Relief, Recovery, and Reform

How did Roosevelt's New Deal go about fixing the problems of the Great Depression?
FDR came into office with no clear or specific plan for what to do. Roosevelt used to say "try something, if it doesn't work try
something else." He and his brain trust recognized, at least, that they must try to do something. These attempts at least gave
Americans the hope that something was being done. Roosevelt's basic philosophy of Keynesian economics manifested itself in
what became known as the three "R's" of relief, recovery and reform. The programs created to meet these goals generated
jobs and more importantly, hope. They also generated what refer to today as "alphabet soup;" a series of acts and agencies
that created a huge federal bureaucracy.

I. The New Deal
A. What did Roosevelt mean by relief, recovery and reform?
1. Relief - Immediate action taken to halt the economies deterioration.
2. Recovery - "Pump - Priming" Temporary programs to restart the flow of consumer demand.
3. Reform - Permanent programs to avoid another depression and insure citizens against economic disasters.


Relief
Immediate action taken to halt
the economies deterioration.
Recovery
"Pump - Priming" Temporary programs to
restart the flow of consumer demand.
Reform
Permanent programs to avoid another
depression and insure citizens against
economic disasters.
Bank Holiday
Declared so that the panic would
be stopped.
Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA)
Taxed food processors and gave the money
directly to farmers as a payment for not
growing food. This decreased supply so price
would go up.
Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC)
Permanent Agency set up to monitor stock
market activity and ensure that no fraud or
insider trading was taking place.
Emergency Banking Act
Closed the insolvent banks and
only reopened the solvent ones.
National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA)
Created the NRA (National Recovery
Administration) a consortium of businesses
organized by the government and given the
power to set rules and regulations for the
economy. Members of the NRA displayed a
blue eagle.
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
(FDIC)
Permanent Agency designed to insure
depositors money in savings banks. Originally
insured up to $5,000 per depositor today it
has increased to $100,000.
Federal Emergency Relief Act
(FERA)
Gave immediate help to those
Home Owners Loan Corp.
Gave loans to home owners so they could
pay their mortgages. This prevented people
Social Security Administration
Permanent agency designed to ensure that
the older segment of society always would
that needed it in the form of cash
payments.
from going homeless and prevented banks
from going under.
have enough money to survive. The key here
is that they would then also be able to spend
throughout their lives.
Civil Works Administration
(CWA)
Provided temporary jobs
repairing roads and bridges.
Works Progress Administration (WPA)
Provided long term government jobs building
schools and other public works projects.
National Labor Relations Act and National
Labor Relations Board (NLRA/NLRB)
Otherwise known as the Wagner Act it
helped unions and thus helped workers. This
acted created the NLRB (National Labor
Relations Board) which enforced labor law
and made sure that fair business practices
where upheld.
Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
Temporary jobs to unmarried
single adults filling sand bags and
helping out at disaster type
situations. Participants lived in
barracks type housing.
Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)
Agency created to build dams in the
Tennessee river valley. These dams provided
more stable irrigation and cheap
hydroelectric power.
Soil Conservation Act
Laws mandating proper soil maintenance to
make sure that another dust bowl was
avoided.



Civilian Conservation Corps: Formed in March 1933, the Civilian Conservation Corps, CCC, was one of the first New Deal
programs. It was a public works project intended to promote environmental conservation and to build good citizens through
vigorous, disciplined outdoor labor. Close to the heart of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the CCC combined his interests in
conservation and universal service for youth. He believed that this civilian tree army would relieve the rural unemployed and
keep youth off the city street corners.
The CCC operated under the armys control. Camp commanders had disciplinary powers and corpsmen were required to
address superiors as sir. By September 1935 over 500,000 young men had lived in CCC camps, most staying from six months
to a year. The work focused on soil conservation and reforestation. Most important, the men planted millions of trees on land
made barren from fires, natural erosion, or lumberingin fact, the CCC was responsible for over half the reforestation, public
and private, done in the nations history. Corpsmen also dug canals and ditches, built over thirty thousand wildlife shelters,
stocked rivers and lakes with nearly a billion fish, restored historic battlefields, and cleared beaches and campgrounds.
Although professing a nondiscriminatory policy, the CCC failed to give a fair share of work to blacks, especially in the South
where local selection agents held sway. But in spite of rigid segregation and hiring quotas, black participation reached 10
percent by 1936.
In all, nearly 3 million young men participated in the CCC The armys experience in managing such large numbers and the
paramilitary discipline learned by corpsmen provided unexpected preparation for the massive call-up of civilians in World War
II.
Public Works Administration (1933) & Works Progress Administration (1935): President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs
an executive order creating the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The WPA was just one of many Great Depression relief
programs created under the auspices of the Emergency Relief Appropriations Act, which Roosevelt had signed the month
before. The WPA, the Public Works Administration (PWA) and other federal assistance programs put unemployed Americans to
work in return for temporary financial assistance. Out of the 10 million jobless men in the United States in 1935, 3 million were
helped by WPA jobs alone.
While FDR believed in the elementary principles of justice and fairness, he also expressed disdain for doling out welfare to
otherwise able workers. So, in return for monetary aid, WPA workers built highways, schools, hospitals, airports and
playgrounds. They restored theaters--such as the Dock Street Theater in Charleston, S.C.--and built the ski lodge at Oregon's
Mt. Hood. The WPA also put actors, writers and other creative arts professionals back to work by sponsoring federally funded
plays, art projects, such as murals on public buildings, and literary publications. FDR safeguarded private enterprise from
competition with WPA projects by including a provision in the act that placed wage and price controls on federally funded
products or services.
Tennessee Valley Authority: In the early 1930's, every spring in the Tennessee River Valley brought on an onslaught of rain
which totaled six feet each year. Roosevelt created the Tennessee Valley Authority to fix the problem.
National Youth Administration: National Youth Administration, a federal program aimed at helping young people find jobs
or volunteer work during the Great Depression.
References:
http://www.socialstudieshelp.com/lesson_86_notes.htm
http://www.history.com/topics/great-depression