The%20Great%20Depression

1
The Great Depression

• Section 2

2
Was the New Deal helpful?

• Arguments against it
• -didnt do enough (Share our wealth)
• -government was too powerful
• -FDR was a dictator
• -was unconstitutional
• -government was spending more than it took in
• -did not end the Depression

3
Helpful? (contd)

• Arguments for the New Deal
• -FDR guided the nation during the worst days of
  the Depression
• -ended the banking crisis
• -found jobs for millions of people
• -preserved democracy

4
The New Deal

• In the election of 1932, frustrated Americans
  chose Franklin D. Roosevelt as the next president
• Promised a new deal for the American people and
  that the nation asks for action and action now.

5
The Hundred Days

• Refers to the first hundred days Roosevelt was in
  office
• Declared a bank holiday, closing every bank in
  the country for 8 days
• Emergency Banking Relief Act- only the banks with
  enough funds could reopen
• Fireside chats- radio addresses given by
  Roosevelt to help reassure the American people

6
The Hundred Days (Contd)

• The bank act was part of a series of new laws
  passed in the Hundred Days
• Relief from unemployment, recovery planning, and
  reforming the country to prevent future economic
  crisis

7
Relief Programs

• CCC-Civilian Conservation Corps hired unemployed
  single men to develop parks, build bridges, plant
  trees etc. for 1 a day.
• FERA-Federal Emergency Relief Administration
  gave federal money to state and local agencies to
  give to the unemployed

8
Programs (Contd)

• WPA-Works Progress Administration put jobless to
  work building hospitals, schools, and other
  public facilities
• Hired artists and writers to paint murals and
  write plays as well as record history

9
Promoting Recovery

• NIRA-National Industrial Recovery Act tried to
  end price cutting and worker layoffs
• NRA-National Recovery (not rifle) Administration
  worked to enforce the new programs (blue eagle
  sticker)

10
Farmers

• Overproduction was still a major problem
• Surplus-when there is more product than there is
  a demand for
• AAA-Agricultural Adjustment Act paid farmers NOT
  to grow certain crops and get rid of extra crops
  and livestock

11
Tennessee Valley Authority

• Tried to remake the Tennessee River Valley which
  had been destroyed by floods
• Farmland was very poor half the families in the
  area were on relief
• Built dams (flood control and electric power),
  planted new forests and tried to improve the area
  farmland

12
Long Term Reforms

• Speculation- high risk buying and selling of
  stocks to make a quick profit
• FDIC-Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
  insured savings accounts in approved banks. If an
  FDIC bank failed, the government would repay the
  money to the depositor