Post on 26-Dec-2015
Outline: Great Depression & WW II
I. Initial New Deal Relief Actions
II. Aid for the Farmers
III. New Deal Work Programs
Miriam A. “Ma” Ferguson
Franklin D. Roosevelt & the “New Deal”
John Nance Garner (w/ FDR)
A “Bank Run”
“Bank Holiday”
• Banks closed until relief bill drafted & passed by Congress
• Approved in 7 hrs.; signed into law by FDR
Emergency Banking Act
• Gov’t inspection of banks; approval needed to reopen
• “Good banks” allowed to reopen
• Banks about to collapse closed forever
• Banks “in between” received gov’t aid (loans + purchase of bank stock) & reopened soon
Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC)
• Gov’t guaranteed many mortgages if lenders changed loan terms:
• Lower monthly payments & longer pay periods
• 20% of the US home mortgages refinanced to stop further foreclosures
Agricultural Adjustment Admin. (AAA)
Agricultural Adjustment Admin. (AAA)
• Farmers paid to reduce production ¼ to ½
• Farmers were to benefit by: a) gov’t subsidy checks; b) increased prices for crops raised/sold
AAA
• AAA began as a voluntary program
• In 1st year, farmers asked to “plow up” part of growing crops for $$ + hope to raise crop prices
• After overcoming problems & resistance, about 1/3 of TX crop reduced; cotton prices doubled
AAA • After 1st year, reductions became practically mandatory
• Cooperating farmers’ demanded change b/c non-cooperators profiting more at their expense
• Quotas put in place; excess cotton taxed so heavily it would be pointless to sell it (The “Bankhead Act”)
• S. Court later forced further changes
AAA
• Big losers under the AAA = sharecroppers & tenant farmers (black & white)
• Less land in use = less laborers needed
• Tens of thousands evicted in TX; hundreds of thousands South-wide
Public Works Administration (PWA)• Created June 1933
• Purposes: To provide jobs
To stimulate demand for materials
To construct long-lasting large-scale projects of social & economic worth
Public Works Administration (PWA) PWA granted about ½
labor/material costs; matched by localities/states
Over $6 billion granted nationally
Over $100 million for 922 projects in TX
Port of Brownsville
UT Main Building & Tower
John Peter Smith City-County Hospital (Ft. Worth)
Terminal & Hangar at Houston Municipal (Hobby) Airport
Works Progress Administration (WPA)
• Primary Purpose: to provide jobs, jobs, jobs
• Employed 8 million in US; 600,000+ in TX
• ¾ worked on construction (smaller scale than PWA)
Houston City Hall
San Jacinto Battlefield Monument
Ft. Worth Botanic Gardens
Dallas & San Antonio Zoo improvement
Dealey Plaza in Dallas
Art Deco Buildings & Lagoon in Fair Park (Dallas)
Corps of Cadets Dorms at Texas A&M
WPA Gym in Plano (now the Courtyard Theater)
Works Progress Administration (WPA)
• ¼ performed non-construction work
WPA Theater Project
WPA Music Project: Concerts
WPA Music Project: Music Classes
WPA Art Project: Exhibitions
WPA Art Project: Art Classes
WPA Library Project: Bookmobiles
WPA Library Project: Audio Books for the Blind
Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)• Purpose: to conserve the
nation’s natural & human resources
• 2.5 million men, ages 18-25 (50,000 in TX) served
Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)• Multiple agencies involved:
Labor Dept. for recruitment
US Army to house & feed enrollees in work camps
Depts. of Interior & Agriculture to oversee work projects in parks & forests
Planting Millions of Trees & Fighting Forest Fires
Pavilions at Angelina & Davy Crockett Nat’l Forests
Access Roads at Big Bend Nat’l Park
Dam & Refectory at Huntsville State Park
Swimming Pool & Rec Hallat Abilene State Park
White Rock Lake (Dallas)
Longhorn Cavern State Park
Longhorn Cavern State Park
Mission Excavation/Restoration: Goliad
National Youth Administration (NYA)
•Open to male & female youth
•Purpose #1:
To provide part-time jobs for 2 million high school & college students (175k in TX)
Texas NYA Administrator Lyndon Johnson
NYA Library Assistance
NYA Office Work at a High School
National Youth Administration (NYA)
Purpose #2: To aid 2.5 million out-of-school youth aided through various work programs (75k in TX)
Aid = wages + skills training
Mixing Cement at an NYA Work Center
NYA Machine Shop Training
San Benito (Cameron County) Public Library
Little Chapel in the Woods at Texas Woman’s University
La Villita (San Antonio)
La Villita (San Antonio)
La Villita (San Antonio)
Miriam FergusonJohn Nance Garner
“Bank Holiday”Emergency Banking Act
Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC)Ag. Adjustment Admin. (AAA)Public Works Admin. (PWA)
Works Progress Admin. (WPA)Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)National Youth Admin. (NYA)