabilize agricultural prices and providing economic relief to farmers during the Great Depression.

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) — The CCC provided employment for young men between the ages of 18 and 25, who were paid to work on conservation projects such as planting trees, building roads, and constructing dams. The CCC also provided educational opportunities for its workers, including classes in literacy, math, and vocational skills. The CCC was instrumental in helping to restore the environment and providing employment opportunities during the Great Depression.

Civil Works Administration (CWA) — An agency created by the Federal Emergency Relief Act of 1933 as part of the New Deal. The CWA was responsible for providing jobs to millions of Americans during the Great Depression. It provided employment in construction, repair, and maintenance projects such as building roads, bridges, and public buildings. The CWA was instrumental in helping to alleviate poverty and providing employment opportunities during the Great Depression.

Emergency Banking Relief Act (1933) — A law passed by Congress in 1933 which allowed the federal government to provide emergency loans to banks in order to stabilize the banking system. The act was part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal and was designed to restore public confidence in the banking system. It provided for the reopening of solvent banks, the reorganization of insolvent banks, and the establishment of a Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to insure deposits up to $2,500. The act was instrumental in helping to stabilize the banking system during the Great Depression and restoring public confidence in banks.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) — An independent agency of the United States government created in 1933 as part of the New Deal. The FDIC provides insurance for deposits up to a certain amount in member banks, protecting depositors from losses due to bank failures. The FDIC also regulates and supervises financial institutions to ensure that they are operating safely and soundly. It is one of the most important financial regulatory agencies in the United States and has helped to restore public confidence in the banking system.

Federal Emergency Relief Act (1933) — A law passed by Congress in 1933 as part of the New Deal. The FERA provided federal funds to states and local governments to create relief programs for the unemployed. It also established the Civil Works Administration (CWA), which was responsible for providing jobs to millions of Americans during the Great Depression. The FERA was instrumental in helping to alleviate poverty and providing employment opportunities during the Great Depression.

Federal Housing Administration (FHA) — An agency created by the National Housing Act of 1934 as part of the New Deal. The FHA was responsible for providing mortgage insurance to lenders, which allowed them to make home loans with lower down payments and easier credit requirements. This helped to increase homeownership and provided jobs to thousands of Americans during the Great Depression. The FHA helped stabilize the housing market and provide employment opportunities during the Great Depression.

Glass-Steagall Act (1933) — The Glass-Steagall Act was a law passed by Congress in 1933 as part of the New Deal. It was designed to separate commercial and investment banking, and it prohibited banks from engaging in certain types of speculative investments. The act also established the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), which provided insurance for bank deposits up to a certain amount. The Glass-Steagall Act helped restore public confidence in the banking system and prevent another financial crisis.

National Industrial Recovery Act (1933) —  The National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) was a law passed by Congress in 1933 as part of the New Deal. It was designed to stimulate economic growth by providing government assistance to businesses, setting minimum wages and maximum hours for workers, and establishing codes of fair competition. The NIRA also established the National Recovery Administration (NRA), which was responsible for enforcing the provisions of the act. The NIRA was eventually declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1935.

The Public Works Administration (PWA) — An agency created by the National Recovery Administration of 1933 as part of the New Deal. The PWA was responsible for providing jobs to millions of Americans during the Great Depression. It provided employment in construction, repair, and maintenance projects such as building roads, bridges, and public buildings. The PWA played an important role in helping to alleviate poverty and providing employment opportunities during the Great Depression.

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) — An agency created by the Tennessee Valley Authority Act of 1933 as part of the New Deal. The TVA was responsible for developing the infrastructure and resources of the Tennessee Valley region, including hydroelectric power, flood control, navigation, reforestation, and soil conservation. It also provided jobs to thousands of Americans during the Great Depression. The TVA played an important role in helping modernize the region and providing employment opportunities during the Great Depression.

Second New Deal Programs

Committee for Industrial Organizations (CIO) — An organization formed in 1935 as part of the Second New Deal. The CIO was responsible for organizing workers into unions and bargaining collectively with employers.

Fair Labor Standards Act (1938) — An act passed in 1938 as part of the Second New Deal. The Fair Labor Standards Act was responsible for establishing a minimum wage, overtime pay, and other labor standards.

National Labor Relations Act (1935) — An act passed in 1935 as part of the Second New Deal. The NLRA was responsible for protecting the rights of workers to organize and bargain collectively with their employers. It also established the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which was responsible for enforcing the provisions of the act.

Social Security Act (1935) — An act passed as part of the Second New Deal. The Social Security Act was responsible for providing economic security to Americans through the establishment of a federal retirement program and other welfare programs. It also provided unemployment insurance and disability benefits.

Wagner Act — Also known as the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), it was passed in 1935 as part of the Second New Deal. The Wagner Act was responsible for protecting the rights of workers to organize and bargain collectively with their employers. It also established the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which was responsible for enforcing the provisions of the act.

Works Progress Administration (WPA) — An agency created by the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935 as part of the Second New Deal. The WPA was responsible for providing jobs to millions of Americans during the Great Depression. It funded a variety of projects, including construction, infrastructure development, and arts and culture programs. The WPA was instrumental in helping to stimulate the economy and providing employment opportunities during the Great Depression.

More New Deal Terms and Definitions

21st Amendment — The amendment to the U.S. Constitution that repealed the 18th Amendment and ended Prohibition. The 21st Amendment was ratified in 1933 as part of the New Deal and allowed states to regulate the sale and consumption of alcohol within their borders. It also gave states the power to collect taxes on alcohol sales, which provided a much-needed source of revenue during the Great Depression.

Boondoggling — A term coined by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to describe wasteful government spending on public works projects. The term was used to criticize the New Deal programs, which were seen as a form of government waste and corruption. Boondoggling became a popular term during the Great Depression and is still used today to refer to any wasteful or unnecessary government spending.

Tennessee River Valley — The Tennessee River Valley refers to the region in the southeastern United States encompassing parts of Tennessee, Alabama, and Kentucky. It gained prominence during the New Deal era due to the establishment of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), a federal agency tasked with developing the area’s water resources, controlling flooding, and promoting economic development through hydroelectric power generation and irrigation projects.

National Parks — National Parks are protected areas designated by the federal government to preserve and showcase the country’s natural, historical, and cultural heritage. These areas, managed by the National Park Service, offer opportunities for recreation, conservation, and education. Notable examples include Yellowstone, Yosemite, and the Grand Canyon. National Parks serve as significant landmarks and contribute to the nation’s tourism industry and environmental conservation efforts.

Why is the New Deal important?

The New Deal is important to United States history for several reasons:

1. Response to the Great Depression: The New Deal was a direct response to the economic crisis of the Great Depression, which was one of the most challenging periods in American history. It represented a major shift in the role of the federal government in addressing economic issues and providing relief to citizens.

2. Economic Recovery and Relief: The New Deal implemented a range of programs and policies aimed at stabilizing the economy, creating jobs, and providing relief to those affected by the Great Depression. It helped alleviate immediate suffering and provided assistance to millions of Americans through employment, financial aid, and social welfare programs.

3. Expansion of Federal Government Power: The New Deal marked a significant expansion of the federal government’s role in regulating the economy and addressing social issues. It introduced new agencies and programs, such as the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and Social Security, that had long-lasting impacts on American society and established a precedent for increased government intervention in the economy.

4. Transformation of American Society: The New Deal’s programs had a transformative effect on American society. It brought about improvements in infrastructure, public works, and conservation projects, enhancing the nation’s physical landscape. It also introduced labor reforms, such as the right to unionize and the establishment of minimum wage standards, which aimed to improve working conditions and workers’ rights.

5. Legacy and Long-Term Impacts: Many of the programs and policies initiated during the New Deal era had lasting impacts on American society. Social Security, for example, continues to provide financial security to elderly and disabled Americans. The New Deal also shaped the political landscape, as the Democratic Party under FDR gained support from various social groups and established a coalition that would dominate American politics for decades.

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History Grade 11 - Topic 2 Essay Questions

Essay Question:

To what extent did Roosevelt’s New Deal succeed in mitigating the negative effects of the Great Depression in USA in the 1930’s?  Present an argument in support of your answer using relevant historical evidence. [1]

Introduction:

On 29 October 1929 (also known as “Black Tuesday”), the United States (US) stock market crashed which initiated the Great Depression. [2]   After winning the US elections and taking office in 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt sought to bring economic relief to the US during the 1930’s by implementing a series of reforms and restructures in what he called the ‘New Deal’. [3]   Although the ‘New Deal’ succeeded somewhat in relieving economic situations on a macro-level, the “New Deal”, in the long run, is considered a failure as it did not ultimately succeed in what it was set out to do, which was to recover the economy from its “depressed state”. [4]   This statement will be discussed by analyzing the two phases of the “New Deal”, as well as discussing the effects of some of the relief, recovery and reform programs implemented.

The First Hundred Days

When analyzing the legacy of the “New Deal”, it is important to understand that there were two phases of the deal, namely the “First New Deal” and the “Second New Deal”.  The First New Deal consisted mainly of the first three months of Roosevelt’s presidency and is referred to as the “hundred days”. [5]   Within the first hundred days, various relief programs such as the “Federal Emergency Relief Administration” (FRA), the “Civilian Conservation Corps” and the “Agricultural Adjustment Act” were implemented in order to create employment opportunities for Americans as well as providing some extent of economic relief for struggling citizens. [6]

Another significant program that was implemented during the hundred days, was the “National Industrial Recovery Act” (NIRA).  This recovery act allowed working Americans to unionize and in a sense bargain for better working conditions, as well as wages. [7]   Roosevelt felt that a significant part of the recovery process will come from decreasing competition through using set prices, wages and commodities. [8]   Mixed reviews came from the implementation of these recovery acts, as many felt that corporate heads were being disadvantaged by the state, and in some instance some corporations felt as though their competition became the US government itself. [9]   However, on the larger part, many felt that the hundred days and the “First New Deal” was relatively successful as it was marked by a decrease in unemployment and the stabilization of US banks.

The Second New Deal

In 1935, Roosevelt decided that the New Deal should take a more aggressive approach in the attempt to diminish the Great Depression. [10]   This phase is known as the Second New Deal.  One of the more prominent acts implemented was the “Social Security” Act which provided the elderly and widowed people with some financial support, allowed some unemployment and disability compensation and set a framework or minimum wages and maximum work hours. [11]   Furthermore, the “Works Progress Administration” (WPA) was implemented to provide the unemployed with opportunities in the public sector.  These opportunities included building bridges, schools and roads. [12]   To some extent, the Great Deal built a platform for more financial security and opportunity for the American citizens during the onslaught of the Great Depression with its housing, employment and financial interventions. [13]

Criticism of the New Deal

When analyzing some of the programs and acts implemented by the Great Deal, one also has to mention points of criticism.  One of the more popular points of criticism stems from the “interventionalist” and anti-competitive nature of the New Deal. [14]   Larger companies and the Supreme Court also felt that some of the reform initiatives were unconstitutional and did not go through the right channels to implement reform acts. [15]   However, with this criticism in mind, the main reason why the New Deal was deemed unsuccessful, is simply because it did not achieve what it set out to do.  The American economy and employment rates did not recover enough for the New Deal to have remedied the effects of the Great Depression.  Rather, American entrance into the Second World War stimulated more economic growth than the New Deal. [16]

Therefore, one could say that the New Deal mitigated the effects of the Great Depression to an extent where it improved the employment rate from 25% of 1933 to 17% in 1939. [17]   One could also say that some of the relief and reform acts were deemed successful as some of them, such as the Social Security Act, still remains today. [18]   The New Deal also led to a, albeit short-lived, coalition between “white working people, African Americans and left-wing intellectuals”. [19]   Many also argue that the New Deal built a surface for the future economy of America post-World War Two. [20]   However, with regards to the mitigation of the Great Depression itself, the New Deal ultimately did not succeed in ending the Great Depression and its effects.

This content was originally produced for the SAHO classroom by Sebastian Moronell, Ayabulela Ntwakumba, Simone van der Colff & Thandile Xesi.

[1] National Senior Certificate.: “Grade 11 November 2017 History Paper 1 Exam,” National Senior Certificate, November 2017.

[2] M, Johnston.: “The Economic Effects of the New Deal,” Investopedia [online].  Accessed 20 March 2021 ( https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/011116/economic-effects-new-deal.asp ).

[3] History.  Editors of History.: “New Deal,” History [online].  Accessed 20 March 2021 ( https://www.history.com/topics/great-depression/new-deal ).

[4] Johnston, M.: “The Economic Effects of the New Deal,” Investopedia [online].  Accessed 20 March 2021 ( https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/011116/economic-effects-new-deal.asp ).

[5] Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia.: “New Deal,” Encyclopedia Britannica [online].  Accessed on 20 March 2021 ( https://www.britannica.com/event/New-Deal ).

[6] Fiorillo, S.: “What were the New Deal Programs and what did they do?” The Street [online].  Accessed on 24 March 2021 ( https://www.thestreet.com/politics/new-deal-programs-14861940 ).

[7] History.  Editors of History.: “New Deal,” History [online].  Accessed 20 March 2021 ( https://www.history.com/topics/great-depression/new-deal ).

[8] Fiorillo, S.: “What were the New Deal Programs and what did they do?” The Street [online].  Accessed on 24 March 2021 ( https://www.thestreet.com/politics/new-deal-programs-14861940 ).

[9] J. Green.: “The New Deal:  crash Course US History #34,” Crash Course [YouTube Online].  Accessed on 23 March 2021 ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bMq9Ek6jnA&t=380s ).

[10] History.  Editors of History.: “New Deal,” History [online].  Accessed 20 March 2021 ( https://www.history.com/topics/great-depression/new-deal ).

[11] Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia.: “New Deal,” Encyclopedia Britannica [online].  Accessed on 20 March 2021 ( https://www.britannica.com/event/New-Deal ).

[12] History.  Editors of History.: “New Deal,” History [online].  Accessed 20 March 2021 ( https://www.history.com/topics/great-depression/new-deal ).

[13] D.M. Kennedy.: “What the New Deal Did,” Political Science Quarterly, (124), (2), 2009, pp. 265-267.

[14] M, Johnston.: “The Economic Effects of the New Deal,” Investopedia [online].  Accessed 20 March 2021 ( https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/011116/economic-effects-new-deal.asp ).

[15] History.  Editors of History.: “New Deal,” History [online].  Accessed 20 March 2021 ( https://www.history.com/topics/great-depression/new-deal ).

[16] History.  Editors of History.: “New Deal,” History [online].  Accessed 20 March 2021 ( https://www.history.com/topics/great-depression/new-deal ).

[17] Johnston, M.: “The Economic Effects of the New Deal,” Investopedia [online].  Accessed 20 March 2021 ( https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/011116/economic-effects-new-deal.asp ).

[18] Fiorillo, S.: “What were the New Deal Programs and what did they do?” The Street [online].  Accessed on 24 March 2021 ( https://www.thestreet.com/politics/new-deal-programs-14861940 ).

[19] History.  Editors of History.: “New Deal,” History [online].  Accessed 20 March 2021 ( https://www.history.com/topics/great-depression/new-deal ).

[20] D.M. Kennedy.: “What the New Deal Did,” Political Science Quarterly, (124), (2), 2009, p. 267.

• Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia.: “New Deal,” Encyclopedia Britannica [online], January 2021.  Accessed on 20 March 2021 ( https://www.britannica.com/event/New-Deal ).
• Fiorillo, S.: “What were the New Deal Programs and what did they do?” The Street [online].  Accessed on 24 March 2021 ( https://www.thestreet.com/politics/new-deal-programs-14861940 ). 
• Green, J.: “The New Deal:  Crash Course US History #34,” Crash Course [online].  Accessed on 24 March 2021 ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bMq9Ek6jnA&t=391s ).
• History.  Editors of History.: “New Deal,” History [online], November 2021.  Accessed 20 March 2021 ( https://www.history.com/topics/great-depression/new-deal ).
• Johnston, M.: “The Economic Effects of the New Deal,” Investopedia [online], January 2021.  Accessed 20 March 2021 ( https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/011116/economic-effects-new-deal.asp ).
• Kennedy, D.M.: “What the New Deal Did,” Political Science Quarterly, (124),(2), 2009, pp. 251-268.

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The New Deal

The election of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932 resulted in the New Deal he proposed, a fundamental shift in the American political economy and a new conception of the relationship between the government and the governed.

Though less overtly critical of the Constitution than the early progressives, FDR largely ignored it, saying only that it was “so simple and practical that it is possible always to meet extraordinary needs by change in emphasis and arrangement without loss of essential form” (Franklin D. Roosevelt, “First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1932).

The New Deal redefined the purpose of government. No longer was it enough for the government to protect the rights of individuals. The Founders’ regime of limited government, Roosevelt believed, had created a new class of industrial titans, “malefactors of great wealth,” who had acquired tyrannical power over farmers, small businessmen, consumers, and workers. It was now necessary for the government to redress this imbalance of power, to redistribute income and wealth, and to provide economic security for the victims of the old system. In the 1932 campaign he called for “an economic declaration of rights,” a new Bill of Rights that would provide citizens with such goods as jobs, housing, education, recreation, and health care.

In the 1932 campaign Franklin D. Roosevelt called for “an economic declaration of rights,” a new Bill of Rights that would provide citizens with such goods as jobs, housing, education, recreation, and health care.

Roosevelt’s initial strategy was to promote a system of industrial and agricultural cartels created by government.

The Agricultural Adjustment Act would enable farmers to limit crop production in order to increase the prices they got, with government subsidies if those prices were not reached, paid for by taxes on processors of farm commodities. The National Industrial Recovery Act invited industries to devise “codes of fair competition”—to limit production, raise prices, and agree to bargain with labor unions. The New Dealers hoped that these schemes would produce reliable profits for businessmen and farmers, who would then increase their own spending and hiring, and thus facilitate economic recovery. They had, however, clearly failed by the time the Supreme Court declared them unconstitutional in 1935 and 1936.

The administration did not abandon its initial strategy. A “second New Deal” followed further Democratic victories in 1934 and adjusted to the Court’s constitutional objections—for example, by providing benefits to farmers from general revenue and promoting crop reduction as “soil conservation.” It enacted more specific price- and production-fixing measures for particular industries like coal, oil, and motor transportation. It promoted labor unions with the National Labor Relations (Wagner) Act, which compelled employers to bargain exclusively with whatever organization a majority of its workers chose to represent them. It regulated capital markets by the Securities and Exchange Commission and passed legislation strengthening the power of the Federal Reserve Board. It also embarked on massive public works spending and government employment programs, adopting and gradually applying the economic philosophy of John Maynard Keynes that government spending was the cure for depression and unemployment. Congress also provided long-term policies for old-age pensions, unemployment insurance, and insurance for widows and orphans in the Social Security Act of 1935. This was said to be insurance paid for by one’s earnings, rather than a welfare payment.

Large Democratic majorities in Congress accepted the proposals of the president, but the Supreme Court remained an obstacle. Roosevelt said nothing about the Court when he ran for re-election in 1936, winning a landslide victory that increased Democratic congressional majorities still further. A month after his second inauguration, he asked Congress to increase the size of the Supreme Court so that he could appoint six new justices. This “Court-packing plan” shocked the country, split the Democratic party, and went down to defeat. Except for the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, which established a national minimum wage and abolished child labor, Congress did not enact any further New Deal legislation. But the Court responded to the threat by abandoning its objections to New Deal programs, so Roosevelt was able to claim that he had “lost the battle but won the war.”

Upholding the Wagner Act and Social Security Act, as well as state economic regulations, the Court no longer used the due process clause of the Fourteenth and Fifth Amendments or the dual federalism of the Tenth Amendment, to protect property rights.

Charles Evans Hughes was Chief Justice of the Supreme Court from 1930-1941

After 1937, the Court stepped aside when it came to economic regulations. The states were free to exercise their police powers to legislate for the safety, health, welfare and morals of the people, unrestrained by the Fourteenth Amendment, the due process clause of which had been held to protect fundamental economic freedoms such as the “liberty of contract.” Congress could do [virtually anything] under the interstate commerce power and its power to tax and spend. The Court declared in the 1938 case of  U.S. v. Carolene Products  that it would apply a stricter standard of constitutional protection to non-economic rights and the rights of minority groups especially.

The Second World War had many of the same effects as the First, establishing a wartime economy in which the government controlled prices and rationed scarce goods in the Office of Price Administration, one of many new agencies. Government control of the wartime economy included extraordinarily high rates of taxation, inflation, the promotion of labor unions, wage and price controls, and outright rationing. The Second World War, like the First, produced a public reaction against these economic controls after the war ended. But the most important New Deal programs survived the postwar readjustment and many of them, like Social Security, expanded. Liberals were disappointed that they were unable to bring the New Deal to completion, as President Harry Truman proposed in his “Fair Deal” campaign. Conservatives were disappointed that the Republican Eisenhower administration did not roll back the New Deal. Labor unions continued to grow, but their powers were limited by the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947, whose most important provision permitted states to prohibit agreements that compelled workers to join unions. Over time, more capital would be invested and economic growth would occur in these “right to work” states of the South and West.

The New Deal and the war had produced a myriad of administrative agencies that combining legislative, executive and judicial functions.

These powers were largely confirmed in the Administrative Procedure Act of 1946, which attempt to guarantee due process to persons and companies who were accused to violating administrative regulations. As the Cold War settled in, especially with the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950, many elements of the wartime economy in both world wars, such as conscription, continued after World War II. President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned about an excessively militarized economy—what he called the “military-industrial complex”—in his 1961 farewell address (Dwight D. Eisenhower, “Farewell Address,” January 17, 1961). At the height of the Cold War the U.S. spent 10 percent of its gross domestic product on defense.

The twenty years following World War II were prosperous. Economic growth was slow but widely shared; this period saw less income inequality (measured by the share of national income going to the top and bottom quintiles of the population) than any before or since.

American producers were temporarily ahead of foreign competition, and American workers similarly benefited from laws that severely limited immigration until 1965. These were the years of the “big-unit economy,” in which a small number of firms dominated their markets, and the country valued stability and equality above entrepreneurial risk-taking. Policymakers believed that modern, Keynesian economics, by which government fiscal powers could prevent depressions and inflation, now enabled the government to ensure growth and full employment without excessive inflation. In the generation after the Second World War, the American people had great confidence in the government. This fed another great expansion of progressivism, now called liberalism, in the “Great Society” of the 1960s.

Related Content

Franklin Roosevelt and The New Deal Presentation

The new deal.

• Was initiated by Franklin Delano Roosevelt;
• He was the 32nd president of the United States;
• He governed from 1933 to 1938;
• His administration inherited the devastation of the great Depression;
• The great depression commenced in 1929 with the stock market collapse.

Economic Objectives of the New Deal

The strengthening of the economy though:

• The empowerment of the American people;
• Dealing with the devastation of the great depression through immediate relief;
• Supporting workers;
• Boosting agriculture;
• Boosting the production of electrical power;
• The generation of jobs for the people;
• Encouraging spending so as to stir up the economy;
• Prevent bank panic;
• Restore stock market confidence;
• Protect American industries from total collapse;
• Uphold the emerging economic authority of the United States.

The ills the New Deal Sought to Heal

The Strategy Identified To deal with The Economic Concerns of the Time

Putting cash in the pockets of Americans (The Equivalent of President Bush and President Obama’s Stimulus Package).

Government funding for massive projects in various areas such as electric energy, water and irrigation, and industry in general.

Direct support for workers, professionals and farmers.

Twelve Major New Deal programs

• Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA);
• Public Works Administration (PWA);
• Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA);
• Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA);
• Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC);
• Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC);
• National Recovery Administration (NRA);
• Works Progress Administration (WPA);
• Rural Electrification Administration (REA);
• National Youth Administration (NYA);
• Wagner Act;
• Social Security Act.

Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA)

Was created as the Emergency Relief Administration in 1932 by President Herbert Hoover.

It was given the new name under president Roosevelt in 1933 .

The purpose was to give grants to states to help women start self help projects.

It was replaced by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1935. which also ended in 1943.

Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC)

• This was established in the 31st of March 1933.
• This was FDR’s first month in office.
• The CCC provided work opportunities mainly for unskilled youth.
• The major work was construction of buildings and working in national parks.
• The program ended on the 30th of June 1943.

Works Progress Administration (WPA)

It replaced the federal Emergency Relief Administration in 1935 (Taylor 21).

The aim was to create jobs for the people (Taylor 20).

By the time it was ended in 1943,close to eight million jobs had been created by the WPA.

Public Works Administration (PWA)

• Created in response to the great Depression in 1933 by the National Industrial Recovery Act.
• It concentrated on heavy spending in public works such as bridges and roads so as to trigger industrial growth.
• It ended in 1939.
• Below: Fort Peck –Montana, one of the largest dams in the planet resulted from PWA.

Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA)

• Created in 1933 to pay farmers to produce less and raise crop value.
• Was amended in 1938 to include new changes that outlawed taxing crop processors.
• The agency still exists.

Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)

• Created on the 18th of May 1933.
• Main objective was to control flooding along the Tennessee River and generate electric power.
• The project still exists.
• Below: Wilson Dam-First to be built under the TVA.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)

• Established in 1933.
• Aim was to provide security for deposits for member banks.
• It still exists for the same purpose.
• More duties include supervision of certain financial institutions.

The Wagner Act

• Enacted in 1935 under the sponsorship of Senator Wagner. It is also called the National Labor Relations Act.
• It was formed to protect workers on private firms from being mistreated.
• It was amended in 1947 and it still exists.
• Below: FDR sings the Wagner Act 19 1935.

The Social Security Act

• Enacted in 1935 with the aim of protecting the old, needy families, the disabled and the unemployed.
• It has been amended but it basically remains the same. Medicare and Medicaid are part of the act currently.
• It still exists.
• Below: First beneficiary of Social Security-Ida Fuller.

The National Recovery Administration (NRA)

• Formed in 1933.
• Declared unconstitutional in 1935 by the US Supreme Court.
• It died in 1935, but most of its provisions reappeared in the Wagner Act.
• Below: First NRA Director, Mr. Hugh Johnson.

National Youth Administration (NYA)

• Formed as part of the WPA in 1935.
• It’s aim was to offer work study programs for high school and college students.
• It died in 1943.
• Below: NYA Guidance session.

Rural Electrification Administration (REA)

Was created by an executive order in 1935 by FDR and approved by the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 (Brown 19).

The aim was to spearhead the electrification process of rural America (Brown 34).

It worked hand in hand with TVA and other New Deal Job creation ideas and achieved massive success. It was abolished in 1994 and its place was taken by the Rural Utilities Service.

Works Cited

Brown, Deward. Electricity for Rural America: The Fight for the REA (Contributions in Economics and Economic History). New York: Greenwood Press,1980.Print.

Taylor, David . Soul of a People: The WPA Writers’ Project Uncovers Depression America New York: Wiley & Sons, 2009.Print.

www.en.wikipedia.org

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• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2022, August 27). Franklin Roosevelt and The New Deal. https://ivypanda.com/essays/franklin-roosevelt-and-the-new-deal/

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IvyPanda . 2022. "Franklin Roosevelt and The New Deal." August 27, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/franklin-roosevelt-and-the-new-deal/.

1. IvyPanda . "Franklin Roosevelt and The New Deal." August 27, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/franklin-roosevelt-and-the-new-deal/.

Bibliography

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28 Saving Capitalism: The New Deal Era, 1933-1940

New Deal, 1933-1940

Jim Ross-Nazzal and Students

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt went to work to bring immediate relief, long-term recovery and to save capitalism. In the first 100 days, President Roosevelt helped create relief opportunities to include the CCC, FERA, AAA, TVA, NRA, PWA, and HOLA. Then there was a hold over from the Hover administration, the RFC.

The National Archives hosts an online display of CCC images entitled Spotlight: Photographs Documenting the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) . The two images above come from that portal. Places where women received training were called She-She-She camps. These were the brainchild of Eleanor Roosevelt. The women’s camps never assisted anywhere near the number of women as the CCC camps helped men, but the She-She-She camps could be considered part of Roosevelt’s work towards gender equality and Civil Rights during the Great Depression.

A version of the CCC exists today. It’s called AmeriCorp.

The Federal Emergency Relief Administration was led by Harry Hopkins. Between 1933 and 1935 his organization spent roughly $3 billion. FERA’s job (no pun intended) was to create unskilled jobs in state and federal government. One unique aspect of FERA was vocational education. FERA was partly segregated in the sense that there was a female administrator named Ellen Sullivan Woodward who directed work for women, such as clerical and secretarial.

Henry Wallace led the Agriculture Adjustment Administration (AAA) paid subsidies on hogs, dairy, wheat, corn and cotton in order to stabilize prices to the World War I era. The AAA did not succeed in its goal -massive need of food during World War II did, however. Subsidies are a part of farming life in America today. In fact, in 2019 the Trump administration paid farmers a subsidy to make up for their losses due to the tariff war with China.

Another work relief job program was the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). There was a section of the American southeast (roughly eastern North Carolina to northern Alabama) that was exceptionally rural and without electricity. Ran by David Lilienthal,  the project of building dams for flood control and electricity as well as fertilizer and navigation management for seven states and employed around 9,000 people.

The National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) created the National Recovery Administration (NRA). Led by retired General Hugh S. Johnson, the NRA sought to bring together labor, industries and government to, in a nutshell, fix prices, to include a minimum wage.

“Johnson created ten codes dealing with the largest nation segments in industrial and commercial: steel, automobiles, lumber, coal, petroleum, textiles, garment making. building construction, wholesale trade, and retail trade.” [3]

The NRA was supposed to reduce competition, allow all businesses to make a profit while providing a livable wage for their employees and a fair-priced product for customers. The Supreme Court will find the NRA unconstitutional by a vote of 9-0. The mascot of the NRA was the blue eagle, which the NRA’s detractors called the sick chicken.

The NAACP called the NRA the Negro Removal Act because business owners who paid a minimum wage would fire black employees and replace them with white employees, thus raising the unemployment rate for African Americans.

One supporter of the NRA was a Philadelphia businessman named Burt Bell. In 1933, the National Football League gave Bell and the City of Brotherly Love an expansion team. Bell chose the Eagles as his new team’s name after his support for FDR, the NRA, and the Blue Eagle.

The Public Works Administration, lead by Harold Ickes, spent about $7 billion in building around 34,000 projects such as dams, bridges, ports, hospitals. court houses, airports and other public facilities. The Hoover Dam is a PWA project.

Harry Hopkins ran the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The WPA hired many unskilled workers for unskilled jobs, such as teaching and nursing aids but also to build roads, dig ditches and lay pipes. However, the WPA also hired musicians, actors and director as well as painters/artists and writers. The Federal Writers’ Project will eventually locate thousands of ex-slaves and take their oral histories, which are available here .

The Home Owners’ Loan Act (HOLA) of 1933 allowed homeowners to keep their homes by “transferring” their mortgages from the bank or financial institution to the federal government under the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation. The life of the note as extended to 15 years, thus lowering the monthly payment. Nevertheless some still fell behind and the government ended up foreclosing on hundreds of thousands of homes. But some aspect of HOLA was investment based -the federal government could not lose money in order to help as many people as possible. Thus, government officials determined which areas of cities were better and worse investment opportunities. Which areas were not likely to be good investments and those areas were marked in red. During the modern Civil Rights era (even beyond the Fair Housing Act f 1968) some banks would not give mortgages to people of color and landlords would bot rent to people of color outside of the “redlines.” Redlining became a way to instill racial segregation after the Great Depression. In the 1970s, Donald Trump had a history of racial bias in housing and was charged by the federal government for refusing to rent his apartments to people of color -years after such practices became against federal law. The parties came to a settlement. [4] Something along the lines of the HOLC exists today. As part of the G.I. Bill, the federal government guarantees mortgages in order for more veterans to secure mortgages without needing the best credit or the down payment. Congress will also pass legislation to save farms and businesses.

One of the first things Herbert Hoover tried was known as the Reconstruction Finance Corporation. The RFC loaned money to state governments, banks and big business such as railroads, which in turn would save banks and governments, modernize industries, launch public works projects and hire people, who would then be able to afford the stuff being produced. Problems with the RFC under Hoover was that there were possible instances of loans being made using political metrics, the first head of the RFC changed parties shortly after Hoover appointed him to lead the RFC, and the RFC was somewhat limited in scope and depth. Also known as Trickle Down economics. George H.W. Bush called it Voodoo Economics . Under FDR, the man selected to head the RFC was Mr. Houston -Jesse H. Jones, 1933-1939. Jones greatly expanded the RFC into every state, began buying gold to increase its value, loaned money to various businesses (the RFC under Hoover tended to limit loans to railroads) and creted its own finance company to loan money to home buyers -the Federal National Mortgage Association, also known as Fannie Mae . These and other measures made the RFC an important part of the New Deal.

My students looked at acts of Congress, federal organizations, and individuals under the New Deal. Here are some of their findings.

In May of 1933, Harry L. Hopkins became the first director of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration. FERA took over Hoover’s Emergency Relief Administration.

Part of FERA was designated to help people find government jobs. Many times, local and state governments came up with school programs to give teachers jobs and even went as far as civil works projects. [5] People without the ability to work received help, and cash relief programs were aimed to help people that were unemployed with direct benefits; like food, shelter or money. [6] This is important because it translates into today with the daily option that some individuals still have to acquire food stamps and unemployment checks. It is also important because, with millions of people out of jobs, spending across the nation decreased and led to more unemployment; therefore, with more money put into the economy, the government was able to create more jobs.

The Federal Emergency Relief Act established a Rural Relief Program, or Rural Rehabilitation Division, that distributed funds into rural sectors.

The Rural Relief Programs’ main purpose was to rehabilitate low-income families and establish those families in rural relief camps. The idea was, families that were affected by the economic downfall would stay inside the camps until their financial circumstances improved. By 1935, states needed additional funds so FERA approved non-profit organizations known as rural rehabilitation corporations. Forty-five corporations were formed that same year.  Established throughout the United States, each corporation  was designated to improve the rural relief program. In order to improve the rural relief program, corporations purchased acre plots and later loaned these plots to families in the relief camps. Each corporation had its requirements on what could be constructed on the plots and how payments were going to be managed.

For instance, Texas allowed their families to build four-bedroom houses with indoor plumbing and could acquire the plot with no down payment. [7] In short, the Rural Relief Program managed to assist agrarian families in the economic downfall. Initially, FERA would provide payments directly to the poor, which aided the unemployed individuals as quickly as possible. However, the process seemed very degrading in many ways.

Although  they started with direct payments of cash and kindness for those unemployed individuals, FERA’s funds increasingly went to work relief projects which would hire the unemployed for projects such as constructing roads and buildings and sometimes hired middle-class professionals as well. [8]

FERA also took over projects started by the Civil Works Administration in the winter of 1933-1934 when the CWA was terminated. Work relief programs, such as the Work Progress Administration (WPA) began in 1935, and was created under the auspices of the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act .

The WPA paid for both projects and workers, but as much as possible was supposed to go into wages. By December, the WPA employed millions of workers, paying them wages that were higher than a direct relief assistant. The WPA continued to expand the variety of projects, building the nation’s infrastructure, and in the end achieved far beyond its expectations in employment of construction projects and work relief for manual workers. [9] The WPA agency was also able to launch more programs for artists, actors, authors, etc. [10]

The WPA employed about 600,000 Texans to build a myriad of projects, such as Dealey Plaza in Dallas where President Kennedy was shot in 1963. [11] In Houston, some of those projects included the creation of De Pelchin Faith Home and Children’s Bureau, development of Memorial Park, and landscaping and other improvements on the University of Houston campus. [12]

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was one of the main programs that President Franklin Roosevelt created to attempt to stabilize the economy during the 1930’s. The CCC conserved and amplified the natural beauty of America. The program was a main staple to the rise of otherwise down falling communities. This section will discuss how the CCC affected the American society and peoples. [13] The program would look out for natural resources and create jobs. Roosevelt finalized the details which included who would be eligible to work for the program: young, single, males who would spend some of their wages in the local community.

Roosevelt decided the program would employ men between the ages of 18 to 25. Although there was an exception to the age rule up to 27: in May of 1933, Roosevelt approved the enrollment of approximately 25,000 veterans from the Spanish American War and WWI. [14] Roosevelt only wanted to employ 500,000 in the beginning– he probably didn’t realize what great success the program would be, but as the need for jobs and the type of work to be done was great, the number of enrollees throughout the years increased dramatically. The CCC ended up employing over 3 million men from 1933 to 1942. [15]

Men would qualify only if their family was on some sort of government assistance and they would only be employed up to eighteen months. [16]

Enrollees, which is what young men working for the CCC were called, were to live in wooden barracks and given only two employee uniforms. [17] African American enrollees were segregated from their Caucasian counterparts. [18] Camp tenants were identified by placing a letter at the end of the camp name. For example, an African American camp would be “Company 410-C,” the “C” standing for “colored,” and a Caucasian camp would be “Company 411-W,” with the “W” standing for white. [19] The camps would house anywhere from 150 to 200 men. [20] These young men had to be willing to send money home, sometimes as much as $25 of their $30 back home to their families. [21] Besides a paycheck, the CCC provided employees with nourishment, attire, medical care, and educational opportunities, such as education. [22]

Education was provided to enrollees once they were off duties and it was not mandatory. They were able to gain knowledge and skills that would make them more employable once their time with the conservation program was complete. The benefits provided by the CCC commenced with the first camp opening, Camp Roosevelt.

In late April of 1933, a young man named John Ripley climbed a pine tree at the George Washington National Forest. Ripley, only tied by a rope, began chopping branch by branch until he made it back to the bottom and the pine was completely bare of any branches. As soon as Ripley tied the rope to the American flag, his peers, who were all wearing identical olive-green uniforms, began pulling the flag upwards onto the tree. Film crews, magazine photographers, and newspaper reporters all witnessed this event. [23]

The Camp Roosevelt event was a glimpse as to what the CCC was going to be working towards, the modification of natural landscape. In the nine years the CCC was active the enrollees planted 2 billion trees, slowed oil erosion on 40 million acres of farmland, and developed 800 new state parks. [24]

The CCC provided many young men who needed the work with the opportunity to help their family by providing a place where they knew income would be continuous so long as they remained enrolled in the program. Since the CCC only allowed select men to work, the unemployed population and economic crisis still existed. The need for economic security drove some men to great lengths to try and receive compensation for an idea they did not originate.

Two people wanting credit for the idea of the CCC were Joseph D Wilson of Atlanta and Major Julius Hochfelder, from New York. Wilson, a 36-year-old unemployed electrician and father of two, began writing letters to President Roosevelt constantly claiming that he was the originator of the idea for the CCC. [25] When he finally received a response he was upset that the letter stated the president was the person who originated the idea for the CCC and not him, Wilson took it upon himself to travel to the White House to personally confront Roosevelt. While there, he was denied entry to the executive room Wilson became enraged and retrieved a knife from his pocket and attempted to take his own life. [26] He was not successful in his attempt.

Hochfelder demanded a position with the CCC in exchange for him coming up with the idea of the program. He made his demands in the many letters written to the CCC headquarters. [27] Hochfelder had supporters who also wrote in wanting Hochfelder to receive what they believed was rightful compensation. Fechner decided to respond to a supporter of Hochfelder and explained, “We have letters from a large number of individuals…who feel they first conceived the idea of the organization. I merely point out these things so that you may know that Major Hochfelder is not alone in thinking he was entitled to some reward for suggesting the CCC plan to the president.” [28]

The CCC did not only affect the American people, but it also affected the conservation movement itself. The enactment of the CCC split conservation movement into two groups, the conservationists and the preservationists. [29]

The best example to use in explaining the views from the conservationists and the preservationists is Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park. Gifford Pinchot, first chief of the U.S. Forest Service and a conservationist, wanted the valley to be dammed in order to provide water for San Francisco. [30] John Muir, a nature writer and founder of the Sierra Club – an environmental organization, opposed the damming of the valley and insisted on the preservation of Hetch Hetchy Valley as “an aesthetic and spiritual resource” for the public. [31] . The dam was built and the first water reached San Francisco in 1934.

The Civilian Conservation Corps affected many different aspects of America. The program helped unemployed families gain some economic stability while also teaching those enrolled, through education, how to become a more appealing candidate for employment. While the CCC was supposed to be non-discriminatory, the segregation of races was still very much present, akin to the segregation of the US military. Despite this segregation, the program’s enrollees largely contributed to the conservation and preservation of American landscape. The program was very successful during the time it operated and helped America and American citizens improve. [32]

Amanda Peters, in the Fall of 2019, looked at Harold Ickes.

Harold L. Ickes was one of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s most important allies. Ickes was a former newspaper reporter from Chicago turned bulldog politician. [33] Ickes actively campaigned for Roosevelt in the Midwest. [34] Ickes, living in Chicago as the time, was summoned to Washington to meet with Roosevelt. [35]

The President believed the two of them spoke the same language and asked that he accept the position as Secretary of Interior, which was a position Ickes would honor for thirteen years. [36] He was known to be honest, fearless, tough, and a little bit shrewd; he was just the person the President was looking for to join his cabinet. [37] He would later go on to earn the nickname “Honest Harold.” [38]

While the unemployment rate had dipped, thanks to Roosevelt’s tireless attempts such as the CCC, vast amounts of citizens remained out of work. Responding to the continuous problem, the Public Work Administration program was created to put unemployed men and women to work on projects designed and proposed by local governments. [39] Harold L. Ickes was named the head of that program. [40] The Public Work Administration provided grants-in-aid to local governments for large infrastructure projects, such as bridges tunnels, schoolhouses, and libraries. [41]

The program completed over thirty-four thousand projects, including the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and the Queens-Midtown Tunnel in New York. [42] The plans put millions of Americans to work. For the first time in years, people had hope.

The Great Depression did not end during Roosevelt’s first one hundred days in office, but numerous efforts were executed to aid in economic hardship. With robust allies, including Harold L. Ickes, Americans were starting to put their trust back into the government. Ickes was one of Franklin D Roosevelt’s greatest advocates who believed in his vision and devoted his career to the relief of the American people.

Frances Perkins did not just up on the scene when FDR plucked her from seemingly obscurity to become his Secretary of Labor and the first woman Cabinet member. Perkins lived a rich life as a labor leader and equal rights activist. This section looks as Perkins’s life before and during her tenure as Secretary of Labor and some students contributed context to include Rocio Joya, Debrework Tassew, and Joel Flores (and me, too).

During the time of the Great Depression women were faced with even more challenges. They were treated unfairly in the society and held to a much lower standard. Females were only meant to  take care of the household and the family. It was extraordinary to demand higher regards. “But girls would not study physics: it was ‘unfeminine.’” [44] Predictably the situations where all the same for Frances Perkins. “But her gender and her identity as a middle-class “social worker” also caused organized labor, the press, congress and even some of her colleagues in the Roosevelt administration to judge her unfairly.” [45] [46]

Despite the life style that most women were faced with during this time; she decided to be different and speak up her own perspective. She often referred to her self as revolutionist since the ideas she was proposing were not only ahead of their time but also coming from a woman. But she did not let it stop her, “feminism means revolution and I am a revolutionist.” [47] She was determined to make a change. “ Perkins became the impetus while FDR understood the need, and together they had the political skill to propose and shepherd legislation to successful outcomes.” [48] Perkins became the driving force behind the reconstruction of a better America. “Perkins was ever mindful that she was a direct descendant of Revolutionary War patriot James Otis, who had railed against taxation without representation.” [49] [50]

Frances Perkins determination and hard work was undeniably manifested despite her gender. “In April 1910, Perkins became Secretary of the Consumers’ League of New York City, a position which involved investigating and reporting on the working conditions in the women-dominated industries.” [51] She was the first women in history to take on this role. “Gov. Franklin Delano Roosevelt named her (1929) industrial commissioner of New York state to direct the enforcement of factory and labor laws.” [52] This gave her the upper had in making crucial decisions that would help in creating more stable working condition.

In Honoring the Achievements of FDR’s Secretary of Labor, author Jessica Breitman mentions the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire of 1911 as the incident that initiated the working relationship between Perkins and FDR. “As a result of poor safety regulations, such as faulty fire escapes and locked doors, the workers could not escape the scorching fire… 146 workers died that day.” [53] Frances Perkins almost immediately took action and with the recommendation of ex-President Teddy Roosevelt Perkins created a “legislative panel that investigated factories and other workplaces and made sure they were up to code.” [54] “Frances Perkins,” Roosevelt said, “you can’t fail.” [55]   Of course there was a nearly-equally long relationship between Perkins and Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. As governor of New York, Perkins served him and the state in the same role as she would as his Secretary of Labor.

President Roosevelt selected Perkins to be his Secretary of Labor in part because of their long history together. Under her watch, she reorganized the Labor Department, got rid of old Hoover era cronies, and talked FDR into launching a public works program: “Unemployment is the pressing present issue,” she reported to FDR. “The first thing I think we should do, and this should emanate from the Secretary of Labor’s Office, although it’s a general problem, is to find some way of general relief and to do public works . . . They should be thought of as temporary. There are plenty of public works in different parts of the country, and we’ll have to devise a fiscal arrangement whereby the federal government can assist the states.” [56] In other words, Perkins was the impetus for Roosevelt’s work relief programs in general and the CCC, for example, in particular.

Before Perkins would agree to take the Labor job, she present FDR with a list of requirements to include a national minimum wage and some form of old-age pension. “About 44 million people collected Social Security checks each month; millions received unemployment and worker’s compensation or the minimum wage; others got to go home after an eight-hour day.” [57] . Among her accomplishments during her retirement from federal service was penning an autobiographical look at her relationship with FDR, The Roosevelt I Knew (1946). “When Frances Perkins first met Franklin D. Roosevelt at a dance in 1910, she was a young social worker and he was an attractive young man making a modest debut in state politics. Over the next thirty-five years, she watched his career unfold, becoming both a close family friend and a trusted political associate whose tenure as secretary of labor spanned his entire administration.” From the publisher. [58]

Appointed to lead the Department of labor in 1933, Secretary Perkins sponsored the Public Construction Projects program to provide employment to blacks; this program set aid aside specifically to hire blacks. [59] Furthermore, she testified to Congress on the importance of the passage of President Roosevelt’s plan to form the Civilian Conservation Corps and put America’s young unemployed men to work. [60] During the nine-years of the Corps existence it had employed at least 200,000 black workers and 87 percent of which participated in education programs that helped open the door to higher skilled jobs. [61] [62]

Iqra Yamin, an online student from the Spring of 2019, looked at Upton Sinclair.

Upton Sinclair had written dozens of influential books and became a famous leftist before running twice for governor of California as a socialist. He was encouraged to run again as a Democrat, with a plan based on ideas of his early writings.

“ End Poverty in California (EPIC) ” was a “production-for-use” plan that was meant to help the unemployed, the elderly, and the poor. Sinclair’s campaign built its structure upon the flaws of the New Deal, a plan made by Roosevelt. Although he supported it initially, put into effect, promises such as social security and repayment plans were forgotten, and Sinclair felt that the New Deal did not go far enough. He proposed that the unemployed work in unused farms and factories, which could be seized by the state from any property where the property taxes continue to be unpaid. [63]

EPIC was quickly adopted by the followers of his novel, “The Jungle”, and thousands of supporters to the plan followed on as well. Sinclair’s pamphlet, I, Governor , became the bestselling book right before he won the Democratic primary by a landslide. Sinclair’s impact on California did not go unnoticed, and a few days after the primary, he met with President Roosevelt. Although Roosevelt did not publicly endorse EPIC, he admitted that the framework of the New Deal could be “experimented” with. [64]

Sinclair’s opponent, Frank Merriam, was an unpopular Republican who used dirty tactics, such as receiving funding off the books, in order to protect his seat as governor. [65] The result was ninety-eight percent of newspapers opposing him, and almost six million pamphlets and two hundred thousand billboards taking his words out of context to paint him as a communist menace. While Roosevelt waited quietly, Sinclair fell in the polls, and the president was advised to not endorse him. Roosevelt’s political advisor, saw to it that Merriam would later support the New Deal, in exchange for continued silence of the White House in terms of his unfair campaign. [66]

Although Sinclair lost, the movement was already in place, and twenty EPIC supporting candidates won into state legislature. In 1934, Harry Hopkins revealed a similar plan, “End Poverty in America.” Coupled along with, EPIC largely pushed the New Deal left, focusing on legislation for public works and Social Security. Combined with the Works Progress Administration and National Labor Relations Act, the New Deal was turned into “The Second New Deal”, which was more anti business and pro-labor. [67]

The Second New Deal resulted in the Social Security Act, pension funds towards retired people, unemployment insurance, and many other acts and programs. Most of these are still in use today, under one form or another. The progress brought on by the New Deal and Second New Deal was seen as a growth in national strength, by economists and historians. Sinclair undoubtedly left an impact on the acts and policies of America, which lasted for decades and still exist today. [68]

This essay looks at a few aspects of the New Deal and the West (broadly defined as the Southwest and High Plains, but not the West Coast) . [69]

American farmers became drought-stricken by the Dust Bowl which forced them out of their homes and lands in the Southwest and High Plains. President Franklin D. Roosevelt began by initiating New Deal programs that would occur immediately after the inauguration of the first Hundred Days that aimed at relief, recovery, and reform known as the 3 R’s.

One of the first relief programs president Franklin D. Roosevelt issued was the Federal Emergency Relief Act (FERA). With Harry L. Hopkins as the director, the Federal Emergency Relief Act was set in place to help unemployment by granting 3 billion to the states for direct dole payments or preferably for wages on work projects. Under the Federal Emergency Relief Administration, in effect from 1933 to 1935, states were expected to contribute a fair share to a federal dole; if they did not, FERA Director Hopkins could cut off funds or even assume complete control over relief administration funds. This apparatus inevitably invited trouble throughout the nation, especially where recalcitrant governors attempted to use federal money to advance their political fortunes. But the conflict seemed to be especially intense in the West. [70] Fighting between Hopkins and Governors Edwing Johnson of Colorado and C. Ben Ross of Idaho destroyed chances of efficient relief administration in these two states. [71]

In the early 1930s, there were recurrent severe droughts going on in the Great Plains. Throughout Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico, and the Dakotas, high winds stirred the arid soil, loosened after years of rapid homesteading and commercial agriculture. Hundreds of dust storms ripped across the southern plains during 1933, a prelude to the major storm of May 1934, which whipped an estimated 350 million tons of earth into the sky. [72] Leaving farmers struggling with unstable farming practices, crops were killed off leaving them with no product to sell. Not only did it affected the crops, but the dust also suffocated livestock leaving farmers with very little resources.

American farmers were hit hard by the economic downturn in the 1930s. They not only had to deal with the depression but also, plummeting prices in crops, unpaid debt, and soil erosion. [73] On May 1st, Franklin Roosevelt established the Resettlement Administration which relocated urban and rural families, such as those affected by Dust Storm, to government made communities. Roosevelt appointed Rexford Tugwell as head of the Resettlement Administration. Tugwell was a part of Roosevelt’s first “Brain Trust”, a group of Columbia University academics that helped create policy recommendations leading up to the New Deal. During the two years the RA was active, it engaged in a variety of activities. One of them was financial aid and emergency loans which helped farming families that were in debt. The second project was conservation, planting trees on acreage which created a lot of miles of fire break and streams. Also educating farmers in best practices for land use. The RA built many model farm communities known as green belts around the country that housed many farm families.

Due to the crisis affecting Americans, President Roosevelt and Hugh Bennet prioritize putting a plan to help put a natural resource conservation act in place, The Soil Conservation Act. Bennet became known as “the Father of Soil Conservation” due to his influence on wanting to stop soil erosion. He would often discuss the warnings on not doing anything to stop soil conservation and how it would lead to the increase of abandoned farmland. It would take a number of years for the nation to heed Bennett’s warning but, with the New Deal, the federal government acted decisively. With funds from the newly-passed National Industrial Recovery Act, a Soil Erosion Service (SES) was created in 1933, with Hugh Bennett in charge. [74] It became another one of Roosevelt’s actions to help the country, specifically farmland and farmers to get back to their feet. The ambitious act established the Soil Conservation Service to combat soil erosion and “to preserve natural resources, control floods, prevent impairment of reservoirs, and maintain the navigability of rivers and harbors, protect public health, public lands and relieve unemployment.” [75] A year later, Congress awarded farmers that made efforts in planting grass and other things to help support the soil, leaving farmers being able to start over and plant crops.

Overproduction of crops and farm products was still a problem during the early 1930’s; the government in turn established the first Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) of 1933 to increase farmers incomes to parity level by reducing overproduction. Parity pay was a benefit payment given to farmers to slowly increase prices to those seen during the pre-war and pre-depression period. The AAA addressed overproduction by paying farmers to reduce crop acreage. Reduction in crop acreage was later disestablished after the drought of 1934 causing the Supreme Court to declare the AAA unconstitutional in 1936. The first AAA caused unemployment to rise contradictory to why New Deal agencies were established. [76] To help farmers, after the first AAA was declared unconstitutional, New Deal agencies were still implemented such as the Soil Conservation Act and Domestic Allotment Act of 1936 These agencies focused on conservation by having farmers not cultivate their land, or farm specific crops such as soybeans, and realizing the need of large crop reserves. [77] The benefit payments were there to provide income and machinery needed for production. But in order for products to meet parity level balance between production and consumption of agricultural products had to be maintained. [78] Therefore, with a bigger focus on conservation and developing large crop reserves the second AAA was formed in 1938. [79] It was seen that between 1933-1939 higher expenditures were made to western states through all the New Deal farm related agencies. [80] Although prices were still not at parity level between 1933-1939, income did increase substantially with the second AAA and other New Deal farm agencies. [81]

The West has always been the place in US History where new ideas are put in motion, since the start of the Manifest Destiny. However, post- Great Depression, the West became very divided, due to the fact that for such a long time the West had an ideology of self-helped and hostility to governmental interference. Very Jeffersonian. This all changed when the New Deal (1933-1940) was set in motion by president Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Most of the West was in dire need of employment, allowing president Roosevelt to set in place programs like FERA, CCC, AAA, Resettlement Administration, Soil Conservation Service and many more. Through this president Roosevelt brought the 3R’s: relief, recovery, and reform, helping the West economically and getting rid of the “Jeffersonian” notion.

This essay looks at the PWA through the lens of Native American History. Interesting stuff! [82]

As the United States’ economy was declining during the Great Depression, unemployment was at its highest. US Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins proposed the idea of what became the Public Works Administration (PWA), and in response, the National Industry Recovery Act of 1933 created the PWA, led by Harold Ickes, which focused on building large-scale public works projects to improve employment and revive the economy, however, some of those efforts had unforeseen consequences. This essay will examine the effect that the Shasta Dam and Hoover Dam projects of the PWA had on Native Americans.

Transferred to the federal Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) as a public works project for the PWA because the state of California could not afford to fund it, the Shasta Dam (built from 1938-1945) is a concrete arch-gravity dam across the Sacramento River in Northern California. [83] The Shasta Dam had directly affected Winnemem Wintu tribe because it destroyed part of their land (homeland, tribal, and burial sites). The Central Valley Project had put pressure on U.S. Indian policy because a study from Redding Record-Searchlight revealed that northern California would be faced “with a power shortage in 1934 unless new plants [were] brought into production.” [84]  This left Native Americans with less time for negotiating, especially for allottees who were hard to locate. As a result, the U.S Indian policy led to the dispossession of about 175 heirs and allottees. [85] In the first Indian allotment sale, Roy Nash, superintendent of the Sacramento Indian Agency, told Jimmie Mitchell, a Wintu, that “[t]his land would be flooded when the Shasta Dam is completed, and if sale is not made, it will be condemned,” which shows how strict negotiations were with the U.S. government. [86] In addition, burial sites that could not be found or were not near the twenty-six designated cemeteries recorded by the BOR, were to be left behind. One Wintu said, “it was against all Christian ethics to move them,” as government officials had laid the Wintu’s ancestors’ graves to higher ground, yet now spiritual sites and homelands are under water due to the Shasta Reservoir. [87]

The Wintu tribe were also unequally compensated for the land property taken by the government because some landowners could have been offered anywhere from ten to fifty dollars per acre, depending on the type of land. Winnemem Wintu Spiritual Leader and elder, Caleen Sisk-Franco, mentioned that most Wintu landowners were offered around “thirty-five dollars per acre for their allotments.” [88] In addition, property loss did not take into account of those who were not offered allotments, and ceremonial sites hold cultural, spiritual, and social value that could not be purchased. The problem was that the Central Value Project Lands Acquisition Act had “superseded all regulations and procedures that had previously applied to negotiations for the purchase of Native land allotments within the CVP area,” and it was vaguely worded which gave Ickes discretion over the amount of compensation and on fund use. [89] On the other hand, the Hoover Dam had affected Native Americans differently than the Shasta Dam.

The Hoover Dam, located on the Colorado River and near Boulder City, Nevada, had indirectly affected the Navajo tribe because a stock reduction (forcing the Navajo to reduce or sell their own animals) was implemented by the Federal government in 1934 which declined the Navajos’ economy. The U.S Soil Conservation Service had believed that silt (from the San Juan and Little Colorado tributaries of the Colorado River) was coming from the Navajo Reservation, which was a threat to Hoover Dam because the silt was causing land erosion on the reservation. The Federal government believed that overgrazing was the main cause of land erosion, despite the fact that the government had “misunderstood the erosion cycle and its causes… [the government blamed the erosion] largely on Navajo lands.” [90] As a solution to save Hoover Dam, the Federal government decided to place a stock reduction on the Navajo Reservation which forced them to sell and reduce the number of sheep and goats. The Federal government thought that the Navajo could meet wool and meat production with fewer animals, and that horticulture (agriculture of plants), in place of stock raising, could sustain the Navajos’ economic system.

Consequently, the assumptions of the Federal government would greatly affect the Navajos’ economy, especially among poor Navajos. When the Bureau of Indians Affairs, led by commissioner John Collier, realized that the Navajo had to sell their cull to make up for loss profit for the sheep purchase, about 148,344 goats were then targeted in the second stock reduction. The second stock reduction mostly affected poor Navajos because they had smaller herds which consisted of goats mostly because poor Navajos couldn’t afford sheep, unlike wealthier Navajos who could; the cost of living of the Navajo was also raised by 20 percent. [91] Peter Price, a Navajo who believed that goats were not meant to be marketed, told senators in a hearing that goats provide milk and meat to his children, and survived the winter better than sheep which shows that goats were a subsistence animal and held “practically no market value except among the Indians.” [92] Even though the Navajo did receive compensation for the stock reduction (about 1 million to 449,000 sheep units), sheep and goats held more value than cash could offer, and some Navajos had to leave the reservation to find work. [93] To show the mistrust formed by the stock reduction, the Navajos had rejected the building of a constitutional form of government proposed by the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934–the IRA had promised to improve Indian economic life but had little influence on the Navajos’ economy. [94] Therefore, one can argue that leaders like John Collier were doing little to help the Navajos economy and was more concerned about the safety of Hoover Dam.

While the building of the Shasta Dam had directly affected the lands of the Winnemem Wintu tribe, the Hoover Dam, in contrast, had damaged the Navajos’ economy by the Federal government forcing the Navajo to kill and sell their own sheep and goats. Even though laws like the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 were meant to improve Native Americans lives during the New Deal era, Native Americans were still misrepresented by the U.S. government and some might continue to face problems with future changes of dams. [95]

I would like to thank Samuel Brown, Daniel Diaz, Vanessa Garza, Andrea Gonzalez, Glenda Gonzalez, Ashley Nandlal, Kim Nguyen, Adam Obregon, Nidia Perez, Guadalupe Rangel, Faith-Doris Olweny, Amanda Peters, Debrework Tassew, Christina Wagner, Iqra Yamin, James Frazier, Leonel Lizalde, Alejandra Lopez, Tatyana Marquez, Damian Mendez, Paulina Mosqueda, Christopher Alejo, David Arriaga, Snethia Bell, Le’azha Booker, Carolina Camacho Torres, Angelica Castillo, Raul Castillo, Alvaro Covarrubias, Adrian Deleon, Ly Do and Bria Fuller.

As with the other chapters, I have no doubt that this chapter contains inaccuracies therefore please point them out to me so that I may make this chapter better. Also, I am looking for contributors so if you are interested in adding anything at all, please contact me at [email protected] . 

• https://herb.ashp.cuny.edu/items/show/520 Last accessed 10 MAR 2020 ↵
• Ibid. ↵
• Hugh Johnson (1881-1942).” Faith Olney from Living New Deal, https://livingnewdeal.org/glossary/hugh-johnson-1881-1942/ ↵
• https://www.politico.com/blogs/under-the-radar/2017/02/trump-fbi-files-discrimination-case-235067 ↵
• “Federal Emergency Relief Act (1933).” Living New Deal. Accessed December 3, 2019. https://livingnewdeal.org/glossary/federal-emergency-relief-administration-fera-1933-19 ↵
• “A Brief History.” National Association of Rural Rehabilitation Corporations, https://www.ruralrehab.org/briefhistory.html ↵
• "Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA)." The Great Depression and World War II, Third Edition. Facts On File, 2017. Accessed December 8, 2019. https://online.infobase.com/HRC/Search/Details/2?articleId=194237&q=FERA ↵
• "Works Progress Administration (WPA)." The Great Depression and World War II, Third Edition. Facts On File, 2017. Accessed December 8, 2019. https://online.infobase.com/HRC/Search/Details/2?articleId=196452&q=wp ↵
• Angelica Castillo, Raul Castillo, Alvaro Covarrubias, Adrian Deleon, Ly Do and Bria Fuller provided this content (Fall 2019). ↵
• https://www.tsl.texas.gov/outofthestacks/tag/works-progress-administration/ ↵
• https://livingnewdeal.org/us/tx/houston-tx/ ↵
• Neil M. Maher, Nature’s New Deal (New York: Oxford University Press, 2008), 19. ↵
• Neil M. Maher, Nature’s New Deal (New York: Oxford University Press, 2008), 3 ↵
• Dr. Olen Cole Jr., Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), NCpedia, 2010. ↵
• Ibid.,17 ↵
• Ibid., 18 ↵
• Ibid., 4. ↵
• Ibid., 3. ↵
• Christopher Alejo, David Arriaga, Snethia Bell, Le’azha Booker and, Carolina Camacho Torres provided that content (Fall 2019). ↵
• Alex Jack, “Reformer in the Promise Land,” Saturday Evening Post, vol.212 issue 4 (1939): 9, http://search.ebscohost.com.libaccess.hccs.edu:2048/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f6h&AN=18748134&site=ehost-live&scope=site. (accessed October 10, 2019). ↵
• Ibid., 10. ↵
• “Exit the Curmudgeon,” Time Magazine, vol 59 issue 6 (1952): 26, http://search.ebscohost.com.libaccess.hccs.edu:2048/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f6h&AN=54166068&site=ehost-live&scope=site. (accessed October 03,2019). ↵
• “Nobody’s Sweetheart,” Times Magazine, vol 38 issue 11 (1941): 16, http://search.ebscohost.com.libaccess.hccs.edu:2048/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f6h&AN=54828599&site=ehost-live&scope=site. (accessed October 03,2019). ↵
• Exit the Curmudgeon,26 ↵
• Joseph Locke and Ben Wright, The American Yawp: A Massively  Collaborative Open U.S History Textbook, Vol 1: to 1877 (Sandford University Press,2019),456, http://www.americanyawp.com/text/23-the-great-depression/ (accessed October 08, 2019). ↵
• Open Stax,The First New Deal (Rice University,2019), https://cnx.org/contents/[email protected]:Sx4c72lG@6/The-First-New-Deal (accessed October 11,2019). ↵
• Ibid ↵
• “The Feminine Mystique.” American Perspectives: Readings in American History, Pearson Custom Publishing, 2006, pp. 665-675. ↵
• Wandersee, Winifred D. “‘I’D RATHER PASS A LAW THAN ORGANIZE A UNION’: Frances Perkins and the Reformist Approach to Organized Labor.” Labor History, vol. 34, no. 1, Winter 1993, pp. 5–32. ↵
• Debrework Tassew, Fall 2019. ↵
• Feiner, Susan. “The Revolutionist.” Women’s Review of Books, vol. 26, no. 6, Nov. 2009, pp. 6–9. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lfh&AN=45463749&site=ehost-live&scope=site. ↵
• Wasser, Solidelle. “The Life of Frances Perkins.” Monthly Labor Review, vol. 132, no. 6, June 2009, pp. 69–70. EBSCOhost, ↵
• “Frances Perkins.” Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th Edition, May 2019, p. 1. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lfh&AN=134487562&site=ehost-live&scope=site. ↵
• Breitman, Jessica. “Frances Perkins.” FDR Presidential Library & Museum, www.fdrlibrary.org/perkins. ↵
• Kristin Downey. The Woman Behind the New Deal . Anchord Books, 2009. p. 48. ↵
• Kotlowski, Dean, reviewer. Ibid book review in Labor History , vol. 54, no. 3, July 2013, pp. 348–350. ↵
• https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Roosevelt_I_Knew.html?id=hE3vGmTivTcC&source=kp_book_description ↵
• Guzda, Henry P. "Frances Perkins' Interest in a New Deal for Blacks." Monthly Labor Review 103, no. 4 (1980), 33. Accessed March 15, 2020. www.jstor.org/stable/41841218. ↵
• Ibid., 34. ↵
• Ibid., 54. ↵
• This paragraph by Joel Flores, Spring 2020. ↵
• Lumen Learning, “US History II (OS Collection),” Lumen, accessed October 18, 2019, https://courses.lumenlearning.com/ushistory2os2xmaster/chapter/the-second-new-deal/. ↵
• Lauren Coodley, Upton Sinclair : California Socialist, Celebrity Intellectual. (Lincoln: Bison Books, 2013), http://search.ebscohost.com.libaccess.hccs.edu:2048/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=603914&site=eds-live. ↵
• Greg Mitchell, “‘Upton Sinclair’s EPIC Campaign.’ ” (The Nation. 2010), http://search.ebscohost.com.libaccess.hccs.edu:2048/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsgao&AN=edsgcl.242484359&site=eds-live. ↵
• Samuel Brown, Daniel Diaz, Vanessa Garza, Andrea Gonzalez, Glenda Gonzalez. Fall 2019. ↵
• James T. Patterson. “The New Deal in the Wes,” Pacific Historical Review Vol 38, No. 3 (Aug., 1969), pp 317-327 (11 pages), DOI: 10.2307/3636103 ↵
• James F. Wickens, ” Colorado in the Great Depression: A Study of New Deal Policies at a State Level” (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Denver, 1964); Micheal P. Malone, “C. Ben Ross and the New Deal in Idaho” (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Washington State University, 1966). ↵
• History, Art & Archives, U.S. House of Representatives, “Soil Conservation in the New Deal Congress,” ↵
• “Resettlement Administration (RA) (1935),” Living New Deal, accessed November 14, 2019, https://livingnewdeal.org/glossary/resettlement-administration-ra-1935/) ↵
• Department of Agriculture, Circular No. 33, Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, April 1928, pp. 1 and 22. ↵
• Kennedy, American Pageant, 788 ↵
• Saloutos, Theodore. "New Deal Agricultural Policy: An Evaluation." The Journal of American History 61, no. 2 (1974): 394-416. doi:10.2307/1903955, 397. ↵
• Davis, Chester C. "The Program of Agricultural Adjustment." Journal of Farm Economics 16, no. 1 (1934): 88-96. www.jstor.org/stable/1230785 ↵
• Kennedy, American Pageant, 789 ↵
• Arrington, Leonard J. "Western Agriculture and the New Deal." Agricultural History 44, no. 4 (1970): 337-53. www.jstor.org/stable/3741519. ↵
• Saloutos, 398 ↵
• Ashley Nandlal, Kim Nguyen, Adam Obregon, Nidia Perez, Guadalupe Rangel, Fall 2019. ↵
• David P. Billington, Jackson C. Donald, and Melosi V. Martin, The History of Large Federal Dams: Planning, Design, and Construction in the Era of Big Dams . (Denver: U.S. Dept. of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, 2005), 329. ↵
• April Farnham, “‘Their Sleep Is to Be Desecrated’: The Central Valley Project and the Wintu People of Northern California, 1938-1943,” Ethnic Studies Review 30, no. 1 & 2 (2007): 148, accessed December 1, 2019, https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1276&context=esr. ↵
• Ibid., 155. ↵
• Ibid., 144. ↵
• Ibid., 136. ↵
• Ibid., 156. ↵
• Ibid., 151. ↵
• David Wilkins, The Navajo Political Experience (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2013), 21 https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Navajo_Political_Experience.html?id=DeNAnsAHfpEC. ↵
• White, Richard. The Roots of Dependency : Subsistence, Environment, and Social Change Among the Choctaws, Pawnees, and Navajos. Vol. [1st pbk. ed., 1988]. Lincoln, Neb: University of Nebraska Press, 1988. 264-65 http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=45461&site=eds-live. ↵
• Ibid., 263. ↵
• Nicholas Flanders, “Native American Sovereignty and Natural Resource Management,” Human Ecology 26, no. 3 (1998): 437, accessed November 27, 2019, www.jstor.org/stable/4603290. ↵
• David Wilkins, 21-22 ↵
• For concerns related to the proposed raising of Shasta Dam, see:  https://news.berkeley.edu/2019/03/04/federal-effort-to-raise-shasta-dam-by-18-5-feet-is-getting-some-serious-pushback/. ↵

Our Story: An Ancillary to US History Copyright © 2018 by Jim Ross-Nazzal and Students is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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The New Deal Relief Programs

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Published: Jan 30, 2024

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Relief programs, recovery initiatives, reform measures, evaluation of the new deal's successes, criticisms and limitations of the new deal.

• "New Deal," The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project, accessed November 10, 2021, https://www2.gwu.edu/~erpapers/teachinger/glossary/new-deal.cfm.
• "Emergency Banking Relief Act: Definition and Facts," Encyclopedia Britannica, accessed November 10, 2021, https://www.britannica.com/event/Emergency-Banking-Relief-Act.
• "Tennessee Valley Authority," History.com, accessed November 10, 2021, https://www.history.com/topics/great-depression/tennessee-valley-authority.

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In our world, the government will often want people to see the good things in their country instead of the details including poverty, racial discrimination, social and economic issues, and so much more. During the Great [...]

The unemployment rate rose sharply during the Great Depression and reached its peak at the moment Franklin D. Roosevelt took office. As New Deal programs were enacted, the unemployment rate gradually lowered. ( Bureau of Labor [...]

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Did New Deal Programs Help End the Great Depression?

By: Brian Dunleavy

Updated: September 10, 2018 | Original: August 13, 2018

Since the late 1930s, conventional wisdom has held that President Franklin D. Roosevelt ’s “ New Deal ” helped bring about the end of the Great Depression . The series of social and government spending programs did get millions of Americans back to work on hundreds of public projects across the country.

But in the 80 years since the Great Depression was formally declared over in June of 1938, historians and economists have continued to debate the true merits of the New Deal and whether, in fact, the radical government spending programs brought about the end of the biggest economic downturn in history.

Many New Deal programs established critical economic safeguards.

“The reforms put in place by New Deal, including encouraging the beginning of the labor movement , which fostered wage growth and sustained the purchasing power of millions of Americans, the establishment of Social Security and the federal regulations imposed on the financial industry, as imperfect as they were, essentially ensured there wouldn’t be another Great Depression after the 1930s,” says Nelson Lichtenstein , professor of history and director of the Center for the Study of Work, Labor and Democracy at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

“And there hasn’t been. We’ve had a few close calls, but nothing like the Great Depression,” he says.

But, just because the United States hasn’t repeated the economic catastrophe of the Great Depression doesn’t mean the programs of the New Deal can take all the credit. Other factors were also at play—including the onset of a major world war. “It really could be argued World War II , which ultimately lowered unemployment and increased GNP through weapons production really played a much bigger role,” Lichtenstein says.

Still, as Dr. Lichtenstein notes, several programs created through the New Deal did have a lasting positive impact on the U.S. economy which was flagging throughout the 1930s, among them the Social Security Act , which provided income for the elderly, disabled and children of poor families. The Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 established the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation , which effectively insured the savings of Americans in the event of a bank failure, which was all too common at the time.

The modern labor movement was born out of New Deal initiatives.

In addition, Lichtenstein notes, the National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933 was enacted to foster “fair competition” through the fixing of prices and wages and the establishment of production quotas, among other measures.

The subsequent National Labor Relations Act of 1935 allowed for collective bargaining and essentially led to the development of the labor movement in the United States, which protected workers’ rights and wages.

But New Deal programs alone weren’t enough to end the Great Depression.

According to Linda Gordon , professor of history at New York University, the Works Progress Administration , created in 1935, also had a positive impact by employing more than 8 million Americans in building projects ranging from bridges and airports to parks and schools.

Such programs certainly helped end the Great Depression, “but were insufficient [because] the amount of government funds for stimulus wasn’t large enough,” she notes. “Only World War II, with its demands for massive war production, which created lots of jobs, ended the Depression.”

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The New Deal, Essay Example

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When a national economy is shattered, as was the case in the Great Depression in the United States, it is inevitable that those lower on the socio-economic scale bear a greater brunt of the impact. The Depression vastly influenced all working people in the nation, of course, and its effects have been well-documented. More than half of all American families in the 1930s lived on annual incomes of between $500 and $1,500, and the lowest amount considered necessary for an average standard of living was $2,500 (Cravens 46). This was a devastating and widespread crisis affecting virtually all. Nonetheless, as such a crisis demands from a society a paring down of opportunities, those on the lower ends of employment and status were the hardest hit. African Americans had not enjoyed anything like equal employment status during the prosperous 1920s, and the same bias became more pronounced when the Depression struck. Black workers were dismissed immediately and in vast numbers, as the severe conditions enabled discrimination to become overt. If, in good times, it was acceptable to hire blacks, it was seen as necessary to sacrifice them in order to promote better chances of white survival. The numbers are striking; in Detroit, for example, blacks made up four percent of the population but accounted for over 25 percent of relief cases (Cravens 106).

For Mexicans and Latin American, it was worse. Only a decade earlier, the U.S. had actively encouraged Hispanic immigration, chiefly to meet the labor needs of the new industries. With the Depression, new laws were enacted and there began a widespread deportation process, and hundreds of thousands of Mexicans were sent back to their native country (Cafferty, Engstrom 38). The circumstances were different for women. For most, the Depression translated into something of an elevation in status; the homemaker, wife, and mother was now critically important in keeping the family together through economizing (Cravens 47). The government greatly reinforced the role of women in domestic life as crucial to seeing the nation through. At the same time, women fared as badly as blacks and Hispanics in terms of securing work outside the home. They were, like the blacks, immediately dismissed from jobs because it was felt that the few available rightly belonged to men. There was as well another backlash; as jobs were scarce, it was believed that women should be legally banned from working in cases where the husband had a job (Craven 46). Not unexpectedly, minority women were less able to find work, as those few jobs offered to women were given to whites.

The New Deal would radically change a variety of all these circumstances, and perhaps the most notable was in regard to Native Americans. Like other minorities, they were generally discarded when the Depression struck. However, and largely due to the efforts of Secretary of the Interior John Collier, Native Americans were addressed constructively by the New Deal. Collier promoted the culture and worked to destroy the reservation system, and give to the population sovereignty taken from them. His aims were defeated by Congress, however, and the result was that, while greater attention was given to tribal life, conditions for Native Americans worsened with the New Deal (Miller, Cherny, & Gormly 646). Essentially, segregation would continue to deny Native Americans opportunities.

For others, however, there were great improvements. The Roosevelt government, and particularly through the presence of Eleanor Roosevelt, made great efforts to create jobs for women, even as the administration of the New Deal agencies supplied women with clerical work. There was bias and women still received less pay, but they were now accepted as a significant part of the workforce (Miller, Cherny, & Gormly 643). In his 1936 address to the nation, Roosevelt made it clear that his administration would be devoted to providing opportunity equally as the New Deal continued to unfold (Ourdocuments.gov). As women were increasingly acknowledged and provided with work, government agencies carefully ensured that blacks, Hispanics, and other minorities would not be overlooked. Most significantly, the Works Progress Administration (WPA), funded by the federal government, created jobs for minorities, and the numbers of blacks who switched from the Republican to the Democratic Party attests to the support perceived (Miller, Cherny, & Gormly 646). Certainly, life remained hard as the Depression went on, but the New Deal appears to have “leveled” the opportunity bases and promoted the interests of women and minorities.

This as the legacy of the New Deal is, however, disputed. Historians have been widely divided as to the lasting good of it, or even its efficacy at the time, in all the decades since. Even those who defend the New Deal’s policies point out important failings of it, as in its lack of concern for rural poverty and issues. Industrialization and modernization were central to WPA efforts, and large areas of the nation were, it is felt, ignored. Rural poverty increased, in fact, as agricultural business grew (Cravens 116). It has also been observed that the tensions between the Roosevelt administration and the business community exacerbated issues; government-funded operations succeeded, but resistance from the private sector illustrates how the government failed to bring business in line with its own agendas (Cravens 151). There is, in a word, no shortage of criticism as to the effects and legacy of the New Deal. At the same time, it must be remembered that this was a drastic era in American life, and only drastic measures could begin to address the conditions created by the Great Depression. It is likely that no government initiative at this time could have addressed so many, enormous problems. Then, and states of discrimination in place then and lingering afterward, the New Deal and the Roosevelt administration did make important strides in promoting equality. To assert that these strides were not wholly effective is to ignore the times and conditions in which they were made. It is regrettable that there were significant failures, as in the intentions to create independent Native American communities. What is equally important, however, is that the New Deal broke new ground, and made overt and consistent efforts to supply opportunity to all Americans in a time when another government might well have ignored women and minority populations.

Works Cited

Cafferty, P. S. J., & Engstrom, D. W. Hispanics in the United States: An Agenda for the Twenty- First Century. New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers, 2002. Print.

Cravens, H. Great Depression: People and Perspectives . Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2009. Print.

Miller, C. L., Cherny, R. W., & Gormly, J. L. Making America: A History of the United States: Since 1865, Volume 2 . Belmont: Cengage Learning, 2011. Print.

Ourdocuments.gov. Transcript of President Franklin Roosevelt’s Radio Address Unveiling the Second Half of the New Deal (1936). N/D. Web.

<http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=69&page=transcript

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