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In this thought-provoking video, we explore the lasting impact of the New Deal on contemporary America. Discover how Franklin D. Roosevelt's groundbreaking p...
- 4 min
- Echoes of History
- Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Between 1930 and 1933, nearly 9,000 U.S. banks collapsed. American depositors lost $1.3 billion dollars in savings.
- Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) Much like in the recent financial crisis, the 1930's economic downturn came on the heels of a housing market bubble that burst.
- National Labor Relations Board. 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.
- Securities and Exchange Commission. After World War I, there was an investment boom in the largely unregulated securities markets. An estimated 20 million investors bet their money on securities, looking to get rich and get their piece of what became a $50 billion pie.
In this historically rich episode of 'The Rank: Top Ten Edition,' hosts John and Zac delve into the transformative era of the New Deal with their "Top Ten Ne...
The New Deal. Learn about the programs FDR created to help the U.S. bounce back after The Great Depression.Do you think we will need a similar response to t...
- 5 min
- 332
- Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Overview
- 1. Hoover Dam
- 2. Triborough Bridge
- 3. San Antonio River Walk
- 4. LaGuardia Airport
- 5. Chickamauga Dam
- 6. Lincoln Tunnel
- 7. New Orleans City Park
- 8. Bay Bridge
- 9. Arroyo Seco Parkway
The Hoover Dam, LaGuardia Airport and the Bay Bridge were all part of FDR's New Deal investment.
The New Deal was a massive effort to lift the United States out of the Great Depression on several fronts. President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s plan created the Social Security Administration to protect older Americans financially, and used the Agricultural Adjustment Act to help farmers get out of debt. The New Deal also created new agencies to fund projects across the country that both improved communities and provided jobs at a time when unemployment was high.
Although planning for the Hoover Dam, or “Boulder Canyon project,” started in the 1920s, it was completed with an infusion of funds from the PWA and dedicated in 1935. Its official name changed to “Hoover Dam” during Herbert Hoover’s presidency, but was still known as “Boulder Canyon Dam” and “Boulder Dam” into the 1930s and ‘40s.
The Hoover Dam is located in the Colorado River’s Black Canyon, on the border between Nevada and Arizona. At the time of its completion, it was the tallest dam in the world. Today, it generates enough hydroelectric power per year to serve 1.3 million people.
The giant Triborough bridge, really four bridges in one, was financed with a PWA grant of $44,200,000, Shown is the view of the bridge under construction across Hell Gate. The finished bridge connects the boroughs of Manhattan, the Bronx and Queens.
One of the major construction projects the PWA helped finance was the New York City’s Triborough Bridge (now the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge), which connected Manhattan, Queens and the Bronx.
In the late 1930s, the city of San Antonio secured funding from the WPA to improve infrastructure along the San Antonio River. The city used this money to build bridges and pathways that made the area more walkable and allowed businesses to move into the area. Today, the River Walk is a major commercial and tourist hub for the city.
North Beach Airport, now known as LaGuardia Airport, is shown under construction.
The WPA funded the construction or improvement of roughly 800 airports, and one of the biggest ones the WPA helped build was LaGuardia Airport in Queens, New York. When it opened in 1939, it was known as New York Municipal Airport. Later, the city changed the named to honor Fiorello La Guardia, who was New York City’s mayor when the airport opened.
In 1933, New Deal legislation created a public corporation to improve the Tennessee Valley. One of the biggest projects that this corporation, the Tennessee Valley Authority, took on was the Chickamauga Dam, located on the Tennessee River outside of Chattanooga.
Before the dam’s completion in 1940, the surrounding region frequently suffered from expensive flood damage and mosquito-borne illnesses like malaria and yellow fever. By controlling the river’s water levels, the dam has prevented billions of dollars in flood damage. It also helped reduce mosquito populations in order to fight the diseases they spread.
High angle view from the ventilation shaft of the Midtown Hudson Tunnel, the Public Works Administration's (PWA) $37,500,000 project in New York City, c. 1935.
Yet another New York City project that the PWA helped fund was the Lincoln Tunnel. The tunnel’s center tube opened for traffic in 1937, allowing drivers to travel between New York and New Jersey under the Hudson River. Later, workers added two other tubes: the north tube in 1945, and the south tube in 1957.
Using WPA funding, New Orleans improved its City park in the 1930s by building sidewalks, bridges and an art museum. This construction likely provided work to tens of thousands of people during the Great Depression, and also benefited residents by providing them with an improved public space.
The construction of the cantilever section of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge looking towards Oakland from Yerba Buena Island, San Francisco, California, 1936.
The San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge was a project of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, an agency that started under Hoover but became part of FDR’s New Deal efforts to improve the country’s infrastructure. Construction began in 1933 and the bridge opened in 1936. With its eight-mile span, the Bay Bridge was at that time the longest bridge in the world.
Aerial view of Hollywood Freeway crossing over the Pasadena Freeway downtown, Los Angeles, California.
The New Deal was also responsible for the first freeway. Both the PWA and the WPA helped fund the construction of Arroyo Seco Parkway—now known as the Pasadena Freeway or 110—which connected Los Angeles to Pasadena. The freeway opened to traffic between 1938 and 1940, and reduced travel between L.A. and Pasadena from 27 to 12 minutes.
- Becky Little
- 4 min
We are here to help you learn about the New Deal, one of the most remarkable eras in American history. Discover the New Deal legacy of public works, artworks, social programs, conservation, race relations, and more. Explore the New Deal through maps, writings, lectures, videos, films, and social media. See what lessons the New Deal holds for today!
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Jan 24, 2024 · The New Deal in American life today Across from a high school in Inglewood, California, there is a 240-foot-long petrachrome mural depicting the history of transportation, from walking to air travel.
