Roosevelt's new deal.

1. reform
   1. Legislation and laws to create a fairer society
2. recovery
   1. Policies to rebuild the economy that had suffered due to the Depression
3. relief
   1. Measures to help the millions who were unemployed and homeless

Annotations:

• during the first 100 days that Roosevelt was elected he created the alphabet agencies.  

1. CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps)

   Annotations:

   •   A department to help people to employ unemployed men between 18 and 25 to work in forests, in special camps. The workers would get food and accommodation as well as a dollar a day from the Government.
2. FERA (Federal Emergency Relief Act)

   Annotations:

   • This gave $500m to the states to spend on food and shelter for the unemployed and homeless. For every $3 each state gave to its people, the Government gave $1.
3. AAA (Agricultural Adaptation Authority)

   Annotations:

   • The AAA tried to encourage farmers to produce less by paying them not to produce in the hope that prices would rise and farmers would make a profit.
4. TVA - (Tennessee Valley Authority)

   Annotations:

   • This gave support to people of the Tennessee Valley who had suffered from food shortages. They built 21 dams to produce hydro-electricity, providing work for thousands of people and bringing electrical power to the area.
5. NIRA (National Industrial Recovery Act)

   Annotations:

   • (i) NRA - National Recovery Administration – This encouraged workers to improve their working conditions, and laid down rules on minimum wages, hours of work and conditions of work. The companies taking part in the scheme were entitled to display a blue eagle badge. (ii) PWA - Public Works Administration – This provided jobs on major building projects for highly skilled workers. It dealt with slums and shanty towns, and built houses, schools and hospitals.
6. WPA (Works Progress Administration)

   Annotations:

   • This created a variety of jobs for people in the countryside. It combined all agencies responsible for job creation and provided work building roads, schools and airports. Authors and artists received contracts to carry out creative work.

1. As a result of the AAA, farmers’ money doubled between 1932-39.
2. The TVA improved the lives of 7 million people.
3. The CCC created work for 2.5 million people.
4. The PWA and the WPA created work for 4 million people.
5. The NRA and the Wagner Act brought better working conditions for workers and introduced trade unions (labour unions).

1. They intervened in the business of Americans.
2. The Supreme Court announced that the AAA and NRA were unconstitutional.
3. The AAA paid farmers not to produce food – "shoot the cows and milk the government." This did not help people who depended on farms for their income, eg farm hands.
4. Many argued that Roosevelt’s projects were a short-term solution, and that they provided the government with cheap labour.
5. People thought trade unions were un-American and that they challenged the idea of rugged individualism.
6. Some felt that the New Deal did not help enough, Dr Francis Townsend argued that Roosevelt had not done enough to help the elderly. He wanted a pension of $200 per month for everyone over 60 – they would have to spend this money within the month and therefore generate a demand for goods and equipment.