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The New Deal

In November 1932, Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected presi- President Franklin D. Roosevelt (Wikimedia Commons).
dent with a mandate to end the economic crisis. When he
took office, Roosevelt promised to take “direct and vigor- Unemployed workers preferred the dignity of working for
ous” action to relieve the American people of the suffering their wages. The federal government shared this sentiment,
brought on by the Great Depression. He vowed to attack the and turned the focus of its efforts to work relief. Work re-
problems as if the nation was going to war. His “new deal for lief programs were designed to help build the nation’s in-
the American people” included two types of programs. Some frastructure and restore prosperity by putting people back
were designed to stabilize and strengthen the most critical to work.
sectors of the economy: banking, industry, and agriculture.
Others were designed to provide relief for the unemployed.
The New Deal would forever change the physical and cultur-
al landscape of America and permanently alter the federal
government’s relationship to the American people.

Relief Programs

Roosevelt wasted no time taking action aimed at turning the
tide of the desperate unemployment situation. He quickly
implemented a series of relief programs. Some programs
provided direct relief and did not have a work requirement.
Direct relief, also known as “the dole,” was unpopular.

Timeline of New Deal Programs

CCC—Civilian Conservation Corps (1933–1942)

conservation of soil, timber, and water, and public accessibility

FERA—Federal Emergency Relief Administration (1933–1935)

direct and
work relief

PWA—Public Works Administration (1933–1943)

hired unemployed indirectly by contracting with private construction firms

CWA—Civil Works Administration (1933–1934)

winter
projects

WPA—Works Progress [Work Projects] Administration (1935–1943)

funded labor for work projects; both blue and white collar work

1933 1943

Building Jobs in Iowa—New Deal Dams of the Wapsipinicon River Watershed in Northeast Iowa 5