U.S. History / Unit 7: The 1920s, Great Depression and New Deal
7.6 The New Deal
Notes
Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) won the 1932 election promising a New Deal. His programs aimed at the "three R's": Relief, Recovery and Reform.
- He closed banks for a bank holiday and calmed the nation with radio fireside chats.
| Program | Purpose |
|---|---|
| CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) | jobs for young men in parks and forests |
| WPA (Works Progress Administration) | jobs building roads, schools, and in the arts |
| TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) | dams and electricity for a poor region |
| FDIC | insures bank deposits |
| SEC | regulates the stock market |
| Social Security Act (1935) | pensions for the elderly, unemployment insurance |
| Wagner Act (1935) | protects workers' right to unionize |
- Critics on the right said the New Deal gave government too much power and spent too much. Critics on the left, like Huey Long ("Share Our Wealth"), said it did not do enough.
- After the Supreme Court struck down some programs, FDR's court-packing plan (1937) to add justices was widely opposed and failed.
- The New Deal did not end the Depression; WWII spending did. But it greatly expanded the federal government's role in the economy.
Practice
Which New Deal program still protects people's money if their bank fails?
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation insures bank deposits.
The Social Security Act is best classified as which of the "three R's"?
It permanently changed the government's role by providing pensions and unemployment insurance.
A senator in 1935 says the New Deal is a dangerous expansion of federal power that threatens free enterprise. Another says it does too little to share the nation's wealth. These show that:
Conservatives like the Liberty League and populists like Huey Long attacked it for opposite reasons.
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