<P> Before the New Deal, there was no insurance on deposits at banks . When thousands of banks closed, depositors lost their savings as at that time there was no national safety net, no public unemployment insurance and no Social Security . Relief for the poor was the responsibility of families, private charity and local governments, but as conditions worsened year by year demand skyrocketed and their combined resources increasingly fell far short of demand . </P> <P> The depression had devastated the nation . As Roosevelt took the oath of office at noon on March 4, 1933, all state governors had authorized bank holidays or restricted withdrawals--many Americans had little or no access to their bank accounts . Farm income had fallen by over 50% since 1929 . An estimated 844,000 non-farm mortgages had been foreclosed between 1930--1933, out of five million in all . Political and business leaders feared revolution and anarchy . Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr., who remained wealthy during the Depression, stated years later that "in those days I felt and said I would be willing to part with half of what I had if I could be sure of keeping, under law and order, the other half". </P> <P> The phrase "New Deal" was coined by an adviser to Roosevelt, Stuart Chase, although the term was originally used by Mark Twain in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court . </P> <P> Upon accepting the 1932 Democratic nomination for president, Roosevelt promised "a new deal for the American people", saying: </P>

Where did the term new deal come from