chapter 11 – section 3

CHAPTER 11 – S

ECTION 3

T H E NE W

DE A L

SECTION 3 TERMSNew Deal - Once Roosevelt took office he took steps to fulfill his promise of “a

new deal for the American people”. Because he did not have a clear idea of how to deal with the depression, he gathered a group of advisers from all over the country, the “braintrust”, with their help and his urging, Congress passed a series of laws that came to be know as the New Deal. The purpose of these laws was to bring about economic recovery, relieve the suffering of the unemployed, reform defects in the economy and improve society. The New Deal tried to correct weaknesses in the economy that may have added to the Depression. Eventually the New Deal went beyond the problems of the depression by trying to improve people’s lives.

Minimum wage - the least amount an employer can pay an employee for a certain number of hours worked; this mainly affected the textile industry. The NIRA (National Industrial Recovery Act) was designed to help workers by setting minimum wages, permitting them to organize unions and allowing factories to cut back on production – this program did not work.

Stretch out - tactic used by mill owners. A practice requiring workers to tend more machines. Workers had to do the same amount of work in an 8-hour shift that they had previously done in a 12 – hour shift.

SECTION 3 TERMS*One of the national unions attempted to unionize under the NIRA; in 1934

textile workers across the South joined in a strike called by the Textile Workers of America – the strike caused hardships for the workers, feuds between strikers and non-strikers increased, some union activists were blacklisted, unable to find work and some mill workers were forced to leave their homes; the strike was not a success and left a lasting imprint on Georgia.

Collective bargaining - part of the Wagner Act of 1935, which replaced the NIRA (Congress declared unconstitutional); laws to protect workers; a discussions between a union and employees’ wages, hours and benefits; also outlawed unfair labor practices & established a board to enforce the law.

*The CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) was popular in GA in part because of its work at Camp Brumby with the Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park; they also built many of the facilities at Roosevelt State Park in Pine Mountains, flood control and drainage projects such as Tybee Island’s seawall & other recreational facilities throughout the state; also worked to build, expand, or improve schools and hospitals throughout GA– most of the work done on Grady Hospital was done by the CCC.

SECTION 3 TERMSRural electrification – an important New Deal program; power

companies mainly ran lines to towns and cities because the rural population was so spread out, power lines were so expensive to build and maintain; the REA (Rural Electrification Act) was the result of President Roosevelt’s first night sitting on his porch in Warm Springs (the warm mineral waters in Warm Springs helped his polio) when he saw his power bill was more expensive than the power bill from his mansion in New York, he signed into law the act creating the REA – which loaned money to farmers’ cooperatives to extend their own power lines and buy power wholesale; also one of the most important and far – reaching programs of the New Deal; by 1940 a significant number of farmers in GA and around the nation had electricity; electric water pumps, lights, milking machines and appliances made farm life easier.

Agricultural Adjustment Act – farm subsidies went to property owners rather than to the tenant farmers, who were mainly black

SECTION 3 TERMSSubsidies – grants of money from the government“Black Cabinet” - prominent A – A who were instrumental in

leading the New Deal programs; Clark Foreman – brought qualified A- A into government agencies; Robert Weaver – started his government career during the New Deal & later became the first head of the Department of Housing and Urban Development; William Hastie – assistant solicitor of the Depart. Of Interior & became the first A- A federal judge; Mary McLeod Bethune – an educator appointed to an advisory committee for the NYA (National Youth Administration), she made sure A-A received a fair share of federal funds to provide jobs for young people.

Integrate – open to the members of all races and ethnic groupsFranklin D. Roosevelt – governor of New York who became

president in 1933 right after the Great Depression; promised the American people a new deal to bring about economic recovery.

SECTION 3 TERMSBlue Ridge Lake, Lake Chatuge & Lake Nottely - a result of the TVA (Tennessee

Valley Act – built dams on the Tennessee River to control flooding and generate electricity), one of the New Deal programs that was more popular in GA and still enjoyed today.

Richard Russell, Jr. – governor of GA; created the Board of Regents of the University System of GA ( one governing group) – combination of the boards of trustees of state colleges and universities; appointed Hughes Spalding as the first chairman of the Board; ran the state like a business, his approach eased some of the problems that were brought on by the depression; he served in the U. S Senate for 38 years, where he became a respected advisor to six U.S presidents and he served as the president pro temp making him 3 rd in line for the presidency.

Eugene Talmadge - governor of GA; a conservative white supremacist who did not like federal government intervention or debts; disliked relief efforts, public welfare and federal assistance programs; once governor tried to relieve the state of New Deal programs; officials who disagreed with him were fired and replaced with his supporters; when he refused to follow federal New Deal regulations the federal government took over New Deal programs in GA

SECTION 3 TERMSEurith Rivers – governor of GA ; supporter of the New Deal programs;

gained passage of constitutional amendments granting health service for all Georgians, old age pensions, teacher pay raises, a seven – month school year, homestead exemptions for taxes and expansion of the state’s highway system; electrical services were expanded to the rural areas of the state; the State Bureau of Unemployment Compensation was created, allowing Georgians to receive unemployment benefits; GA Housing Authority was created; served two terms

Ellis Arnall – governor of GA; 1st to serve a four year term (the constitutional amendment passed during Talmadge’s third term in office); took steps to rectify the problems with the universities’ accreditation; GA General Assembly passed a constitutional amendment that made the board of regents separate from the influence of the governor’s office; also removed the prison system from the governor’s control – est. board of corrections; abolished poll tax; led GA to become the 1st state to grant 18 yr. olds the right to vote.