The New Deal And The Great Depression
Big Idea: President Roosevelt and his new deal helped to lift Americans out of the great Depression. Essential Question: In what ways did the new deal help Americans and the economy? Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Roosevelt was born in Hyde Park, New York in 1882. He was the distant cousin of President Teddy Roosevelt. Franklin Roosevelt from a young age learned to love sailing, horse back riding and the outdoors. Franklin D. Roosevelt Roosevelt went on to study at Harvard and Columbia Law School. Roosevelt was had charming personality and expressed optimism. It seemed as though he was made for a life in politics. FDR Franklin D. Roosevelt became known as FDR
He began his political career in 1910 when he was elected to the New York State Senate After three years he became known as a progressive reformer Gaining Political Ground
He soon rose to political power when he was made the assistant secretary of the Navy under President Wilson In 1920 he became the Vice-Presidential nominee for the Democrats However the Democrats would go on to lose the election to President Harding Roosevelt A year after losing the election he discovered that he had caught the paralyzing disease polio. Most people would have been stopped, but Roosevelt refused to give in. He worked hard at recovering and did not let himself fall out of politics. Governor Roosevelt Roosevelt did not leave the world of politics even though he was largely restricted to the use of a wheelchair. In 1928 he ran for Governor of New York and won in a landslide vote. Roosevelt created the first state relief agency to aid the unemployed FDR Soon people from all across the country were calling for Roosevelt to run for president. The country was suffering from the depression and did not think that Hoover was fit to be President. Roosevelt presented the American people a New Deal Election of 1932 Roosevelt Ran against President Hoover In 1932
This time Hoover loses by a landslide winning only 6 states to Roosevelts 42 Roosevelt won by more than 7 million votes. Bank Runs Some people began to fear that the Government was going to leave the gold standard. The gold standard meant that one bar of gold equaled a certain amount of U.S. Dollars. People began to run to the banks faster then they had after the stock market crash. Bank Holiday People all across the nation stood in long lines waiting to withdraw all of their money By March 1933 more than 4,000 banks collapsed wiping out 9 million savings accounts 38 states declared bank holidays- closing down banks before the bank runs put them out of business Roosevelts Inauguration
By the day of President Roosevelts Inauguration almost every bank was closed. One out of every four Americans were jobless and the economy seemed doomed In his speech Roosevelt wanted to show confidence. He said let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. The New Deal Begins Roosevelt and his administration wanted to hit the ground running to show that they were going to be able to fix the economy Between March 9th and June 16th Roosevelt sent hundreds of bills to congress to get approved This became known as the Hundred Days, and we still compare our presidents to their first 100 days in office. The New Deal Roosevelt wanted to make sure that he heard many different ideas and points of view. So he choose advisors that he knew would argue and disagree with each other He felt that this would produce better results if he could hear all of the views. The New Deal Roosevelt began to put Americans back to work
He believed that through a combination of relief programs and public works he could get American back to normal While most presidents did little work in office, FDR worked every single day. The New Deal Big Idea: President Roosevelt and his new deal helped to lift Americans out of the great Depression. Essential Question:In what ways did Roosevelt work to help Americans during the Great Depression? Roosevelt and the American People
FDR did a great job at reaching the American people. He felt that it was extremely important to talk directly to the American people and explain to them what he is doing to stop the depression. On March , FDR addressed the American people and nearly 60 million Americans listened in to the first of these Fireside chats. Roosevelt fixes the banks
"I assure you that it is safer to keep your money in a reopened bank than under your mattress. Americans were hiding money around there house rather than leaving it in banks. This chat however would restore confidence in the American people and end the bank crisis. Roosevelt puts congress to work.
Roosevelt called an emergency session of congress to get immediate passage of important laws. When the congress met they unanimously passed the Emergency Banking Relief Act within just 38 minutes This act was passed so fast that many Americans felt the prosperity of the 20s were coming back FDR now had the trust of the American people, which gave him power
The president pushed through a number of bills that were designed to help Americans. Each bill was represented by three letters, and they became known as alphabet soup. The AAA Roosevelt knew that the problem was prices for farm goods were low because farmers were producing too much Roosevelt passed the Agricultural Adjustment Act or (AAA). What the AAA did was pay farmers not too produce certain livestock and crops. Farmers destroyed 10 million acres of land that year NRA The next thing that FDR wanted to attack was the regulate or place rules on industry. Business had been able to almost anything they wanted to turn a profit, even if it put other Americans out of work. Roosevelt passed the National Recovery Act or NRA which set up rules and restrictions for businesses. The NRA For any business that agreed to work with the NRA, they would receive a sign that had the NRA symbol on it. However small businesses complained that the NRA was favoring big business in the rules. They also did not like the fact that they had to pay higher minimum wages, claiming that they had to rise prices to cover the costs. The CCC Another very successful act that Roosevelt passed was the Civilian Conservation Corps or CCC The CCC offered unemployed men the chance to work for the forestry service They would plant trees, fight forest fires, and build reservoirs CCC These men would live in camps near their work areas and earned $30 dollars a month. $25 dollars of that would be sent back to their families and they would be able to keep $5 dollars for personal use. Most men stayed at the CCC camps for 6 to 12 months. The CCC When the average worker returned home, they came back much better nourished and with self respect. CCC programs had taught over 40,000 men to read and write By the time the CCC closed down it had put about 3 million men to work The New Deal When Roosevelt was campaigning he promised the American people a New Deal All of these programs which were considered alphabet soup, were part of this new deal. Even though this New Deal did not restore the prosperity of the 1920s right away, Americans trusted Roosevelt and could see that things would get better. The New Deal Big Idea: President Roosevelt and his new deal helped to lift Americans out of the great Depression. Essential Question:Why did some people dislike the New Deal, and did they all agree in their dislike? The New Deal Roosevelt had come into office determined to help the American people Polio had changed the way Roosevelt saw the world and he could now understand peoples struggles in a new way. In his first two years in office Roosevelt had passed well over 15 different acts that directly helped the American people Haters Gone Hate Even though Roosevelt was extremely popular amongst the people, there was a growing amount of criticism about the New Deal Conservative Republicans said that Roosevelt had made the Federal Government to powerful They did not like the fact that States were losing power and some even felt the New Deal was Unconstitutional Deficit Spending The other problem that Conservatives had was that FDR was deficit spending Deficit spending occurs when a country needs to borrow money in order to pay for everything it does. Taxes are not enough Many people became alarmed at the amount the U.S. was spending, and reminded people about the debt that had occurred in Europe after WWI Anti-New Dealers People that opposed the policies of FDR became known as Anti-New Dealers This included members of both political parties These Anti-New Dealers got together with businessmen worried about the deficit and formed the American Liberty League The purpose of this league was to educate Americans on what they thought was the danger of Roosevelts policies Huey Long Roosevelts biggest critique was the smooth talking Louisiana Governor Huey Long Long had done a lot to help the poor in his state, along with improving schools, hospitals, and building roads and bridges Huey Long attacked Roosevelt, saying that he did not do enough to help out the poor. Claiming that FDR was from wealth and wanted to protect his money Huey Long Huey Long soon smooth talked his way to Washington, saying anything to do so. He was elected to the senate in 1930 with the help of his extremely powerful and corrupt political machine. While in Washington he started the Share our Wealth Society. This organization focused on taking money from the rich and giving it to the poor. Every man a King Huey Long began to grow in popularity
He went on the radio to talk to the American people just as Roosevelt had He gave a famous speech know as Every man a King The assignation of Huey Long
Huey Long announced that he would challenge FDR for President in 1936 However to get to the level of power he reached he had many enemies In 1935 Huey Long was killed when an assassin tried to kill him Father Coughlin Roosevelt also faced a challenge from a man named Father Charles Coughlin. He too turned to the radio to reach the American people. About 45 million people listened to his weekly radio shows. Father Coughlin Father Coughlin was at first a believer in the New Deal. However he quickly became impatient with the slow pace and moderate reforms that were taking place Father Coughlin believed that the United States should have a national banking system Father Coughlin In 1935 Father Coughlin formed the National Union for Social Justice and planned a run for president Many Democrats feared this would become a third political party, and take away votes However the Catholic Church did not like Father Coughlins increasingly political radio shows The Townsend Plan A third challenge came from a California physician named Francis Townsend. He suggested that all citizens over the age of 60 get paid $200 a month In order to collect the money however the person would have to retire from their job and spend the entire check each month The Townsend Plan He believed the plan would increase the number of jobs for younger people. It would also force that $200 dollars back into the economy. This plan became extremely popular with both young and old people. The New Deal Big Idea: President Roosevelt and his new deal helped to lift Americans out of the great Depression. Essential Question: How did Roosevelt do to respond to the threats of Long, Coughlin, and Townsend? Roosevelt Reacts President Roosevelt was worried that supporters of Long, Coughlin, and Townsend might form a coalition or alliance FDR knew he had to react in order to please these supporters so he began a second New Deal The President did several things to win back the Americans who felt that Roosevelt was not doing enough. Roosevelt Reacts Roosevelt wanted to stick to the same model he put in place before. He did not want to look like he was doing these things simply because he wanted to win back his supporters Roosevelt privately was not happy himself was not happy with the slow recovery of his first new deal The WPA The First thing that Roosevelt did was create another program for the Alphabet soup He formed the Works Progress Administration or WPA The WPA would go on to become one of the most popular and successful programs of the New Deal WPA The WPA put Americans to work building roads, highways, public buildings, parks, and more. Between 1935 and 1941 the WPA built more than 650,000 miles of roads, 250,000 public buildings, and 8,000 parks. The WPA served two purposes, it gave people money for work, and helped to modernize much of the country especially the mid-west. WPA The WPA can be seen as a response to Huey Long
Long while governor of Louisiana had improved roads, bridges, and public buildings. Now Roosevelt was bringing the same ideas to the rest of the country which became extremely popular. WPA The WPA did much more than just build roads
The was also a part of the WPA called Federal Number One which was for artists, musicians, theater people, and writers. These talented Americans were able to get paid to do what the loved. Painting murals, putting on public shows, or recording local folk stories. The Wagner Act The next thing that Roosevelt did was support and help pass the Wagner Act which allowed workers to form unions The act set up a process call binding arbitration, which allowed union members to bring their complaints to a neutral party and have that person decide what happens. This was in reaction to Father Coughlin and his call for workers rights. Social Security Roosevelt then turned his attention to Townsends retirement plan. Roosevelt and congress wanted to provide some security to older Americans and the unemployed They came up with the Social Security act, which is still around today. Social Security The Social Security act was a bit different than Townsends plan but still tired to accomplish the same thing. Under Social Security everyone gets money taken out of their pay. This money goes into a social security account. Upon retirement the worker will get that money back in monthly payments to help them get by. Election of 1936 Alf Landon was chosen as the Republican to face Roosevelt in 1936 Landon was a Governor from Kansas He ran supporting some of the New Deal, knowing that the American people were greatly behind it. Some people felt Roosevelt would be challenged yet again Election on 1936 Despite some peoples worries, FDR won his re-election by the biggest margin to date He won all but two states and collected 523 Electoral votes to Landons 8