The Civil Works Administration (CWA) was formed to create as many short-term jobs. People were paid to improve schools and roads and airports, even scaring away pigeons from buildings. Some businessmen and republicans thought these jobs were useless but they did create employment so the economy was being revived.
The public Works Administration (PWA) was formed to employ skilled men to build real things that would last for years. The PWA built dams, bridges, sewage, systems and 70% of the USA’s schools. 7 billion was spent to employ these men but nearly all the things built still stand today. Many skilled workers were employed from 1933 to 1939 doing these long lasting projects.
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) was alike to the PWA. The workers built roads, schools but on a smaller scale. It employed writers, artists and photographers. It was the biggest employer with 2 million being employed every year.
The National Recovery Administration (NRA) was set up to increase wages, so money could be spent on goods, make factory owners make more profit and give workers a fair deal in the workplace. The NRA started the minimum wage, abolished child labour and encouraged trade unions. With the NRA encouraging business to join up and mass publicity the whole organisation was a huge success.
The Tennessee River caused huge basin problems, it ran through 7 states and left everywhere like a dustbowl. So a perfect solution to unemployment was to employ people to solve this problem. The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) was there to solve this problem. To sort out both problems 21 dams were built to prevent flooding and trees planted to improve soil. Power stations were also built at the dams to produce cheap electricity. The dams created lakes, which ran into the main systems of America thus creating transport links. Thousands of jobs were created maintaining these projects and running them.
The Federal Emergency Relief Administration was set up in 1933 to give quick relief to the homeless. $500 million was spent on providing homes, clothes and employment for those homeless, unemployed who needed it. Small unskilled jobs were created to just get people active again working and getting a wage for them and their family.
However, businessmen and republicans were opposed to some of the jobs being created by Roosevelt. They thought that their money was being spent on useless jobs. The CWA in particular was targeted with scaring pigeons being a job. They were also annoyed because the TVA was monopolising jobs and business in the Tennessee Valley. They thought the NRA had too many regulations and that they had to pay for social security. They did not like having their affairs meddled in by the democrats and having to pay higher wages.
The other main opposes to Roosevelt was the Supreme Court, the large authority in America. The Supreme Court decides whether the measures taken by The President and Congress are unconstitutional. As most of the judges in the Supreme Court were republican so they were against Roosevelt. In 1935 the Supreme Court decided that the NRA and its regulations was unconstitutional. This meant that many jobs would be lost so the Court would be defeating Roosevelt’s plans. The AAA was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court as was 11 other alphabet agencies. When Roosevelt tried to add more democratic judges he became very unpopular and eventually both Roosevelt and the Supreme Court backed down.
In 1937 when Roosevelt stopped ‘Pump Priming’ (inputting money in the economy) the New Deal faltered when unemployment rose again. This meant the depression was not solved. In fact the depression was not over until America joined the Second World War.
The New Deal and Roosevelt did create a lot of jobs but the depression was not over until America joined the Second World War. Roosevelt did succeed though because he did create millions of jobs, which got the country active again.
