Introduction
Franklin D. Roosevelt wanted change. He wasn't going to waste any time when he got into office, so he created the New Deal. The New Deal was broken up into two parts, the first one hundred days, and the second one hundred days. He was going to "create new rules, new regulations, and new deals through a slew of new agencies" (Bolden).
He focused on the three R's: relief, recovery, and reform to get the country back on track.
Relief
He wanted to provide help for the poor and for the unemployed. The relief that was given was immediate action and it was the first step to improving all that was wrong. An example of this was the Civil Works Administration (CWA). This provided temporary jobs for the unemployed, such as repairing roads and bridges.
Recovery
FDR wanted to help the economy get over the depression. A few examples of how this was done was abandoning the gold standard, getting more youth in school, and limiting farm production to increase prices of crops. The Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) was passed in order to reduce the surplus of crops by lowering the production, because when too many of the same crops are produced, the value decreases dramatically. The government achieved this by giving farmers money to leave a certain amount of land unseeded. This act helped raise farm prices, resulting in farmers making more money.
Reform
The point of reform was to create programs that would last for a long time to ensure a depression would not happen again. Roosevelt did this by balancing the federal budget, having more financial responsibility and changing the role of the federal government to be more regulated and involved. Two major examples of what FDR did was the Securities & Exchange Commission and the Federal Deposit. The Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) was set up to monitor stock market activity. It also ensured that no insider trading was taking place. Furthermore, the Glass Steagall Act of 1933 had two main purposes. First, it made banks choose between either being a commercial bank or an investment bank. The goal of this was "to put an end to commercial banks engaging in crazy speculation with their customer's deposits and underwriting all kinds of securities," (Bolden). This act also created the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation). This insures that "...if a bank fails, depositors won't lose all their money. Participating banks will fund the insurance by paying annual premiums, " (Bolden).
He focused on the three R's: relief, recovery, and reform to get the country back on track.
Relief
He wanted to provide help for the poor and for the unemployed. The relief that was given was immediate action and it was the first step to improving all that was wrong. An example of this was the Civil Works Administration (CWA). This provided temporary jobs for the unemployed, such as repairing roads and bridges.
Recovery
FDR wanted to help the economy get over the depression. A few examples of how this was done was abandoning the gold standard, getting more youth in school, and limiting farm production to increase prices of crops. The Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) was passed in order to reduce the surplus of crops by lowering the production, because when too many of the same crops are produced, the value decreases dramatically. The government achieved this by giving farmers money to leave a certain amount of land unseeded. This act helped raise farm prices, resulting in farmers making more money.
Reform
The point of reform was to create programs that would last for a long time to ensure a depression would not happen again. Roosevelt did this by balancing the federal budget, having more financial responsibility and changing the role of the federal government to be more regulated and involved. Two major examples of what FDR did was the Securities & Exchange Commission and the Federal Deposit. The Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) was set up to monitor stock market activity. It also ensured that no insider trading was taking place. Furthermore, the Glass Steagall Act of 1933 had two main purposes. First, it made banks choose between either being a commercial bank or an investment bank. The goal of this was "to put an end to commercial banks engaging in crazy speculation with their customer's deposits and underwriting all kinds of securities," (Bolden). This act also created the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation). This insures that "...if a bank fails, depositors won't lose all their money. Participating banks will fund the insurance by paying annual premiums, " (Bolden).
First 100 DaysThe goal of the first 100 days was to establish programs that would give America the ability to fight and overcome the Great Depression. He did this by passing many new laws and acts such as:
National Economy Act --Reduces the government spending by $500 million, which is 31% by cutting some agencies and slashing salaries of federal employees --Goal: have a balanced budget, which was one of FDR’s campaign promises Reforestation Relief Act paves the way for Civilian Conservation Corps --Puts single young men to work on the nation’s forests and national parks, 90% of the money they make is sent back to their families --Goal: Beautify the nation, reduce vandalism, and get money to the needy Home Owner’s Refinancing Act --Goal: offer people a chance to redo their mortgages at a lower interest rate and for a longer period of time Emergency Banking Act --Goal: Prevent total collapse of banks Agricultural Adjustment Act --See above in introduction |
Second 100 DaysThe goal of the second 100 days was to expand the programs and ensure they last. He created new laws and added to previous laws from the first 100 days. Examples of this are:
National Labor Relations Act (Wagner Act) --collective bargaining and collective action are a right -- “ Its purpose is to define and protect the rights of employees and employers, to encourage collective bargaining, and to eliminate certain practices on the part of labor and management that are harmful to the general welfare.” (Summary of the National Labor Relations Act) Social Security Act --Goal: to offer millions of Americans safety nets such as old-age pension, unemployment insurance, and welfare Revenue Act of 1935 --Goal: raise money by raising taxes on the wealthy people Emergency Relief Appropriation Act --distributes almost $5 billion for different kinds of relief --this is the nation’s biggest peacetime spending bill so far in history Works Progress Administration --Goal: create 3.5 million jobs (Bolden) (Bolden)
|