New Deal: Alphabet Policies / Acts

• Relief, Reform & Recovery

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• Constitutional balance failed as Roosevelt had too much power

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• 1939- Unemployment reduced from 13 million to 8 million

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• Increased Morale

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• "Give a man a dole, and you sink his body and destroy his spirit give a man a job and pay him and you save both his body and his spirit."

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• Seen as generally racist 

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• Some agenceis seen as communist

• EBA (Emergency Banking Act) March 1933

1/3 ALL banks under Federal Reserve Board

4 day bank holiday sorted banks (investigations to help banks work efficiently & properly)

Reduced banks

"Saved Capitalism in eight days"

origionally 30,000 banks & in 1932 40 banks a day closing

Banks reformed and were now secure (later hekped with WW2 economy)

• Glass-Steagal Act June 1933

Deposits up to $5,000 guaranteed

Bank officials prevented loaning own bank

Prevented high street banks investing in banks

• The Securities Act  (Securities & exchange commission)

Regulated stock & market 

Eradicated difficulties caused by 'on the margin'

Had to pay 50-60% in order to buy shares to stop debts & attempt to stop insider dealing

• HOLC (Home Owners Loan Corporation) 1933

Loaned money $ at low interest rate to more than 1 million people who were behind on mortgage payments so they would not be homeless

• FCA (Farm Credit Act) June 1933

Lent $ to farmers to avoid foreclosures

• AAA (Agricultural Adjustment Administration) May 1933

Restore acricultural psopserity.

Aim to raise prices in Dust Bowl

Killed 6 million piglets

Share croppers (African Americans) & small farmers effected

Helped large farms

Rise in lynching 1930- 24 deaths

Paid to take fields  out of production by taxing processed food

Brought price of food down BUT towns people starved

• TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) May 1933---LONG-TERM LEGACY

7 poorest states

2% of farms had electicity, drought, flooding & soil errosion

Created Dams across Tenessee River (over 7 states)

Educated farmers on best way to treat crops & stop erosding soil

Planted trees (as overly cut)

Cheap electricity 75%  farmers 

Could afford fridges, radios etc

Created 650 miles of river for ships (coal, steel..) to travel (dams prevented otherwise)

Companies worried would lose $ due to cheap elecricity from Dams

• PWA (Public Works Administration) June 1933 LONG-TERM LEGACY

Created  work for unemployment industrial workers. 

Public work schemes

Went through agencies to pay , not through workers

Careful with Gov $

No waste of $

Generated local Pride

Only 29,000 unit buildings in 4 1/2 yrs (FROOGLE)

70% national schools, 35% hospitals, 4 big river dams, electrictrified rail from NY to Washington, 50 airports

• CCC (Civilian Conservative Corps) 1933-1942

18-25 years

Lasted 6 months

Many could not find jobs & re-applied (cycle)

Army in charge of operations, no military training

Got $30 a day $22/30 went to parents healthy benefits

1933- 300,000young men

13,000 camps

800 parks nationwide-- millions of trees, restocked rivers

• WPA (Work Project Administration) June 1935

Country's biggest employer. 2 million a year

Relief agency, Ultimatley employed 8 million 

1/5 of nations work force

Built:  2,500 hospitals, 5,900 schools, 350 airports, 650,000 miles road, 700 airport runaways

BUT 'boon doggles' worthless jobs i.e. scaring pigeons

• FERA (Federal Emergency Relief Administration) May 1933 

Provided $500 million to state Govs to help provide emergency relief through soup kitchens, clothing & state consrruction schemes (playgrounds, schools, road repairs...)

On brink of starvation

State given $1 for every $3 state spent

Set up literacy programmes to improve chances in life

$4 billion in total spent on Projects 

Did set up precedent Federal Gov. Giving direct funds

• NRA (National Recovery Administration) June 1933

Eagle Smybol= Patrotic & supporting US

557 codes, difficult to keep

Many companied did not keep to code

Considered communist by Henry Ford

Favoured employers over workers

Employed 500,000 every year,

financed 34,508 public work schemes

Abolished Child Labour

Trade Unions increased, but more strikes

Minimum wage

limited houres of work

• SSA

Set up very limited welfare

1/48 states had unemployment benefit

27/48 states had old age pension benefit

Your $ & boss goes into fund. 

If retire lose job or sick get that money $18 for 16 weeks

Gov. also donated. But no-one recieved a penny till 1942

• ADC- (Aid to Dependent Children)  

focused on white single mothers

most did not take benefit

Most too embarassed & felt like scroungers

Personal questions asked

Long ques (didn't bother)

New Deal effectivley dead by 1937

• AAA only policy which changed
• SSA- Social Security Act. before 

27/48 states had pension benefit

1/48 states had unemployment benefit

• ADC- Aid to Dependent Children

Shift to the left 

a movement into socialism, helping those most disadvantaged

"Bottom of pyramid"

left Opposition 

• King Fish
• Radio Priest
• Dr Francis Townsend

By 1939

13,000 unemloyed

America Labour Organisation 17,000 unemployed

unemployment reduced to 8,000