A3, key topic 4 - Roosevelt and the New Deal, 1933–41

Aims And Hundred Days

Roosevelt's first aim was to restore confidence. By March 1933, many Americans no longer trusted banks, politicians or the economy itself. A president who could sound calm, act quickly and explain his decisions mattered. Roosevelt used fireside chats on radio to speak directly to the public and make federal action feel understandable rather than distant.

His second aim was relief: immediate help for people suffering from unemployment, hunger, homelessness or failing farms. Relief meant acting quickly even before the economy had fully recovered.

His third aim was recovery: getting production, employment, prices and trade moving again. This meant policies for banks, agriculture, industry and public works. Recovery was harder than relief because it depended on changing the behaviour of businesses, banks, farmers and consumers.

His fourth aim was reform: changing systems that seemed to have helped cause or deepen the Depression. Banking reform, labour rights and social security all belonged to this aim. Reform was about the long term, not just the emergency of 1933.

Roosevelt and Congress passed a remarkable number of laws in a short time. The Emergency Banking Act helped stabilise banks. The Civilian Conservation Corps gave work to young unemployed men. The Federal Emergency Relief Administration sent money to states for relief. The Agricultural Adjustment Administration tried to raise farm prices. The Tennessee Valley Authority began a huge regional development scheme. The National Industrial Recovery Act created the NRA and PWA for industry and public works.

The key feature of the Hundred Days was speed. Roosevelt did not wait for a single perfect solution. He acted across several problems at once and accepted experimentation. If one policy failed or was challenged, another could follow.

Misconception check: the New Deal was not simply "government giving out money". Some agencies gave direct aid, but many aimed to create work, regulate banks, manage farm production, set industrial rules or build infrastructure.

First New Deal Agencies

The early New Deal is often remembered through its "Alphabet Agencies", because so many programmes were known by initials. These agencies were meant to make federal action practical. Instead of one general promise to help, there were separate organisations for banks, jobs, farms, industry and regional development.

Agriculture shows why New Deal judgement must be balanced. The AAA tried to solve overproduction: if farmers produced fewer crops and livestock, prices might rise, making farming more profitable. This helped many farmers' incomes. Yet it was controversial to limit production when many Americans were hungry. In the South, landowners often received payments, while tenant farmers and sharecroppers, including many Black Americans, could lose work or land when less planting was needed.

Industry also shows the experimental nature of the early New Deal. The NRA tried to organise "fair competition" codes, improve wages and hours, and increase purchasing power. Supporters saw it as bold national planning. Critics saw it as confusing, too close to big business, or too much federal interference. In 1935, the Supreme Court struck down the NIRA, showing that Roosevelt's first approach to industrial recovery had not survived.

The TVA was one of the most ambitious agencies because it was not only a job scheme. It used dams and electricity to reshape a whole region. The Tennessee Valley had flooding, soil erosion, poverty and limited electricity. The TVA aimed to control water, produce cheap power, improve farming and attract industry. It therefore connected relief, recovery and reform in one project.

Second New Deal And Welfare

By 1935, Roosevelt faced pressure from several directions. Some conservatives thought the New Deal gave the federal government too much power and spent too much. Some radicals and poor Americans thought it did not go far enough. The Supreme Court had also struck down important early measures such as the NIRA. Roosevelt's answer was the Second New Deal: a new stage with more emphasis on work relief, welfare, labour rights and stronger regulation.

The Works Progress Administration was the best-known Second New Deal work-relief agency. It was created in 1935 and became a vast employer. It put unemployed Americans to work on roads, schools, airports, bridges, parks, public buildings and also cultural projects through arts, writing and theatre programmes. The principle was important: Roosevelt preferred paid work to long-term handouts where possible, because work could preserve skills, dignity and purchasing power while also leaving useful public works behind.

Welfare for the old, poor and vulnerable became more important too. The Social Security Act created old-age insurance, unemployment insurance and aid for groups such as dependent children and blind people, alongside services for children with disabilities. This did not make the United States a full welfare state like some European countries, but it created a permanent federal role in social protection.

Farmers also remained central. The New Deal continued to support farm prices, rural credit, conservation and poor farmers. The Resettlement Administration and later the Farm Security Administration tried to assist poor farmers during the Dust Bowl and Depression, though their reach was limited. After the first AAA was struck down in 1936, later farm policy tried to continue price support and production control on a different legal basis.

The Second New Deal therefore moved beyond the emergency improvisation of 1933. It still dealt with unemployment and poverty, but it also tried to lock in longer-term reforms: a welfare floor, stronger labour rights, a more regulated banking system and support for rural America.