Army Corps of Engineers Built levees, dams and canals across the country, built the Missouri river basin project and made levee improvements along the Mississippi, Ohio and Sacramento Rivers. Quartermaster Corps Responsible for the movement of supplies, food, and services to support American troops. Oversaw artworks created to enhance public buildings, notably post offices. Federal Dance Project An offshoot of the Federal Theatre Project, created to provide special opportunities for unemployed dancers.
Historic Sites Act Made the conservation of historic sites a responsibility of the National Park Service and gave it power to survey, select and preserve buildings and sites of national significance. Historical Records Survey HRS Inventoried federal, state, and local records; work product is used today by historians, researchers, and genealogists.
Managed the construction and repair of most federal buildings. Managed electric power grid and sales from the Columbia River project. Treasury Procurement Division. Agricultural Adjustment Act , Reauthorized Created Agricultural Adjustment Administration AAA for price stabilization and income support through government purchases, marketing boards, and land retirement.
Virgin Islands Company Rehabilitated the sugar and rum industries of the Virgin Islands; reduced unemployment; provided various farm services and loan programs; coordinated with a homesteading program. Shelterbelt Project A large tree-planting project in the Great Plains, to protect against wind erosion and to provide work for the unemployed. Resettlement Administration RA Evolved from earlier emergency relief legislation. Created planned communities for Americans whose livelihoods had been upturned by the Depression; rehabilitated overused land; made loans to farmers.
Provided financial assistance to home owners and the mortgage industry. National Industrial Recovery Act Insured the right of workers to organize, provides for a national minimum wage and outlaws child labor. Employment Service Abolished and then re-formed the U. Social Security Act Provided unemployment insurance and social security taxes on payrolls and paychecks. Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act Improved public safety for consumers.
Roosevelt created the New Deal program in , after becoming President of the United States, to lead the nation out of the economic depression of the late s. The New Deal program included a variety of programs and incentives designed to stimulate and revitalize the American economy and help Americans with employment, payments and other financial matters. Although some New Deal programs eventually terminated, others remained.
Much like in the recent financial crisis, the 's economic downturn came on the heels of a housing market bubble that burst. By the start of the Roosevelt administration in , nearly half of all American mortgages were in default, and at its worst in , some 1, home loans were foreclosed every day. As banks failed by the thousands, even worthy borrowers couldn't get loans to buy homes. Fannie Mae's purpose was to purchase loans from private lenders, freeing up capital so those lenders could fund new loans.
Workers at the turn of the 20th century were gaining steam in their efforts to improve working conditions. By the close of World War I , labor unions claimed 5 million members. But management started cracking the whip in the s, using injunctions and restraining orders to stop workers from striking and organizing.
Union membership dropped to 3 million, just , more than pre-WWI numbers. In February , Sen. Robert F. Wagner of New York introduced the National Labor Relations Act, which would create a new agency dedicated to enforcing employee rights. Though the law was initially challenged by business, the U.
After World War I, there was an investment boom in the largely unregulated securities markets. The main goal of the Securities Exchange Act of was to restore consumer confidence in the securities markets.
The law established the Securities and Exchange Commission to regulate and oversee brokerage firms, stock exchanges, and other agents. FDR appointed Joseph P. Kennedy, father of future President John F. Kennedy, as the SEC's first chairman. The SEC is still in place, and works to ensure that "all investors, whether large institutions or private individuals…have access to certain basic facts about an investment prior to buying it, and so long as they hold it.
In , 6. As the Great Depression took hold and unemployment rates soared, President Roosevelt and his allies in Congress recognized the need to establish some kind of safety net program for the elderly and disabled. With the passage of the Social Security Act, the U. Social Security helped not only the elderly, but also the blind , the unemployed, and dependent children.
Social Security provides benefits to over 63 million Americans today, including over 46 million senior citizens. The U. A persistent drought that started in wreaked havoc on the Great Plains. A massive dust storm, dubbed the Dust Bowl, carried the region's soil away with the wind in the mids.
The problem was literally carried to the steps of Congress, as soil particles coated Washington, D. The agency's mission was to study and solve the problem of the nation's eroding soil. The SCS performed surveys and developed flood control plans to prevent soil from being washed away. They also established regional nurseries to cultivate and distribute seeds and plants for soil conservation work.
Over time, over three thousand Soil Conservation Districts were established to help farmers develop plans and practices for conserving the soil on their land. Today, the Natural Resources Conservation Service NRCS maintains field offices across the country, with staff trained to help landowners implement science-based conservation practices.
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