today we're looking at the New Deal
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you'll find more resources that go with many of the bell ringer videos the Great Depression of
the 1930s was a time of severe economic conditions in the United States and around the world Millions
were without work and trying to survive through these hard times in the election of 1932 Democrat
Franklin Delano Roosevelt or FDR ran a campaign promising to find ways to improve the U.S economy
Roosevelt defeated Republican president Herbert Hoover whom many blame for the economic problems
despite the fact that Hoover had implemented new policies to try to slow or stop the depression
upon being inaugurated in March of 1933 Roosevelt immediately jumped into action by calling Congress
into a special session during what became known as the hundred days from March to the middle of
June 1933 FD ER in Congress work together to pass legislation that would battle the
depression and offer economic aid to Americans these new programs and others aimed at combating
the depression during FDR's presidency became known as the New Deal the first area that the
New Deal addressed was the banks in the U.S which many Americans had lost faith in after the stock
market crash of 1929. many Americans were pulling their money out of banks instead of investing it
out of fear of what was happening FDR called for a bank holiday in which all banks were ordered to
close temporarily Congress then quickly passed the Emergency Banking Relief act which had the
purpose of restoring Americans confidence in banks on March 12 1933 FDR gave the first of
his Fireside Chats which were radio broadcasts in which the president spoke directly to the
American people and explained his policies and ideas for improving the economy between 1930 to
1944 Rosa dealt with broadcast 30 Fireside Chats in this first fireside chat FDR explained how the
banking Relief act would allow the government to inspect the finances of every bank and that only
those Banks considered to be healthy would be allowed to reopen after the holiday so slowly
Banks began to reopen and there was no rush by Americans to withdraw money and in fact many began
to deposit more next the New Deal began to focus on the Staggering unemployment in America by 1933
nearly 13 million Americans or 25 percent of the workforce was unemployed FDR and Congress began to
create programs to get people back to work these programs sometimes referred to as FDR's alphabet
soup had Americans work on projects that improved America's infrastructure and public spaces the
CWA or Civil Works Administration put more than 4 million Americans to work building roads Bridges
schools and airports just to name a few the CCC or Civilian Conservation Corps employed hundreds
of thousands to work planting trees and building roads and public facilities in National Parks the
TVA or Tennessee Valley Authority hired thousands to build dozens of dams and develop Hydro
electric power plants to bring electricity to communities across the Tennessee River Valley
other New Deal programs included programs to help American farmers that were dealing with
severe drought some programs offered financial aid so farmers did not lose Farms or regulated
crop prices many Americans were happy about new deal policies but many criticized them saying
that the government was growing too big and that FDR was taking on more Authority than a president
should still others argued the New Deal did not go far enough and that more Aid should be offered
nonetheless in the midterm elections of 1934 New Deal Democrats won a majority in Congress
which then in turn ushered in what became known as the second New Deal part of the second new
deal was the WPA or works progress administration which similar to the Civil Works Administration
put over 8 million Americans to work on roads and thousands of public projects in 1935 the
Social Security Act was passed and is still in place today a which goal was to give Financial
Security to elderly disabled and unemployed Americans Beyond Banks and job creation the
New Deal also included legislation that dealt with labor relations in 1935 the National Labor
Relations Act or Wagner Act was passed that gave workers the right to join unions and take part in
collective bargaining or in other words negotiate with employers about wages and working conditions
as a group the fair labor standards Act of 1938 established a minimum wage which was 25 cents per
hour that employers had to pay workers to this day the New Deal is a historically controversial issue
many historians and economists argue whether it helped or hindered the end of the Great Depression
furthermore many argue as to the extent to which FDR in the New Deal broadened the reach of the
federal government and whether programs put in place during the time are still necessary today
so with that hopefully you learned something and thanks for watching