3B. The New Deal and You

Today you are going to take a look at house Franklin Roosevelt's  NEW DEAL continues to have an impact on the United States, and you.

Three R's of the New Deal

Relief

Relief was all about finding ways to get money to those that need it the most. Some people lost everything, including their jobs, and it was clear that the government was going to need to step in to attempt to re-employ people. Many of the programs that fell under the relief category were job creation programs like the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps), CWA (Civilian Works Administration), and PWA (Public Works Association). These programs gave people jobs building infrastructure (the basic physical and organizational structures and facilities (e.g. buildings, roads, power supplies) needed for the operation of a society or enterprise.). In turn, the people made money, which allowed them to spend some money, and worked to continue the wheel spinning. Some of the projects that were completed included the Hoover Dam and work in the National Parks system. Locally, we saw projects done under this as well, including portions of the current New Hampton Elementary School building.

Recover

This portion of the plan was about establishing long term jobs that would keep people working, as well as help to drive the price of food up, thus making farming profitable again. Some of these were laws, others were programs. One was called the NIRA, which “established codes of fair practice for individual industries … to promote industrial growth,”.  It also included jon creation programs like the PWA (Public Works Administration) and the TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority). The PWA created public sector jobs in fields like nursing, libraries, artists and craftsman. The TVA provided jobs in the hydroelectric energy field. In other words, it hired people to build and run dams in the areas of the country that had not yet received the abilities to have electricity.

Reform

Reform was about preventing the crash and the depression from happening again. Most of these programs were laws and agencies that regulated money, trading, and other business practices. The most famous of these programs is Social Security. To youths in the 21st century, Social Security is simply a card with a number that identifies you. But that is merely a side effect of the program. In fact, the program was meant to give money to those that likely had money to live on, and extra money might mean they spend extra cash, which would stimulate the economy. In other words, Social Security was meant to be a supplementary pension program for retired people. It survives today, and is one of the more cherished government programs amongst older Americans.  Other programs that came about were the FDIC (Federal Depository Insurance Corporation) which was built to ensure you money was safe in a bank, and the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) which was established to create and, especially, investigate violation and enforce laws on trading of stocks and commodities.