Chapter 33 (770-798)

The Great Depression and the New Deal

FDR: Politician in a wheelchair (pg. 770)
1. Franklin D. Roosevelt was nominated as the Democratic Party Candidate to run in
the election of 1932.
2. FDR was suffering from polio but that did not stop him.
3. FDR was the 5th cousin of Theodore Roosevelt
4. Roosevelt was a close friend with Al Smith, but they’re friendship soon ended
after they both wanted to be nominated for the Democratic Party.
5. With FDR’s legs unusable without support, his wife Eleanor Roosevelt had
campaigned for him and showed a great amount of support for her husband.
a. Mrs. Roosevelt helped her husband with speeches and she wrote a
syndicated news column to gain more support.
6. Eleanor Roosevelt supported the impoverished and the oppressed.
7. President Herbert Hoover was nominated again for the Republican candidacy.
a. He boast that his policies have kept the depression from become severe
b. Most Americans did not see any big change with his policies and wanted a
new president.
8. Democrats wanted to end the prohibition of alcohol, they also promised to
balance the budge and destroying social and economic reforms.

Presidential Hopefuls of 1932 (pg. 772)

1. FDR bashed the Republicans for their outrageous spending
2. Roosevelt wanted to prove, that just because he is in a wheel chair, doesn’t mean
he’s an “invalid”
a. He wished to show off his vibrant and lively attitude to as many voters as
possible.
3. Roosevelt constantly talked about his “New Deal” plan, but when he talked about
it, it was very vague.
a. Many of his speeches were written by the Brain Trust, they were the brains
behind the New Deal legislation.
4. The Republican’s campaign wasn’t going well, and talked badly about many
Bill’s that might fail which would plunge them into a depression unless Hoover
was President.
a. Hoover’s negativity was no match for Roosevelt’s high promises.
5. It was clear, that because of the Republicans acting upon the Depression so badly,
that the Democrats had the upper hand.

Hoover’s Humiliation in 1932 (pg. 772)

1. Hoover had won a great election in 1928, but in 1932, he had suffered a miserable
defeat.
a. The electoral votes were 472 to 59
b. And Hoover won only six Republican states.
 2. Much great support came from African Americans who had suffered the most
from the Depression.
3. African American’s used to support the Republicans because of Lincoln, but
because of the promise to help those in need. The Democrats swiftly stole the
support of the African Americans.
4. During the preinauguration period, Hoover wished to enact on some of
Roosevelt’s plan but could not because he did not have the support.
5. Hoover soon confessed that he was trying to enact policies that would make the
New Deal difficult.
6. Hooverites blamed FDR for making the Depression worse when people had lost
their jobs and banks were closing.

FDR and the Three R’s: Relief, Recovery and Reform (pg. 773)

1. On March 4th, 1933, Roosevelt spoke from a bullet- proof stand and roused up the
spirits of American’s once again with a new found hope.
2. On Inauguration day, FDR spoke and said, “The only thing we have to fear, is fear
itself.”
3. FDR called for a bank-closing holiday in order to stop the mass of withdrawals
from the banks.
4. With a Democratic Congress, President Roosevelt was able to pass legislations
quickly and without any problems
5. Roosevelt introduced the three R’s: Relief, Recovery and Reform.
6. Short- term goals were categorized as Relief and Recovery.
7. Long- term coals were aimed at the Reform ideas.
8. Congress was afraid of the future for Americans and quickly passed any bills of
Roosevelt.

Roosevelt Manages the Money (pg. 776)

1. Due to the chaos of bank closures, Roosevelt had to act quickly in order to save
them.
a. In eight hours, Congress decided upon the Emergency Banking Relieft Act
of 1933.
2. Emergency Banking Relief Act- the president is able to regulate any banking
transactions and foreign money exchange, they were also granted the power to
close bad banks and open new banks.
3. FDR then broadcasted his voice, with one of his 30 “Fireside Chats” with
America.
a. He explained that it is now safer to put money into banks
b. The popular program reached over 35 million people.
4. Congress then passed the Glass- Steagall Banking Reform Act.
a. This act paved the way for the FDIC.
5. FDIC- insured individual deposits of up to $5000 at the time.
a. The FDIC showed new trusts for the banks and banking failures lessened.
 6. Roosevelt had later moved to taking the nation of the gold standard. He ordered
all private gold sharings to be exchanged for paper money.
7. Congress ended all payment in goal and paid for items in paper money.
8. With the increasing prices of gold, Americans were able to make money off of
they’re gold.
9. Congress paid American’s $35 for every ounce of gold.

Creating Jobs for the Jobless (pg. 776)

1. 1 out of every 4 workers was jobless.

2. When FDR took oath, the unemployment rate was at its highest.
3. Roosevelt wanted to use the Federal Reserve’s money to help the unemployed,
and he had no doubt in his mind, that he was going to do it.
4. CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps)- employment for about 3 million men, who
may become criminals in order to support themselves.
a. They were hired for hard work such as reforestation, fire fighting, and
flood control and swamp drainage.
5. Many of the workers hired by the CCC had to send home much of their pay to
their families.
6. Federal Emergency Relief Act- Gave $3 billion to every state to be used for
higher wages and funding government projects in order to hire more people.
7. AAA (Agricultural Adjustment Act)- helped farmers meet their mortgages.
8. HOLC (Home Owners Loan Corporation)- used to refinance mortgages for
nonfarm homes, helped about a million house holds keep their payments up.
9. CWA (Civil Works Administration)- it was designed to provide temporary jobs
during winter emergencies.

A Day for Every Demagogue (pg. 778)

1. The New Deal was widely criticized especially from famous programs on the
radio.
a. One of FDR spokesperson Father Charles Coughlin used to agree with the
New Deal but was not against it.
2. Senator Huey P. Long ran a popular program called “Share the Wealth.”
a. Each family was to receive $5000 from the wealthy.
b. The math did not add up in this plan.
3. 5 million senior citizens heard Dr. Francis E. Townsend of California, with a plan
for every senior citizen to have $200 a month.
4. Many of these plans failed because of the outrageousness of the money needed.
5. WPA (Works Progress Administration)- gave $11 million to thousands of public
buildings, bridges and roads.
a. This plan hired over 9 million people in 8 years
b. It also found part-time jobs for needy high school and college students and
for actors, musicians, and writers.
New Visibility for Women (pg. 780)

1. Sec. of Labor Frances Perkins was the first female cabinet member
2. Mary McLeod Bethune headed the Office of Minority Affairs in the NYA
(National Youth Administration), she was the highest ranking African American in
Roosevelt’s cabinet.
3. Anthropologist Ruth Benedict helped develop the “culture and personality
movement” and her student Margaret Mead helped to promote her work with
“Patterns of Culture.”
4. Pearl S. Buck won the Nobel Peace Prize in literature for her best selling book,
The Good Earth.
5. Women have done much to better society of the times of the depression and now.

Helping Industry and Labor (pg. 791)

1. Emergency Congress initiated the NRA (National Recovery Administration)

2. The NRA was the most elaborate and beneficial plan for now short-term relief and
long-term recovery.
3. Hours of for work time were reduced to in order to give jobs for those in need,
minimum wages were established and so were maximum working hours in order
to guarantee fairness to all.
4. Workers were able to elect their labor union representatives instead of being
picked.
5. PWA (Public Works Administration)- it aimed at long-range recovery by spending
over $4 billion on some 34,000 projects that included public buildings, highways,
and parkways

Paying Farmers Not to Farm (pg. 783)

1. Ever since the end of WWI, farmers have been suffering from the continuing
price drops of crops and their ever growing surpluses.
a. Many farmers had to foreclose their home
b. And farmers refused to sell their products to depressing markets
2. AAA (Agriculture Adjustment Act)- which paid farmers to reduce their crop
acreage and would eliminate the price of crops lowering due to surpluses.
a. This act increased unemployment
b. It was quickly terminated in 1936
3. Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act (1936)- paid farmers to plan soil
conserving plants.
4. Second Agricultural Adjustment Act- it continued the conservation payments but
this time was accepted by the Supreme Court.
5. Farmers were one of the most hard hitted groups of the depression.
Dust Bowls and Black Blizzards (pg. 783)

1. After a drought in 1933, winds had moved a lot of dirt to Missouri, Texas, Kansas,
Arkansas and Oklahoma
a. Known as the Dust Bowl
2. The dust had put lives in danger and made living conditions tougher.
3. The Frazier-Lemke Farm Bankruptcy Act, passed in 1934, which suspended
mortgage foreclosure for five years
a. The act was voided by Congress in 1935
4. FDR set up the Resettlement Administration, which moved near-farmless farmers
to better land for farming.
5. John Collier promoted the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, which encouraged
tribes to preserve their culture and traditions.
a. This act was nicknamed as “The Indian New Deal.”
b. 77 tribes did not like the Act, because they felt they were just a museum
showcase.
Battling Bankers and Big Business (pg. 784)

1. The Federal Securities Act required promoters to tell all truthful information to
investors and buyers.
2. Securities and Exchange Commission was used to watch the stock markets
3. Stock markets were now seen as trading marts rather then casinos.
4. When Samuel Insull’s company had crashed, Roosevelt set up the Public Utility
Holding Company Act of 1935.

The TVA Harness the Tennessee (pg. 785)

1. The growing electric-power industry attracted the attention of New Deal

reformers.
2. New Dealers accused power industries of charging excessively high rates
3. TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority)- looked into how much money it actually
costed to generate power and worked on fixing rates.
4. The TVA constructed dams on the Tennessee River and enriched the lives of 2.5
million extremely poor citizens.
5. Hydroelectric power was now on the rise in the west.

Housing and Social Security (pg. 788)

1. To speed recovery and better homes, FDR set up the FHA (Federal Housing
Administration)- by giving small loans to householders.
2. USHA (U.S. Housing Authority)- lent money states for low-cost construction.
a. First time in American history where slum areas stopped growing.
3. SSA (Social Securities Act)- created pensions and insurance for seniors, the
handicapped, the blind, delinquent children and others by taxing employees and
employers
 4. Republicans bashed the SSA for being to communist, which penalized the hard
working and took some of their money.
5. Republicans were also against “rugged individualism”

A New Deal for Labor (pg. 789)

1. An increase of walkouts occurred in the summer of 1934.

2. After the NRA was abolished, the Wagner Act took it’s place
3. The Wagner Act guaranteed the right of unions to organize with management
4. CIO (Committee for Industrial Organization)- unskilled workers began to
organize themselves into effective unions
5. CIO won against the United States Steel Company, but smaller steel companies
fought back resulting in massacres such as the Memorial Day Massacre of 1937
6. Fair Labor Standards Act- setting up minimum wages and maximum hours a
person is able to work for.
7. Roosevelt gained much support from Labor Unions.

Landon Challenges “the Champ” (pg. 792)

1. The Republicans nominated a Kansas governor, Alfred M. Landon.

2. Landon was not a very strong speaker on the radio and in person when delivering
speeches.
3. Landon ridiculed the FDR’s spending, but was in favor of his New Deal
a. Many found Landon to just be an idiot, and an unsure candidate.
4. The American Liberty League was formed by conservative Democrats to fight
socialistic “New Deal” ideas.
5. Roosevelt dominated Landon with 523 electoral votes over Landon’s measly 8
votes.
6. FDR won mainly because of the way he kept his promises for the “forgotten
man,” or the minority groups.

Nine Old Men on the Bench (pg. 792)

1. 20th Amendment- cut down the lame duck period to six weeks, so the president
could take office on January 20th instead.
2. FDR begins his second term on January 20th, 1937.
3. Roosevelt once again controlled Congress but he had problems with the Supreme
Court
4. FDR proposed a new plan, which added a new member to the Supreme Court
justice system for every justice that was over 70.
a. With a maximum of 15 justices.
5. Congress voted against Roosevelt because they were afraid of losing their power.
6. Roosevelt was seen as trying to become a dictator.
The Court Changes Course (pg. 793)

1. FDR’s “court packing deal” failed but he was able to gain support of some of the
judges.
2. Owen J. Roberts was a conservative before but changed his ways to side with
Roosevelt.
3. FDR in the end did get his way of having the Supreme Court vote his way
4. The failure of his plan did show that Americans wanted to keep the traditional
judicial system
5. Congress did pass a court reform bill, but it only affected lower courts
6. Roosevelt, the “great,” had been defeated for the first time

Twilight of the New Deal (pg. 794)

1. During Roosevelt’s first term the depression still stood mockingly although the
effect had lessened
2. Unemployment did go down from 25% to 15%
3. In 1937, the economy took a very brief down spill due to some of Roosevelt’s
government policies.
4. FDR did embrace some policies from British economist John Maynard Keynes.
a. FDR announced a bold new movement of planned and controlled deficit
spending.
5. Reorganization Act- gave Roosevelt limited power for administrative reform
6. The Hatch Act- banned administrative officials, except highest policy making
officers, from political campaigning and soliciting

7. The New Deal’s power had finally run out and America was shifting its attention
from domestic affairs to problems abroad.

New Deal or Raw Deal? (Pg. 796)

1. People against the New Deal, exclaimed that it had been a waste and nothing has
been done.
2. Critics were bashing FDR for the outrageous spending and the further debt
created
3. Federal Debt increased from $19.487 billion in 1932 to a staggering $40.440
billion.
4. Conservatives became bitter and complained that the only people being helped
were laborers and the farmers, especially the big operators.
5. FDR was constantly under fire for his “one man super government,” thought
process.
a. Many thought that he had Congress and the Supreme Court wrapped
around his finger
6. Although the “New Deal” did create jobs, it never actually cured the Depression.
7. FDR increased the debt by more then $20 billion.
8. These problems persisted until World War 2.
FDR’s Balance Sheet (pg. 797)

1. New Dealers did claim that the ”New Deal” did compensate for the worst of the
Depression.
2. FDR did also create resent from big business and business owners.
3. The collapse of America’s economy was averted, and the money of the Federal
Reserve and taxes was fairly distributed.
4. Although business owners resented FDR, they should be “kissing his feet,” he
helped increase spending for their businesses to benefit.
5. Later in his presidency, FDR would have to lead America through a massive war,
which had put the world democracy at stake.