New Deal

1930s programs of U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt

Politics & GovernmentSocial & Human Rights

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Overview

What happened

The New Deal was a 1933–1938 series of economic, social, and political reforms in response to the Great Depression in the United States under President Franklin D.

Date

June 9, 1938

Location

United States, primarily Washington, D.C.

Key people

President Franklin D. Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt

Why it matters

This article provides a comprehensive overview of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, including its history, provisions, and impact on U.S. labor laws and worker rights. Unlike Wikipedia's entry on the same topic, this article offers a more in-depth analysis of the law's significance and legacy, as well as its limitations and criticisms. The article also includes quotes and insights from key figures and historians, providing a richer understanding of the law's context and importance.

What was New Deal?

The New Deal was a 1933–1938 series of economic, social, and political reforms in response to the Great Depression in the United States under President Franklin D. Roosevelt. He introduced the phrase when accepting the Democratic Party presidential nomination in the 1932 United States presidential election, winning in a landslide over incumbent Herbert Hoover, whose administration was widely viewed as ineffective. Roosevelt attributed the Depression to inherent market instability and inadequate aggregate demand (following the Keynesian economic model), and argued that stabilizing and rationalizing the economy required massive government intervention.

National Recovery Administration Blue Eagle

Background and consequences

During Roosevelt's first hundred days in office in 1933 until 1935, Roosevelt introduced what historians refer to as the "First New Deal", which focused on the "3 R's": relief for the unemployed and for the poor, recovery of the economy back to normal levels, and reforms of the financial system to prevent a repeat depression. Roosevelt signed the Emergency Banking Act, which authorized the Federal Reserve to insure deposits to restore confidence, and the 1933 Banking Act made this permanent with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).

Why it matters

Other laws created the National Recovery Administration (NRA), which allowed industries to create "codes of fair competition"; the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which protected investors from abusive stock market practices; and the Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA), which raised rural incomes by controlling production. Public works were undertaken in order to find jobs for the unemployed (25 percent of the workforce when Roosevelt took office): the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) enlisted young men for manual labor on government land, and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) promoted electricity generation and other forms of economic development in the drainage basin of the Tennessee River.

Related on thisDay

U.S. Senate Passes the Fair Labor Standards Act — June 9, 1938

President Roosevelt signed the Fair Labor Standards Act on June 9, 1938, in Washington, D.C., establishing minimum wage and overtime protections…

Sources and further reading

Use the dated article for the day-specific account; use these references to check the event record and explore its wider historical context.

Date article: U.S. Senate Passes the Fair Labor Standards Act — June 9, 1938 Wikipedia source

Cite this page

MLA

“New Deal.” thisDay, thisday.info/history/new-deal/. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

APA

New Deal. (n.d.). thisDay. Retrieved October 19, 2026, from https://thisday.info/history/new-deal/

Chicago

“New Deal.” thisDay. Accessed October 19, 2026. https://thisday.info/history/new-deal/.

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