How to Find a Sample of Family Background Essay

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New Deal free essay sample

Despite many dissatisfied Americans, the national mood was mixed as the 1932 election approached. Many discouraged Americans had blamed themselves for their economic hardships. Other unemployed Americans felt the deeper frustrations of the nation’s economic hardships. Regardless of their circumstances, most Americans believed that something completely new had to be tried. The Republicans unenthusiastically renominated Hoover, while the Democrats turned to New York governor Franklin Roosevelt. The Democrats won the 1932 election and Franklin Roosevelt was elected as president (The Election of 1932). Roosevelt won with his personal charm and willingness to experiment. Elected in November, Roosevelt would not begin his presidency until March 1933. Meanwhile, Americans suffered through the worst winter of depression. Unemployment continued to climb, and in three major industrial cities in Ohio, it was staggering, from 50 percent to 80 percent (Henretta, James A. ). Even with the help from private charities and public relief agencies, the needy were hardly helped at all. We will write a custom essay sample on New Deal or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The nation’s banking system was so close to collapsing that many state governors closed banks temporarily to avoid further withdrawals. At this time, the nation had hit rock bottom. The ideas between Hoover and Roosevelt were not much different. Both wished to maintain the nation’s economy and to save capitalism. They also believed in a balanced government budget and praised the values of hard work, and sacrifice. Roosevelt’s willingness to experiment made him more popular and more effective than Hoover. His New Deal programs put people to work and restored hope for the nation’s future. Roosevelt’s New Deal shocked Americans because it was so different from anything presented by other presidents. His close relationship with the American people was critical to his political success. Roosevelt’s use of the radio, especially his â€Å"fireside chats,† made him a special presence by comforting millions of Americans (The Fireside Chats). In Roosevelt’s â€Å"Hundred Days,† Congress enacted fifteen bills that focused on four problems that focused on banking failures, agricultural overproduction, the business slump, and unemployment. The New Deal had an immense impact on American’s lives. Its principles of social welfare liberalism transformed Americans’ relationship with the government and provided assistance to the unemployed, the elderly, workers, and racial minorities. During the New Deal labor unions increased because of the Wagner Act, which upheld the right of industrial workers to join unions. These labor unions began to take political action, as well as beginning an alliance with the Democratic Party. The ultimate goal of the separation of public aid and social insurance was that social policy must either effectively incorporate social and cultural values that relate to the evaluation of individuals or use programs to create common social and political interests among large groups of dissimilar people. The separation of social insurance and public aid in the American model segregated the poor and marginal people in the work force from social programs. The separation also created a class that was dependent on programs that were less than generously funded and always seemed to be at the center of controversy. The losers in this American policy model were women, children, and people of color, because they all had a lower probability of having their needs well met by work-based social insurance (National Labor Relations Act (1935)). The banking system was the nation’s economic backbone, which soon failed, causing consumer spending and business investment to decrease. Widespread bank failures had cut into the savings of nearly nine million families. Bank failures also had account holders race to withdraw their funds. Roosevelt’s main focus was to tackle the nation’s economy and get banks back up and running. On March 5, 1933, Roosevelt closed all banks and four days later, Congress passed the Emergency Banking Act. This act permitted banks to reopen if a Treasury Department inspection showed that they had sufficient cash reserves. When Roosevelt reopened the banks, he reassured citizens of the safety of their money because deposits exceeded withdrawals. He also created the Glass Steagall Act, which created the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. This act insured deposits up to $2,500 and prohibited banks from making risky investments. Roosevelt also allowed the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates by removing the U. S. Treasury from the gold standard (Powers, n. pag. ). After battling the weak banking system, Roosevelt and Congress then turned to agriculture and manufacturing. Farmers were always given cheap prices for land and low interest rates but the problem was overproduction. To solve this problem, Roosevelt created the Agricultural Adjustment Act. This act provided money to farmers who cut production of produce like cotton, rice, and tobacco. By supplying farmers’ money, they hoped farm prices would rise as production fell. The Agricultural Adjustment Act briefly stabilized the farm economy until the benefits became unevenly distributed. Roosevelt also created the National Industrial Recovery Act and the National Recovery Administration to help improve the declining industries production. The National Recovery Administration created self-governing associations in hundreds of industries. In order for industries to begin their own self-governing associations, they had to agree on prices and production quotas. The National Recovery Administration limited the power of large businesses so smaller businesses could gain consumer interests (National Recovery Administration). Both the Agricultural Adjustment Act and the National Recovery Administration were created to improve the U. S. ’s industries and stabilize the economy, and left many positive effects (Agricultural Adjustment Act). One of the most widespread problems Americans faced was unemployment. Private charities had done all they could and soon looked to Washington for help. Trying to help the people, Roosevelt asked Congress to provide relief for the millions of unemployed Americans. In response to the president, Congress established the Federal Emergency Relief Administration, which provided federal funds to state relief programs (Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA)). The New Deal was a proven way that put people to work because in 1933 and a month after Congress established the Public Works Administration, over 2. 6 million men and women were put to work. The Public Works Administration was a construction program where Americans repaired bridges, built highways, and constructed public buildings. A more long-term program was the Civilian Conservation Corps, which consisted of 250,000 men to do conservation work. The Civilian Conservation Corps built bridges, roads, trails in many state and national parks (Public Works Administration). Throughout this period, women continued to play a prominent role in social welfare policy and program development. They had achieved suffrage in 1919 and had leadership roles in many organizations that promoted social services and social reform. However, the policies that developed from the depression emphasized the traditional role of women in social and economic life and tied the interests of women to maternity, childcare, and marriage. Groups such as African Americans, had a more visible role in the New Deal than in any previous government, but the New Deal coalition depended on southern Democrats and was constrained from supporting full equality. This was a time of legal segregation in the American South, and although organizations such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People had some visibility, civil rights gains were hard to come by. The employment programs of the New Deal did try to reduce discrimination, and Roosevelt ultimately created a Fair Employment Practices Commission in 1941. However, programs like the New Deals Agricultural Adjustment Act displaced thousands of minority farmworkers while compensating farm owners, and programs like Aid to Dependent Children would come to be seen as both prohibiting the economic participation of women and contributing to family problems (Batlan, n. pag. ). The civil rights movement had been a continuous element in American life, but it took on a new character after World War II. Beginning with the Montgomery bus boycott and the response to the murder of Emmett Till, it led to widespread protests and often-violent responses by southern authorities and segregationist individuals and groups. Martin Luther King, a young Baptist minister, became a national figure when the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee brought thousands of college students to work for voter registration in the South. The Kennedy administration was pressed to support a variety of measures that were introduced into Congress, and the administration proposed its own civil rights bill. In June 1963, President Kennedy gave a passionate television speech on behalf of the bill and the civil rights of African Americans. The speech was seen as courageous and a position that came to symbolize the Kennedy presidency for many Americans. That Civil Rights bill passed Congress in 1964 and became one of the hallmarks of American social policy (Lovey). The Supreme Court joined the civil rights forces in the 1950s, while adding to the historical pressure for sweeping legislation. After World War II, the federal courts began to protect the civil rights of minorities in specific circumstances, gradually making it possible for African Americans to participate in some activities on an equal basis with whites. The Supreme Court took its most memorable step in this direction when it agreed in 1954 to hear a case dealing with racial segregation in public schools. The practice of separating African American and white children in public schools had always been unpopular among civil rights leaders. These civil rights leaders saw proper education as a means for African Americans to escape racial discrimination. They argued that the segregation in schools doomed African Americans to inferior education and deprived whites and African Americans of an important educational experience. In Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, the Supreme Court struck down the legal support for maintaining â€Å"separate but equal† educational facilities (Public Broadcasting Service). Although political pressures prevented President John F. Kennedy’s administration from proposing legislation to Congress in 1961 and 1962, the President took steps to ensure minority rights in voting, employment, housing, transportation, and education. The stage was set for a new legislative initiative to deal with the problem of federal protection of civil rights. Until the New Deal, blacks had shown their loyalty to the party of Abraham Lincoln by voting Republican. By the end of Roosevelts first administration, however, one of the most dramatic voter shifts in American history had occurred. In 1936, 75 percent of black voters supported the Democrats. Blacks turned to Roosevelt, mostly because his spending programs gave them a measure of relief from the Depression and the Republican Party had done little to repay their earlier support. Following the 1955 unification of the American Federation of Labor with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, the AFL-CIO became an ally of civil rights organizations. Martin Luther King spoke of the shared goals of the civil rights and labor movements, noting in his 1961 address to the fourth AFL-CIO national convention that both African Americans and union members were fighting for decent wages, fair working conditions, livable housing, old age security, health and welfare measures, conditions in which families can grow, have education for their children, and respect in the community. New Deal free essay sample ProgressAdministrationAt the darkest hour of the Great Depression, Franklin Delano Roosevelt entered the White House in 1932, promising a new deal for the American people. The package of legislative reforms that came to be known as the New Deal permanently and dramatically transformed the politics and economy of the United States. In the field of relief, the New Deal proved to be highly successful. However, in terms of reform, the New Deal legacy may have been unmatched in American history. Although the new deal temporarily ramped up industry to meet the demand for war goods, thus displaying its temporary effectiveness, droves of workers were kept out of jobs and the government expanded its role in our economy and changed the federal government for the rest of American time. Through the numerous relief programs, the temporary effectiveness of the New Deal can clearly be seen. The opinions of many politicians from The Evening Star are seen in Document C. We will write a custom essay sample on New Deal or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page It was written in the middle of the New Deal Era in 1934 and seems to be in complete support of the actions of the New Deal. In it the viewer is able to see the government and its policies evolving. Rather than a revolution, a forcible overthrow of a government for a new system, it is evolution, the gradual development of something. The picture depicts a scholarly man transforming into a growing, functional tree. Essentially the political cartoon is displaying that an economy can grow without artificial regulation necessarily, as a natural progress, and just like a tree, can potentially live forever. With an adequate amount of care a tree can function and grow even more so. This idea corresponds directly with the New Deal for it, through government care, is only a part of the economy evolving, a natural process. With this document the potential effectiveness of the New Deal can be seen. In document E, the Social Security Act is promoted in an advertisement towards the end of the New Deal Era. The Act responded to the pitfalls of old age, poverty, unemployment, dependent widows, and fatherless children by providing benefits to retirees and the unemployed, as well as a lump-sum at death. President Roosevelt became the first president to advocate federal assistance for the elderly. It combated the widespread poverty among senior citizens. The government program provided income to retired wage earners. The Act benefited numerous people, and to this day is still one of the most popular government programs. Through the advertisement the public is given a friendly invitation into the application of social security therefore displaying the openness and the potentially benefit for the community. Thus, the effectiveness of the New Deal is clear. Document G is directly from the NBC radio broadcast in December of 1936, the last year of the new deal. The broadcast holds opinions regarding the unions during the New Deal Era. It states that employers have failed to enforce the use of unions and labor unrest had been created. In contrast, many believed Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s administration to be beneficial for organized labor. FDR needed the support of labor, and labor needed the support of the national government. He urged the passage of the National Labor Relations Act which increased the rights of unions and created the National Labor Relations Board. The Taft-Hartley Labor Act was amended to enlarge the powers of the NLRB and allowed the government to intervene in strikes affecting the nations safety or health. The NRA set minimum wages and maximum hours. It eliminated child labor and established the right of workers to organize. This, as opposed to Document G, allowed for collective bargaining. Despite the unconstitutionality of the NRA, in 1938 the Fair Labor Standards Act was passed which set minimum wages and a maximum work week of 40 hours. Although the Fair Labor Standards Act was passed after the New Deal Era, the effectiveness and legacy of the New Deal can be seen in the follow up with labor laws and wages. The ideals of the New Deal Era prove its effectiveness that can still be seen today. Furthermore, the relief programs greatly expanded the federal government, which, such as the effectiveness of the New Deal, can still be seen today. The unnecessary and unjust regulation of interstate commerce can be seen in Document F. In it the reader can see the opinion of Charles Evans Hughes, a lawyer and Republican politician. Potential bias can be seen in the document for the New Deal made the Democratic Party the majority party during the Era; partly because the New Deal programs of FDR created a liberal political alliance made up of labor unions, blacks and other ethnic and religious minorities, intellectuals, the poor, and some farmers. These groups became the backbone of the Democratic Party for decades following the Depression. Hughes notes one of the changes in behavior of the federal government. This period, more than any other, defined the federal government as an active and extensive participant in regulating the nations private economy. Politicians can note the federal government’s new attempt to regulate businesses to a larger extent. The new regulation of interstate commerce reveals the government as much more controlling than in past years and begins to expand the powers of the federal government. The change in the federal government can clearly be seen through Document F. As opposed to Document F, Document H from The New Republic in May of 1940 pinpoints the successes of the New Deal. The document reviews the New Deal and has a potential bias towards the positive aspects of it, essentially implying that there were no flaws. It states the new strength and renovation of government. The New Deal instituted a number of reforms in almost every area of the economy: finance, agriculture, labor, industry, and consumer protection; each of which are government programs. Although, contrasting this document, conservatives argue that the New Deal brought too much government intervention in the economy, as seen in Document F. However the New Deal did carry a great accomplishment, it maintained and even restored the faith of the American people in their government. The new deal expanded government’s role in our economy, by giving it the power to regulate previously unregulated areas of commerce. Those primarily are being banking, agriculture and housing. The author of such editorial clearly approved of the expansion of government for they point out the new strength in the executive branch and the courts, both of which had changed due to the federal government. However in Document D, the economic reality of the government programs can be seen. It was written two years before the termination of the New Deal Era and states the large addition to the national debt due to the government programs. The New Deal changed the way businesses operated to help make sure people were paid more fairly. All the New Deal programs were paid for, and run by, the government; and thus, the government’s debt grew a great deal. The U. S. debt was 22 billion dollars in 1933 and grew by 50 percent in the three years that followed, reaching 33 billion dollars. For example the Federal Emergency Relief Administration gave five million dollars to states, cities, and towns, in efforts to repair the once â€Å"broken† places. Furthermore the Works Progress Administration put people into work in their own communities. However this was the New Deal’s most expensive program at 11 billion dollars. Although the New Deal programs did give hope to the American people, because of the over expansion of federal government as well as the large addition to the national debt, the New Deal’s effectiveness economically declines. The New Deal’s apparent natural course, social security, and enforcement of unions clearly display its effectiveness for the American people. However, speaking economically, the New Deal brought the nation even further into national debt and greatly expanded their powers into unnecessary aspects, such as interstate commerce. For the sake of the American people and uplifting their spirits from the downturn during the Great Depression, the New Deal was extremely effective. However, because of large change in federal government and deeper entry into national debt, the New Deal loses some of such effectiveness. Because of reasons presented, it is that the New Deal was effect and greatly changed the federal government. New deal free essay sample Predictably, Roosevelt’s New Deal came under attack from the right, from Republicans, conservative Democrats, bankers, and Wall Street financiers who claimed that it doled out too many federal handouts. Many of these critics also feared that the policy and programs involved were a dangerous step toward socialism and the destruction of the American capitalist system. Such misgivings were understandable given the political atmosphere in the 1930s, as communism was becoming a more imminent threat. In fact, Soviet agents in the United States went so far as to launch a â€Å"popular front† campaign to actively support the president. Moreover, an unprecedented number of people joined the American Communist Party during the decade. Perhaps more surprising, the New Deal also came under attack from the far left. Many socialist activists denounced the New Deal because they believed that it was too conservative and that it did not provide enough relief and assistance. We will write a custom essay sample on New deal or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Over the years, many historians have tended to agree with this argument. Several have argued that the Great Depression would not have been so devastating for so long had Roosevelt handed more federal money out to a greater number of Americans. Coughlin and Long One of the most vocal of Roosevelt’s critics was Father Charles Coughlin. A Catholic priest from Michigan, Coughlin began broadcasting a weekly radio show in 1930 that outwardly criticized the New Deal. Within a few short years, Coughlin had amassed a following of 40 million listeners who agreed with his anti–New Deal opinions. He blamed the Great Depression on Wall Street, crooked financiers, and Jews and campaigned for the nationalization of the entire American banking system. Senator Huey P. Long of Louisiana was another major thorn in Roosevelt’s side, albeit from the left rather than the right. Long was among those who believed that the New Deal was not doing enough to help Americans. Believing that income inequality had caused the depression, he promoted his own â€Å"Share the Wealth† program (sometimes referred to as theâ€Å"Every Man a King† program), which would levy enormous taxes on the rich so that every American family could earn at least $5,000 a year. Long enjoyed enormous popularity during the first few years of Roosevelt’s first term but was assassinated in 1935. The Works Progress Administration The first major legislation that Roosevelt and Congress passed in the Second New Deal—in response to the critics—was the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Created in 1935, the WPA was an effort to appease the â€Å"Longites† who clamored for more direct assistance from the federal government. The WPA was similar to the Public Works Administration of the First New Deal, this time hiring nearly 10 million Americans to construct new public buildings, roads, and bridges. Congress dumped over $10billion into the projects in just under a decade. The Social Security Act Congress also passed the Social Security Act in 1935, creating a federal retiree pension system for many workers, funded by a double tax on every working American’s paycheck. The act also created an unemployment insurance plan to provide temporary assistance to those who were out of work, while also making funds available to the blind and physically disabled. Furthermore, Congress agreed to match federal dollars for every state dollar allocated to workers’ compensation funds. Despite its vocal critics, the Social Security Act had an enormous impact on Great Depression–era Americans and future generations. It brought the most sweeping change of the Second New Deal legislation as it not only gave income to some of the most destitute in society but also forever changed the way Americans thought about work and retirement. The paycheck taxes were advertised as a personal retirement savings plan even though those tax dollars were actually being redistributed as soon as they were collected. Nevertheless, retirement came to be seen as something every worker could enjoy. Still, many criticized the Social Security system for not extending pensions to enough people, particularly unskilled black and women laborers. Legislation for Farmers and Homeowners The Second New Deal provided even more assistance to farmers. After the Supreme Court declared the Agricultural Adjustment Administration unconstitutional in 1936, Democrats immediately responded with the passage of the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act that same year. This act continued to subsidize farmers to curb overproduction and also paid them either to plant soil-enriching crops (instead of wheat) or to not grow any crops at all. In 1938, Congress also created a Second Agricultural Adjustment Administration to reduce crop acreage. Meanwhile, the United States Housing Authority (USHA), created by Congress in 1937, gave assistance to American urbanites, building new houses for over half a million Americans. The Indian Reorganization Act Native Americans also received federal assistance during Roosevelt’s second term. In 1934, Congress passed the Indian Reorganization Act(IRA) to promote tribal organization and give federal recognition to tribal governments. The IRA also reversed the 1887 Dawes Severalty Act, changing the relationship between various tribes and the federal government. The Dawes Act had weakened tribal affiliations because it stated that only individual Native Americans—not tribal councils—could own land. Despite Roosevelt’s efforts to alleviate Native American suffering, however, the IRA was only partially successful. Some tribes had difficulty understanding the terms of the new treaty, while others, such as the Navajo in the Southwest, flat-out rejected it. Many tribes saw more immediate benefit from relief programs such as the Civilian Conservation Corps, Public Works Administration, and Works Progress Administration, in which nearly 100,000 young Native American men participated. Labor Reforms These labor reforms had a lasting effect on America. The Wagner Act paved the way for more effective collective bargaining and striking, and within a year, fledgling labor unions had I-line workers in the General Motors automobile factory, for example, used the Wagner Act to initiate a series of sit-down strikes, in which workers would sit at their stations and refuse to leave, preventing the company from hiring new, non-union â€Å"scab† workers to fill in for the strikers. By 1937, General Motors had recognized its workers’ right to organize. The Election of 1936 With the 1936 presidential election on the horizon, Republicans stood virtually no chance against Roosevelt and his party. Democrats’ efforts to provide relief, recovery, and reform were highly visible. Roosevelt had especially strong support among blacks (voting as Democrats in large numbers for the first time), unskilled laborers, and residents of the West and South. The Republican nominee was Kansas governor Alfred M. Landon, a moderate who campaigned on an anti–New Deal platform. Not surprisingly, Roosevelt won a landslide victory, with 523 electoral votes to Landon’s 8. Roosevelt’s resounding victory proved that Americans widely supported the New Deal. he First Hundred Days Americans voted for Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1932 on the assumption that the Democrats would dole out more federal assistance than Hoover and the Republicans had. Indeed, immediately after taking the oath of office, FDR set out to provide relief, recovery, and reform in his bundle of programs known as the New Deal. Roosevelt drew much of his inspiration for the New Deal from the writings of British economist John Maynard Keynes, who believed that a government’s deficit spending could prime the economic pump and jump-start the economy. With the support of a panicked Democratic Congress, Roosevelt created most of the â€Å"alphabet agencies† of the First New Dealwithin his landmark First Hundred Days in office. The Banking Acts On March 6, 1933, two days after becoming president, Roosevelt declared a five-day national bank holiday to close banks temporarily. During Hoover’s presidency, roughly 1,500 banks had closed each year, and FDR hoped that a short break would give the surviving banks time to reopen on more solid footing. Several days later, Congress passed the Emergency Banking Relief Act, which gave Roosevelt the power to regulate banking transactions and foreign exchange. Several months later, Congress passed the Glass-Steagall Banking Reform Act to protect savings deposits. The act, in turn, created theFederal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), which insured an individual’s savings of up to $5,000 (today, it insures deposits of up to $100,000). The act also regulated lending policies and forbade banks from investing in the stock market. After the banking crisis was resolved, Roosevelt aired the first of his â€Å"fireside chats† to over 50 million radio listeners, encouraging Americans to redeposit their money in the newly opened banks. The Civilian Conservation Corps In March 1933, Congress created the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), which hired unemployed young men to work on environmental conservation projects throughout the country. For a wage of thirty dollars a month, men worked on flood control and reforestation projects, helped improve national parks, and built many public roads. Approximately 3million men worked in CCC camps during the program’s nine-year existence. The Federal Emergency Relief Administration The â€Å"Hundred Days Congress† also created the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), in May 1933, to dole out roughly $500 million to the states. About half of this money was earmarked to bail out bankrupt state and local governments. States matched the other half (three state dollars for every one federal dollar) and distributed it directly to the people. FERA also created the Civil Works Administration (CWA), which helped generate temporary labor for those most in need. The Agricultural Adjustment Administration Roosevelt also encouraged the creation of the Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA) to assist America’s farmers. The AAA temporarily reset prices for farm commodities, including corn, wheat, rice, milk, cotton, and livestock, and then began subsidizing farmers to reduce production. Before the depression, many debt-ridden farmers had increased crop production in order to earn more money. Ironically, this increased production had led to overproduction, which flooded the market and drove prices down, forcing farmers to plant even more the next year in a never-ending cycle. The AAA, however, began paying farmers extra to plant less or destroy their surplus crops in order to raise prices again. Congress also passed the Farm Credit Act to provide loans to farmers in danger of bankruptcy. The AAA was quite controversial, as many critics wondered why landowners rather than sharecroppers and tenant farmers were receiving federal aid. Indeed, some landowners who received aid unjustly used it to purchase farm equipment, which had the potential to eliminate farm owners’ need for sharecroppers and tenant farmers entirely. Furthermore, many poorer and hungrier Americans were outraged that the government was paying farmers money to destroy perfectly edible crops in order to inflate prices. Despite these criticisms,  however, the AAA did manage to raise prices to their pre–World War I highs. The Tennessee Valley Authority Congress also created the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), whose goal was to modernize and reduce unemployment in the Tennessee River valley, one of the poorest and hardest-hit regions in the country. The agency hired local workers to construct a ser ies of dams and hydroelectric power plants, which brought cheap electricity to thousands of people. The public corporation also created affordable employee housing, manufactured cheap fertilizer, and drained thousands of acres for farming. The TVA, like the AAA, was highly controversial. Many conservatives claimed that government production of electricity was a mild form of socialism and that it disrupted market prices too much. Competing electric companies also attacked the TVA for selling cheaper electricity and lowering their profits. Still, the TVA had such a profound impact on the economy and quality of life in the Tennessee River valley region that the federal government initiated similar projects throughout the West and South. Within a decade, many major U. S.  rivers were set up to produce hydroelectric power that provided both electricity and jobs. The National Industrial Recovery Act The 1933 National Industrial Recovery Act was the federal government’s first attempt to revive the economy as a whole. The bill created the National Recovery Administration (NRA) to stimulate industrial production and improve competition by drafting corporate codes of conduct. The NRA also sought to limit production of c onsumer goods to drive up prices. Furthermore, the act helped set up the Public Works Administration(PWA) to construct public roads, bridges, and buildings. In accordance with Keynesian economic theories, Roosevelt believed that improving the public infrastructure would put more money into the economy. Restructuring American Finance Finally, Roosevelt also lobbied Congress to establish new regulations on the financial sector of the economy. After taking office, he took the country off the gold standard, which allowed citizens and foreign countries to exchange paper money for gold. To prevent people from hoarding the precious metal, the president also ordered all private gold stocks to be turned over to the U. S. Treasury in exchange for paper dollars. Congress also created the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to regulate trading on Wall Street and curb the out-of-control speculation that had led to the Crash of 1929. The Three Rs and Their Legacy Although the New Deal sometimes comes across as a cohesive package, much of the individual legislation passed during the First Hundred Days was conceived on the fly. So many special interest groups, such as big business and organized labor, were hounding the government for change that Roosevelt and Congress often felt they were being pulled in opposite directions. Nevertheless, the New Deal policies did much to get Americans back on their feet. They not only provided relief, recovery, and reform but also drastically changed the federal government’s role in politics and society. Roosevelt’s successful application of Keynes’s economic theories transformed the Democrats into social welfare advocates. Even decades after the Great Depression, Democratic politicians would continue fighting for more government intervention in the economy, redistribution of wealth, and aid for the neediest. Relief Much of the legislation that the Hundred Days Congress drafted doled out immediate relief for the American people that President Hoover and the Republicans had failed to provide. The Federal Emergency Relief Administration’s relief assistance, for example, provided millions of Americans with enough money to make ends meet. The Civil Works Administration put the unemployed to work, and the Agricultural Adjustment Administration, the Tennessee Valley Authority, the National Recovery Administration, and the Public Works Administration kept millions of others alive as well. Americans were so relieved by the federal government’s quick action that many became die-hard Democrats and Roosevelt fans. The president’s optimism and can-do attitude, combined with the success of his immediate relief programs, made him almost politically untouchable during his first term. Recovery Many of the same programs designed to provide immediate relief were also geared toward long-term economic recovery. The Civilian Conservation Corps  and the Public Works Administration put millions of men to work not only to keep them employed but also to improve the national infrastructure. When the United States finally emerged from the Great Depression during World War II, it had hundreds of new roads and public buildings, widespread electrical power, and replenished resources for industry. Reform The third goal of the New Deal policies was to reform the banking and financial sector of the economy to curb bad lending practices, poor trading techniques, and corruption. The president’s decision to take the country off the gold standard proved to be a smart move because it boosted people’s confidence in the U. S. dollar. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, created under the Glass-Steagall Act, eliminated untrustworthy banks that had plagued the country for more than a century. Once Americans became confident that their funds would be safe, the number of bank deposits surged. Likewise, the Securities and Exchange Commission in 1934, which weeded out bad investment habits, gave Americans more confidence in the stock market. The Good Neighbor Policy Although foreign policy often got lost in the shuffle amid the domestic economic concerns of the New Deal, Roosevelt did create a major international initiative with Latin America in the Good Neighbor Policy of1933 and 1934. As part of the initiative, Roosevelt embarked on a tour of the region; signed new, friendlier treaties with several Latin American countries; pledged to avoid military intervention in Latin America; and shunned the (Theodore) Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine by withdrawing troops from several countries.