The Alphabet Agencies

Roosevelt had three main aims when he took power -

• Provide the needy with aid
• Restore stability to the banking system
• Reduce unemployement

Over Roosevelt's first 100 days he worked tirelessly to restore confidence and to provide initall help to the needy.

• Relief - to help improve the lives of people.
• Recovery - to rebuild the economy, businesses and trade.
• Reform - changing things to ensure the Depression never happened again.

Stands for - Agricultural Adjustment Act

Aimed to - raise prices in farming again after overproduction lowerd prices dramatically.

Methods - bought up surplus produce, encouraged farmers to kill off livestock and destroy crops and this would raise prices.

It succeded in improving the standard of living for farmers but it angered people that livestock and crops were being destroyed when so many people were starving.

Stands for - Federal Emergency Relief Act

Aimed to - give out aid for those who needed it most.

Methods - distributed $500 million among the States, half was given to them straight away, the other half was given when they promised to spend money on poor relief.

Some State leaders believed that people were poor through their own fault and were reluctant to give them aid. There were also long delays for payments.

Stands for - Civilian Conservation Corps

Aimed to - provide work for young men, reduce unemployment

Methods - employed young med (aged 17-24) on forestry, park and soil conservation projects, they lived in camps to provinde them with food and shelter, they had to send most of the moey home, they were only employed for six months.

They didn't pay that well, jobs were only for a limited period, jobs were only for young men, some people questionned the usefullness of these jobs and whether people were needed to work in parks and plant trees etc. - boondoggling?

Stands for - National Recovery Administration

Aimed to - improve working conditions

Methods - set conditions of work, set hours of work, allowed employees to join a Trade Union, outlawed child labour.

If businesses operated within the guidelines of the NRA they could display the Blue eagle on their packaging to show that they were fair to their workers.

It upset some businesses as they didn't like being told how to deal with the Depression.

Ir relied on the cooperation of businesses.

It was declared unconstitutional by the Sumpreme Court as it infringed the rights of individual states.

Stands for - Tennessee Valley Authority

Aimed to - improve the land quality of the Tennessee Valley. Overcultivation had turned the land desert like and the volative river was prone to flooding. Provide jobs to a very poor area.

Methods - built 20 dams along the river, provided cheap hydroelectric power, made the ground fertile again so crops could be grown.

It provided many jobs for locals, the ground could be farmed again, electricity was provided cheaply in an area where not many people had been previously able to afford it. This angered other electricity companies and they were being undercut.

Overall there was a huge improvement in the region's economy.

Stands for - Home Owners Loan Corporation

Aimed to - stimulate the housing market

Methods - provided low rate mortgages to prevent people losing their homes, reduced excessive rents.

Overall it helped people to get more stability as it assisted them if their homes were in danger of being repossessed.

Stands for - Social security Act

Aimed to - provide America's first system of welfare

Methods - provided unemployment benifit, provided pensions based on how much the individual had previously contributed to soceity, provided help for the ill and disabled, provided help for needy children.

Unemployment benifit was low paid and was only for a set amount of time.

This was a massive step towards a welfare system for the USA.

They had never previously had a 'dole' system like in the UK