Crusade to Restore America

NEW DEAL

When President Franklin D. Roosevelt entered office in 1933, a record 15,000,000 Americans were unemployed, banks had foreclosed on a quarter of American farms, and the nation's economy was in ruins. In his acceptance speech as the Democratic presidential nominee, Roosevelt pledged a "crusade to restore America to its own people." Roosevelt's ambitious legislative agenda was called the New Deal. In his first hundred days in office, he pushed several recovery measures through Congress that were supposed to bring immediate relief to Americans. The Roosevelt administration also introduced initiatives to pull the nation's economy out of the Great Depression. In addition, the New Deal set policies to reform American businesses and labor practices that had contributed to the economic collapse.

The New Deal was the biggest domestic reform package introduced by the federal government. President Roosevelt and his administration understood the battle to overcome the Great Depression would not be won with minor adjustments. Roosevelt and his "Brain Trust" of advisors believed the federal government must embrace bold vision and firm control to restore America to its original glory. This decisive approach attracted both fervent support and vehement opposition.

New Deal Programs

Relief

• Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Established in 1933, the CCC trained and provided work for young unemployed men through the conservation and development of natural resources.
• Public Works Administration (PWA) Created by Title II in the National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933, the PWA employed a half-million men on public building projects, like public schools, bridges, dams, and navy ships.
• Works Progress Administration (WPA) Instituted in 1935, the WPA was a controversial work relief program that employed jobless musicians, artists, construction workers, and writers to present free plays and concerts, build streets and highways, and paint building murals.

Recovery

• National Recovery Administration (NRA) Established under the National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933, the National Recovery Administration established codes that controlled businesses production and pricing. The NRA also set minimum wages and outlawed unfair practices such as false advertising and child labor (except on the farm).
• Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA) Established as part of Roosevelt's New Deal for farmers, the agency paid farmers to produce less in order to increase the prices and value of crops. By raising farm prices, it allowed farmers to purchase manufactured goods and produce more diversified crops.
• Farm Security Administration (FSA) This depression-era agency gave poor farmers loans to buy land, supplies, tools and livestock to establish their own farms.
• Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) This program sought to instill confidence in the U.S. banking system by insuring deposits up to $5,000 against bank failure.

Reform

• The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Reformed stock market practices that had caused the stock market to crash in 1929.
• The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Gave workers the power to bargain as a group with their employers.
• The Social Security Act (SSA) Provided elderly people a small pension and helped states to give assistance to those who were unemployed.
• The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Built dams and power plants along the Tennessee River System to generate electricity for rural and urban areas in Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina, and Mississippi.
• Rural Electrification Administration (REA) Provided low cost loans through cooperatives to establish electrical service in rural areas.