THE NEW DEAL TURNS 75
By JASMIN K. WILLIAMS
May 2, 2008
Today's page looks at 75 years of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal Programs.
ON Oct. 24, 1929, Wall Street crashed, sending the world's economy into a spiral. Less than a week later, on Oct. 29, a day known as Black Tuesday, stocks plummeted even more. Every business and industry in every part of the country was hit hard.
Enter President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal. The New Deal is the name given to a series of socio-economic initiatives instituted by FDR in 1933 and aimed at providing relief and reform to the country's economy and its citizens after the Great Depression.
FDR's program used the federal government to get the country back on its feet. As soon as Roosevelt was elected to the first of his four terms (this was before presidents were limited to two terms), he got to work on banking-reform laws, relief plans and agriculture programs.
The first New Deal of 1933 focused on short-term recovery. The second New Deal (1935-36) redistributed power from big business and focused it on workers, farmers and consumers.
During FDR's first 100 days in office, Congress gave him everything he asked for. His New Deal programs included:
Bank Holiday and Emergency Banking Act: Roosevelt called the bankers and businessmen unscrupulous money-changers. Most of the country's banks were closed and Roosevelt kept them closed until he could pass new legislation, which he hastily did on March 9, 1933. The new legislation instituted a four-day bank holiday. It gave the secretary of the Treasury the right to confiscate the gold of private citizens in exchange for paper currency. Banks were inspected, and two-thirds were allowed to reopen.
The Economy Act was passed on March 14, 1933. It proposed to balance the non-emergency federal budget by cutting government employees' salaries and veterans' pensions, saving $500 million.
Farm Programs: Roosevelt believed in the importance of the farm industry. The Agricultural Adjustment Act and a measure authorizing creation of the Agricultural Adjustment Administration were passed in May 1933, providing provisions for crop reductions, allowing farmers to determine the limits for their crops, and providing subsidies for idle land. The idea was less product, higher prices and more money for the farmers. In 1936, however, the Supreme Court deemed the AAA unconstitutional.
