Question

The first part of the New Deal was about relief. Did these relief efforts succeed?

Answer 1

The New Deal Policy was a series of government programs, reliefs, public work projects, financial reforms & regulations for recovery from the Great Depression enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The reforms were implemented in two parts between 1933 to 1938.

The first part was about relief. Did these relief efforts succeed? The answer to this question is a little subjective. The reliefs were provided by the Federal Emergency Relief Administration(FERA) which provided $500 million ($9.68 billion in today) for relief operations by states. Following high levels of unemployment and reduced levels of public welfare, FERA instituted the Civil Works Administration (CWA) in 1933-34 as a $400 million short-term measure to get people to work. Federal government enacted National Industrial Recovery Act which guaranteed that workers would have the right to unionize and bargain collectively for higher wages and better working conditions; it also suspended some antitrust laws and established a federally funded Public Works Administration which engaged in a variety of work-relief projects, including construction of roads, rails and dams, and projects for professionals. At the same time, Congress passed a bill that paid commodity farmers (farmers who produced things like wheat, dairy products, tobacco and corn) to leave their fields fallow in order to end agricultural surpluses and boost prices.

All these efforts were to ensure two things: (1) People have disposable income (2) There is increase in demand for goods and services (as supply of these were already there). These things provided basis for the part two of the New Deal to be successful. So, in a way, yes these relief efforts succeed.