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Agricultural Adjustment Act
During the Great Depression farmers suffered heavy losses in which many lost their farms and profits were minimal to none. The AAA protected farmers from these price drops by raising crop prices and lowering production. The government did this by paying farmers to leave a certain amount of every acre unseeded. This act was declared unconsitutional in 1936 and revisions were made to put in place another AAA. Today this act does not exist, but similar ideals are considered regarding farms. -
Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
The great depression resulted in unemployement and men not being able to provide for their families. FDR wanted to provide men with work and he did so by putting in place the CCC. The CCC sent 250,000 young men to work camps intended to take on conservation and reforestation jobs. The act ended in 1942. Their planting of around 3 billion trees prevented another dust bowl. -
Tennessee Valley Authority
The TVA was a federal corporation that intended to control flooding, improve navigation of the Tennesse River, and to create cheap electrical power in the Tennessee Valley. Navigation of the Tennessee river was intended to help develop the regions farming and business. The Tennesse Valley was undeveloped due to the Great Depression, and river navigation urbanized the area with more businesses and farming. To this day, the TVA is the largest public power company in the United States. -
Indian Reorganization Act
The Great Depression hit Indians hard because they were powerless in the governments' eyes. The government took their land and drove them into poverty. When John Collier heard about this he proposed to help preserve the Indians' cultures and help them self govern. The IRA was successful in making government step back, which brought them out of poverty. Collier's ideals have been altered over time, but overall the act was helpful in shaping US Indian policy. -
Works Progress Administration
One of the most detrimental aspects of the Great Depression was unemployment. The WPA changed this around in 1935 by employing 8.5 million people to build roads, public buildings, parks, and much more. The WPA led to the creation of a National Foundation for the arts and National endowment for the humanities. The WPA doesn't exist today but it's projects remain intact around the country. -
Rural Electrification Administratation
Poverty was a huge effect of the Great Depression. Electricity couldn't make it into rural areas, and if it did nobody could pay for it.The REA changed this by allowing the government to supply electrical power into rural areas. Once electricity was supplied, electrical appliance businesses got profits, which made the economy flow more smoothly. The act was abolished in 1994, but its primary purpose is still carried out by the Rural Utilities Service. -
National Youth Administration
The Great Depression did not make education a priority and many young people were jobless. Created as a branch under the WPA, the NYA helped tackle unemployment. By proving financial aid, jobs,and education; young people were more stable when the NYA came into action when compared to their lifestyle during the Great Depression. The NYA only lasted until 1943, due to the fact that the government did not want to fund the program. -
Social Security Act
Nobody wants to be unemployed but some people can't help it. During the Great Depression, people unable to work were thrown into poverty regardless of their old age or disability. The SSS provides compensation for those that can't work so they can still live adequate lives. With this act in place, the elderly and disabled are not poor and are content with their lives; not depressed.The SSS still stays afloat today in order to provide for the ones that can't provide for themselves. -
Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO)
The congress of industrial Organizations originated from the Committee of Industrial Organizations. Once the Committee of Industrial Organizations got expelled from the AFL it changed its name to the Congress of Industrial Organizations. Unions were diminished during the Great Depression, but the CIO brought them back successfully. The purpose of the CIO was to organize unions regardless of being an unskilled or skilled worker. The CIO lasted 20 years and later combined with the AFL. -
National Housing Act
During the Great Depression,many Americans lost their houses due to financial problems.The act built off of the NHA of 1934.The goal of the NHA was to provide housing for the poor. It also set very low maximum income requirements to prevent an unequal distribution of wealth, as seen as one of the causes of the Great Depression. The act got revised again in 1949 to set new post-war goals and those provisions still exist today.
