The New Deal Alphabet Soup

FDIC

• The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation is a United States government corporation created by the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 to protect the value of bank deposits. Since the start of FDIC insurance on January 1, 1934, no depositor has lost a single cent of insured funds as a result of a failure.

NLRB

• The National Labor Relations Board is an independent agency of the United States government charged with conducting elections for labor union representation and with investigating and remedying unfair labor practices. It was created during the Franklin Roosevelt administration.

REA• The Rural Electrification

Administration was created on May 11, 1935 with the primary goal of promoting rural electrification. In the 1930s, the U.S. lagged significantly behind Europe in providing electricity to rural areas due to the unwillingness of power companies to serve farmsteads.

WPA• The Works Progress Administration,

created more than eight million jobs from 1935 to 1943, for a great many unskilled workers and professionals. The WPA constructed 850 airports, built or repaired 650,000 miles of America's roads, sewed more than 300 million articles of clothing for the needy, and erected 110,000 libraries, schools and hospitals. Artists, authors, and musicians found work in the WPA too, painting murals on public buildings, writing performing, and composing.

NIRA • National Industrial Recovery Act. Part of the

New Deal, a law that was passed by Congress in 1933 to increase production while boosting wages and prices; it created the National Recovery Administration.

NRA• National Recovery Administration.

Government agency that worked w/ business leaders to create codes of fair competitions.

AAA

• Agricultural Adjustment Administration. Legislation that tried to help farmers by reducing crop production and raising prices.

CCC

• Civilian Conservation Corps. A relief program that that gave young men jobs planting trees and working on conservation projects.

SSA

• Social Security Administration. Social insurance program that provides 2 types of benefits: retirement and disability.

CIO

• Congress of Industrial Organizations. A union who accepted all workers (including African-Americans) in the automobile, rubber and steel industries.

TVA

• Tennessee Valley Authority. An independent government agency that built a series of dams on the Tennessee River. Provided flood control to several areas and hydroelectric power. Created jobs.