THE GREAT DEPRESSION&
THE NEW DEAL
1928-1942
Unit 6
THEMES TO LOOK FOR WHILE YOU
ARE READING
Notice how the 1920’s were great for anybody
that wasn’t farming
 Look at the credit habits of the 1920’s and
compare it to today’s credit crisis
 Keep mental or written notes about what
happens after the Great Depression

CAUSES OF THE GREAT
DEPRESSION
Daily Questions:
 To What did Hoover
attribute the economic
prosperity of the U.S
in the 1920?
 Why did so many
American farmers face
economic hardships in
the 1920’s

What was the causes
of the soaring stock
prices during the
1920’s
 How were the stock
market crash and the
collapse of the
banking system
related

BELL WORK
Look at this picture
from the Depression
and write a short
response to it.
 This can be in your
own words and is your
opinion
 Your response needs
to be at least one
paragraph

WHERE WE ARE
20’s start tough but things get better quickly.
 By 1926 AVG wages had risen by 28%
 The number of millionaires doubled
 A consumer economy: one that depended on a
large amount of spending by consumers. This was
a change Americans-once very thrifty.
 1928 Herbert Hoover became president of
the United States a republican--- the 30’s
had been good under the Republicans.
(Campaigned in Elizabethton)
 Things had went well for republicans so
let’s continue

SO GOOD TO SO BAD WHY????
Causes of the Great Depression
 Unequal distribution of wealth---too many
had nothing too few had a lot
 Buying on Credit--- interest rates were low,
pay was good, new electrical products.
Americans bought what they wanted not
needed.
 Over Production in Agriculture & Industry
 The Spark --- The stock market crash of
1929

CAUSES OF THE GREAT
DEPRESSION
There was a gross abundance of speculation in
the United States of America- speculation- where
an individual or groups invest on certain
ventures to become wealthy
 Stocks, often bought on borrowed money, became
unstable and often even the most secure stocks
failed over night

Also you must factor in the business cycle that is
characteristic of the Capitalistic Economic
System
 This states that you will have periods of economic
growth and economy contraction. Both are
natural and both typically last about the same
amounts of time

FISHER’S NINE
 Irving
Fisher outlined 9 factors interacting with
one another under conditions of debt and
deflation to create the mechanics of boom to
bust. The chain of events proceeded as follows
 (1)
Debt liquidation and distress selling
 (2) Contraction of the money supply as bank
loans are paid off
 (3) A fall in the level of asset prices
 (4) A still greater fall in the net worth's of
business, precipitating bankruptcies
FISHER’S NINE
 (5)
A fall in profits
 (6) A reduction in output, in trade
and in employment.
 (7) Pessimism and loss of confidence
 (8) Hoarding of money
 (9) A fall in nominal interest rates
and a rise in deflation adjusted
interest rates
FISHER’S NINE SIMPLIFIED
 1)
Not paying of Debts and Fear
selling
 2) Money Supply Deceases as loans
to Banks are paid off
 3) People’s net worth decreases
 4) Business's net worth continue to
decrease bankruptcy becomes
inevitable
FISHER’S NINE SIMPLIFIED
 5)
Business profits fall
 6) People Buy Less Businesses fire
employees and make less goods
 7) People view the economy
negatively
 8) People Stop spending money
 9) Savings account interest rates
decline in value & Loan interest
rates increase.
THE STOCK MARKET









Company wants to get started or expand,--- they need
money
Go to public & sale shares of Co. called stock
People bought stocks on Margin--- buying on credit
1 share cost 100.00
You buy 10 shares --- 100.00 your money borrow
900.00 sale & make a profit.
Everyone was doing it
You buy a lot with a little--- stocks sold for more than
they were worth
1929 29 brokers loan “40 million a month”
Bull Market: A strong market
1929 THE GOOD TIMES END.

Bear Market--- stocks go down 100.00 stock drops to 20.00
now you have a problem.








Oct. 29, 1929--- Black Tuesday bottom fell out of the
stock market--- people panic go to banks to
withdraw money (Nov. 2, 1929; Dec 24, 1931; March
18, 1933)
Banks can’t pay--- close their doors
9 million savings accounts gone
1yr after crash 1300 banks closed
In next 3 yrs 5000 banks close
[no banks to supply capitol business & industry
close]
We are now living in a Depression one that will
become the greatest the world has ever witnessed
FRIEDMAN VS. KEYNES
Milton Friedman
(1912-2006) believed
that the Depression
was caused by a lack
of money
 The stock market
collapsing and a run
on failing banks left
too little money in the
hands of the common
person

John M. Keynes
(1887-1992) argued
that the lack of
government
interference in the
economy led to the
Depression
 Keynes would argue
that the government
needed to spend more
when the economy
was down

FRIEDMAN & KEYNES
IMPACT OF THE DEPRESSION/LIFE
DURING THE DEPRESSION






The Farmers: Prices for farm goods get lower 1929
wheat 1.04 per bushel 1932 0.38
Prices drop so low Farmers cannot make profits on
goods that are shipped to market.
Dust Bowl: a severe drought in central & southern
Great Plains not weather only but also poor farming
methods
Black blizzards: Dusts storms 60% of people lost
farms
Farmers tried to help each other ex: Penny Auctions:
people lose farms others bid for pennies & give back
Farmers could at least eat.
THE OTHERS:
25% of Americans were unemployed (maybe
more)
 Many people become homeless (1933 est. 1
million people homeless)
 Some travel rails/some live in shantytowns
called:
 Hoovervilles: make shift homes, cardboard, old
cars, crates

THE OTHERS:










Many men abandon families when they can no longer
provide
Teens will hit the road and become Hobos
Hunger was a problem for some (very little govt.
relief)
Breadlines & soup lines (Churches & Charities)
NY every 1 out of 5 will suffer malnutrition
Minorities & women lose jobs- some Asians deported
Immigration dropped
Birth rate declines
Marriage rates decline
28% increase in suicide (more men)
UNEMPLOYMENT
Between 1921 and 1929 annual average
unemployment rates never rose about 3.7%
 1933’s rate was 24.9%- meaning that almost one
in four Americans did not have a job.
 According to the BLS the unemployment rate for
Monday November 3rd was 6.1%*

THE EFFECT ON THE AVERAGE
AMERICAN

There is an old saying:
“that a recession is
when your neighbor
losses his job, a
depression is when
you lose your job”
Many Americans
did not feel the
effects of the
Depression at first,
but as the years
wore on every
American would
 This could be
anything from
having work hours
or pay cut, loss of
benefits, loss of job,
or in the worst
cases the lost of
your home

HOOVER AS PRESIDENT
Hoover is blamed. Hoover blankets
(newspapers), Hoover Flags (empty pockets)
 1932 hitch hiker ‘If you don’t give me a ride
I’ll vote for Hoover”


Hoover sees his role as a cheerleader--- people
call out for help they want basic needs met.
WHY HOOVER WOULDN’T HELP
Create a huge bureaucracy that would
make the government too big
 Inflate govt. budget already worried
because WWI countries not paying loans
 Would take away self-respect.

Ideas come from:
 Rugged Individualism: idea that success comes
through individual effort & Private enterprise

HOOVERVILLES
Often times in
bigger cities, those
who lost their
homes would
gather together
what they could
and build homes in
public places
 Hoovervilles-named
for Pres. Hooverbecame common
sites across the
country*

RURAL LIFE


Though times were
hard, many of those
that lived in rural areas
did not experience the
Depression as those
living in the cities did
In the following slides
we well see just some of
the good, the bad and
the ugly sides to living
in the country rather
than the city






The GoodYou could grow your
own food
More resources such as
firewood, water, and
game for hunting.
Typically you already
had what you needed
on hand (so you could
fix a lot of what broke)
Already knew how to
survive on very little
You had alternative
ways to make a living
(Moonshing for one )
THE BAD AND THE UGLY



The Bad- you had few
legal ways to make
extra money
You had most likely
borrowed on credit for
so long that you
wouldn’t have much
credit at the stores
where you shopped
What you couldn’t hunt,
catch, or grow wasn’t
readily availablethings like clothes, gas
for tractors, and even
medical attention




The ugly- prices for
whatever you grew
were so low you could
hardly pay for what you
needed
An example of this:
A lb. of cotton that
brought $35 in 1919
brought $6.52 in 1932
Because you had
borrowed so much on
your land banks could
easily foreclose on your
farm
THE DUST BOWL
The Dust Bowl was
caused by two
overwhelming factors
 1) Over use of lands
by both poor
agricultural practices
and simple over use
 2) A drought that had
gone on for several
years

AN OKLAHOMA DUST STORM
VALUES OF HARVEST CROPS IN
THE DUST BOWL REGIONS
Colorado= -51%
 Kansas= -53%
 New Mexico= -32%
 Oklahoma= -49%
 South Dakota= -57%
 Texas= -45%
 Wyoming= -40%

HUMAN EFFECTS OF THE DUST
BOWL


Because so many
families had lost their
farms to the banks,
and the dust bowl
took any other
chances of a
livelihood, many
families were forced
to leave their homes
The textbook states
that something like
800,000 people left
their homes in
Missouri, Arkansas,
Oklahoma, and Texas
SERIOUS HEALTH PROBLEMS
 Those
caught in the middle of dust storms
were left with either damaged lungs or
death due to inhalation of dust in the air
they were breathing.
 Even cows developed health problems and
often died from eating dust coated grass
which turned to fatal "mud balls" in their
stomachs. High speed winds pushed
grains of dust into things such as farm
equipment, barns, and homes
HOOVER’S EFFORT TO HELP






Invite business leaders to White House: get
them to maintain wages and employment
Local issue: city and state govt. should create
jobs
FED help. Reconstruction Finance Corporation
(RFC) govt. loans money to major economic
institutions
Home Loan Bank Act: helps banks get back on feet--no very beneficial why? Who would take out a loan if
you can’t pay back?
Hawley-Smoot Tariff: highest import tax in history
made things worse
HOOVER’S EFFORT TO HELP


Hoovers ideas promoted by Trickle Down
economics too little too late
Hoover failed as president—He was from a
small town--- never able to change and
adjust to meet needs of times--- Hoover
takes blame.
UNEMPLOYMENT NUMBERS
THROUGHOUT THE DEPRESSION
1929-3.2%
 1933-24.9%
 1939-17.9%
 1940-15%
 Even into the 1940’s
the rate averaged
around 15 to 16%

EFFECTS ON THE WORLD
Australia
 Australia's extreme dependence on agricultural
and industrial exports meant it was one of the
hardest-hit countries in the Western world,
amongst the likes of Canada and Germany.
Falling export demand and commodity prices
placed massive downward pressures on wages.
Further, unemployment reached a record high of
29% in 1932,[38] with incidents of civil unrest
becoming common. After 1932, an increase in
wool and meat prices led to a gradual recovery.

EFFECTS ON THE WORLD
Canada
 Harshly impacted by both the global economic
downturn and the Dust Bowl, Canadian
industrial production had fallen to only 58% of
the 1929 level by 1932, the second lowest level in
the world after the United States, and well
behind nations such as Britain, which saw it fall
only to 83% of the 1929 level. Total national
income fell to 56% of the 1929 level, again worse
than any nation apart from the United States.
Unemployment reached 27% at the depth of the
Depression in 1933.[39] During the 1930s, Canada
employed a highly restrictive immigration
policy.[40]

EFFECTS ON THE WORLD
France
 The Depression began to affect France around
1931. France's relatively high degree of selfsufficiency meant the damage was considerably
less than in nations like Germany. However,
hardship and unemployment were high enough to
lead to rioting and the rise of the socialist
Popular Front.

EFFECTS ON THE WORLD
Germany
 Germany's Weimar Republic was hit hard by the
depression, as American loans to help rebuild the
German economy now stopped.[41] Unemployment
soared, especially in larger cities, and the
political system veered toward extremism. The
unemployment rate reached nearly 30% in
1932.[42] Repayment of the war reparations due
by Germany were suspended in 1932 following
the Lausanne Conference of 1932. By that time
Germany had repaid 1/8th of the reparations.
Hitler's Nazi Party came to power in January
1933.

EFFECTS ON THE WORLD


Japan
The devaluation of the currency had an immediate
effect. Japanese textiles began to displace British
textiles in export markets. The deficit spending,
however proved to be most profound. The deficit
spending went into the purchase of munitions for the
armed forces. By 1933, Japan was already out of the
depression. By 1934 Takahashi realized that the
economy was in danger of overheating, and to avoid
inflation, moved to reduce the deficit spending that
went towards armaments and munitions. This
resulted in a strong and swift negative reaction from
nationalists, especially those in the Army,
culminating in his assassination in the course of the
February 26 Incident.
EFFECTS ON THE WORLD
Japan
 This had a chilling effect on all civilian
bureaucrats in the Japanese government. From
1934, the military's dominance of the government
continued to grow. Instead of reducing deficit
spending, the government introduced price
controls and rationing schemes that reduced, but
did not eliminate inflation, which would remain a
problem until the end of World War II.

EFFECTS ON THE WORLD
Latin America
 Because of high levels of United States
investment in Latin American economies, they
were severely damaged by the Depression.
Within the region, Chile, Bolivia and Peru were
particularly badly affected.

EFFECTS ON THE WORLD


Netherlands
From roughly 1931 until 1937, the Netherlands
suffered a deep and exceptionally long depression.
This depression was partly caused by the after-effects
of the Stock Market Crash of 1929 in the United
States, and partly by internal factors in the
Netherlands. Government policy, especially the very
late dropping of the Gold Standard, played a role in
prolonging the depression. The Great Depression in
the Netherlands led to some political instability and
riots, and can be linked to the rise of the Dutch
national-socialist party NSB. The depression in the
Netherlands eased off somewhat at the end of 1936,
when the government finally dropped the Gold
Standard, but real economic stability did not return
until after World War II.[46]
EFFECTS ON THE WORLD
South Africa
 As world trade slumped, demand for South
African agricultural and mineral exports fell
drastically. The Carnegie Commission on Poor
Whites had concluded in 1931 that nearly onethird of Afrikaners lived as paupers. It is believed
that the social discomfort caused by the
depression was a contributing factor in the 1933
split between the "gesuiwerde" (purified) and
"smelter" (fusionist) factions within the National
Party and the National Party's subsequent fusion
with the South African Party.[49]

EFFECTS ON THE WORLD


Soviet Union
Having removed itself from the capitalist world system
both by choice and as a result of efforts of the capitalist
powers to isolate it, the Great Depression had little effect
on the Soviet Union. A Soviet trade agency in New York
advertised 6,000 positions and received more than 100,000
applications.[50] This was a period of industrial expansion
for the USSR as it recovered from revolution and civil war,
and its apparent immunity to the Great Depression seemed
to validate the theory of Marxism and contributed to
Socialist and Communist agitation in affected nations. This
in turn increased fears of Communist revolution in the
West, strengthening support for anti-Communists, both
moderate and extreme. Unlike the previous similar famine
in Russia, information about the Soviet famine of 1932–
1933 was suppressed by the Soviet authorities until
perestroika
EFFECTS ON THE WORLD
Soviet Union
 In 1933 workers' real earnings sank to about onetenth of the 1926 level.[51] Common and political
prisoners in labor camps were forced to do unpaid
labor, and communists and Komsomol members
were frequently "mobilized" for various
construction projects.

EFFECTS ON THE WORLD
United Kingdom
 The effects on the industrial areas of Britain
were immediate and devastating, as demand for
British products collapsed. By the end of 1930
unemployment had more than doubled from 1
million to 2.5 million (20% of the insured
workforce), and exports had fallen in value by
50%. In 1933, 30% of Glaswegians were
unemployed due to the severe decline in heavy
industry. In some towns and cities in the north
east, unemployment reached as high as 70% as
ship production fell 90%.[52]

EFFECTS ON THE WORLD
United Kingdom
 The National Hunger March of September–
October 1932 was the largest[53] of a series of
hunger marches in Britain in the 1920s and
1930s. About 200,000 unemployed men were sent
to the work camps, which continued in operation
until 1939.

FDR BRINGS ABOUT CHANGE
Where Hoover stood
no chance of losing in
1928, in 1932 there
wasn’t a chance of him
winning
 In July of ‘32 the
Democrats nominated
Franklin D. Roosevelt
at their convention in
Chicago

In 1910, Roosevelt ran
(and won) for the New
York State Senate
from Dutchess
County, NY which had
not elected a
Democrat since 1884.
 He was appointed
Assistant Secretary of
the Navy by Wilson in
1913.



In 1920 Democrats chose
Roosevelt as the candidate
for Vice President on the
ticket headed by Governor
James M. Cox of Ohio, but
the Cox-Roosevelt ticket
was heavily defeated by
Harding
Roosevelt then retired to a
New York legal practice,
but few doubted that he
would soon run for public
office again.
GOVERNOR ROOSEVELT

He would later run
and win the
governorship of New
York and served in
that run until he ran
for President
GAINING THE NOMINATION

FDR was relatively
new to national
politics especially
compared to John
“Cactus Jack” Garner
and Al “Yellow Dog”
Smith who were
originally in the
forefront of the
nomination race
Irish Bootlegger Joseph
Kennedy




Al Smith had the city
bosses, but Roosevelt had
NY’s Democrats .
Roosevelt built his own
coalition with personal
allies like Joseph P.
Kennedy
After Garner switched to
FDR, he was given the vice
presidential nomination.
With Garner’s support
FDR had the nomination
FDR was from a
wealthy family, with
an Ivy League (Yale)
education.
 Along with the
politically savvy
Franklin came his
extremely smart wife
Eleanor

THE ELECTION
Roosevelt
 Democrat
 New York
 Rm- John Nance Garner
 Electoral vote 472
 States carried 42
 Popular vote 22,821,277
Hoover
 Republican
 California
 Charles Curtis
 59
6
 15,761,254
THE NEW DEAL
After winning, FDR pledged a New Deal to
combat the depression- New Deal being a new
take on TR’s “Square Deal”
 FDR formed his “brain trust” cabinet with a
group of highly educated, and specialized men

FDR & THE NEW DEAL






New Deal: turns out to be a day to day operation to
see what will work
The 3R’s
Recovery: industry & agriculture
Relief: put back to work
Reform: make sure a depression does not happen
again
1932 Election changed the way America will
view the responsibilities of Federal
Government


The 1st 100 days: goes quickly to work pushing
programs
THE FIRST 100 DAYS
Within the first 100
days of FDR’s
presidency he pushed
through Congress 15
bills which was a
record pass
 “Relief, Recovery,
Reform” or Three R’s
were FDR’s main
concerns

FDR’S IMPACT
Deficit spending: paying out more than you take in
EARLY ACTS AND WORK



Emergency Banking Act: 4 days bank holidayall banks closed. Govt. will inspect banks only
those that are stable will reopen
Fireside Chats: talked with Americans about
banks. Banks reopen: 1st time since 1929 more
deposits than withdrawals
Glass-Steagall Banking Act: est. FDIC insures
money
CREATING JOBS (PUBLIC WORKS- GOVT.
FUNDED PROJECTS)

Civil Works Administration: CWA 2.5 million
men employed in about 1 month build roads,
schools, parks, etc…
 Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC): young
unmarried men sent to work plant trees, clean
beaches, build parks earn $25-50 a month.
 NIRA National Industrial Recovery Act:
Established NRA National Recovery
Administration--- focused on the economy

CREATING JOBS (PUBLIC WORKS- GOVT.
FUNDED PROJECTS)







Federal government regulates wages (min wage)
Controls production
Business not happy “No recovery allowed” too rigid
did not work well
Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA):
designed to help farmers
Gave government subsidies or financial assistance
Also paid farmers to not grow crops
Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA): FDR focused
help on One of Americans least modernized regions
will provide cheap electric (hydro) power, flood
control, & recreation areas
THE TVA
The TVA was one of
FDR’s first
administrations
and had two main
goals
 1) To prevent and
control flooding in
the Tennessee
River Valley
 2) “To hydroelectric
up the whole dern
south”-Ulysses
Everett McGill

THE WHOLE DAM SYSTEM
OTHER NEW DEAL PROGRAMS
 The
Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation- insured bank deposits up to
$5,000
 The National Recovery Administrationestablished a minimum wage and
minimum prices for goods
 The Public Works Administration- built
bridges and highways also very similar to
 The Civilian Conservation Corps- which
dealt with forestry issues and fought
forest fires
TOO MUCH OR TOO LITTLE

Alfred E. Smith, like
many Republicans felt
as if the New Deal
made the government,
and Democrats too
powerful
Francis Townsend,
along with many
radical Democrats
felt that the New
Deal was far too
little, and that more
should be done
 Townsend
purposed a pension
plan funded by a
national sales tax

SMITH AND TOWNSEND
THE NEW DEAL GETS HIT FROM ALL
OVER

"The great betrayer and liar, Franklin D.
Roosevelt, who promised to drive the money
changers from the temple, had succeeded [only] in
driving the farmers from their homesteads and
the citizens from their homes in the cities. . . I ask
you to purge the man who claims to be a
Democrat, from the Democratic Party, and I mean
Franklin Double-Crossing Roosevelt." Father
Charles Coughlin
LONG AND COUGHLIN
HUEY P. LONG AND FDR
Long and FDR
clashed over just
about everything.
 FDR tried to use Long
for popularity in the
South, but Long had
bigger intentions
 Neither of the two
gained much in the
end, but Long was one
of the few people FDR
couldn’t control
completely

“THE BRAIN TRUST”
FDR did not work alone his hardworking
cabinet and advisors became known as
“THE BRAIN TRUST”
 1st president to appoint women to cabinet
Frances Perkins.
 Also hires African Americans
 Eleanor very active (protested Jim Crow)


All these efforts did not make a big impact
America was still struggling.
THE SECOND NEW DEAL 1935
Many conservatives
disagreed with FDR
either on the fact of
the power in the New
Deals or the costs of
them
 period of bolder
legislation will include
more social welfare,
stricter controls over
business, stronger
support for unions,
more taxes for rich

The Second New Deal addressed the same
problems that the first had, but was somewhat
watered down to please the Republicans and
those who had protested the first New Deal
 Most of the administrations of the first New Deal
survived
 If they did not they were reworked and renamed.

JOBS
WPA Works Progress Administration
designed to put millions to work quickly- much
like CWA will employ about 8 million public
works & cultural activities musicians, artist,
historians. By 1941 40% of unemployed now w/
WPA
 --- earned reputation of being involved in making
work projects “We Pittle Around”


1930’s only 10% of people in rural areas had
electricity
JOBS

Rural Electrification Administration (REA)govt. makes loans to get electricity means appliances
benefits manufacturing


Wagner Act: Legalized union practices, collective
bargaining and closed shops




Fair Labor Standards: banned child labor &
established minimum wage had been attempted
under NIRA but declared unconstitutional this time it
stood.
Social Security Act: old age pensions for workers,
unemployment insurance, aid for dependent children,
blind & disabled
FDR Reelected in 1936
CRITICS OF THE NEW DEAL
Women and minorities
 NRA codes allowed women’s wages to be lower
 Jobs were given to men first
 African Americans not offered jobs at the
professional level
 Did nothing to end discrimination

CRITICS OF THE NEW DEAL
Republicans the New Deal does too much
 NIRA: declared to be unconstitutional along with
other programs
 Progressives & Socialist (the political left) (Upton
Sinclair EPIC end POV. In California Socialism)

CRITICS OF THE NEW DEAL
Huey Long. Gov LA, US Senator SOW share our wealth
 All American Families = 500.00 dollars; old age
pensions
Home
Free Education
2,500 yr. income




Paid for by extremely high taxes on wealthy
Killed by son of a rich man
Modern critics--- responsible for Big government,
heavy taxes
COURT PACKING SCHEME:
FDR frustrated by Supreme Court
(unconstitutional NIRA, AAA) So he tried to pack
the court
 FDR ask Congress for 6 new Supreme Court
judges Add a justice for each one over 70 pack w/
people that will support his programs
 FDR would control Supreme Court--- attack on
checks and balances---- aroused more opposition
than anything FDR tried to do. (only major
political defeat)

THE SECOND NEW DEAL


The Social Security Actwas an attempt to limit
what were seen as
dangers including old
age poverty,
unemployment, and the
burdens of widows and
fatherless children
Work Projects
Administration- was the
largest New Deal agency,
employing millions of
people and affecting
most rural and western
mountain populations.


Banking Act of 1935finalized the creation
of the FDIC and made
insurance for bank
deposits permanent;
created a board to
regulate the nation’s
money supply and
interest rates on
loans
Fair Labor Standards
Act- Banned child
labor, established a
minimum hourly
wages, and set the
workweek at 44 hours
THE SOCIAL SECURITY ACT IN SOME
DEPTH




The act had many flaws
Many domestic and
farm workers were left
out of the act
This largely effected
African Americans and
women who primarily
held such jobs.
That being said the first
recipient was Ida May
Fuller
FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT & THE
WAGNER-IN SOME DEPTH
The Fair Labor
Standards act set a
minimum wage at 25
cents per hour
 44 hours was the
maximum allowed in
a work week

The Wagner Acts
official name was the
National Labor
Relations Act
 It meant that labor
unions could officially
bargain for better pay
and wages
 Finally it created the
National Labor
Relations Board to
handle worker’s
complaints

LABOR UNIONS IN THE DEPRESSION
Labor Unions increased in membership and
thus power through the 1930’s
FDR’s pro-union policies were meant to
raise the wages and standard of living for
workers
Those higher wages would then be turned
back into the economy
Roosevelt felt that a drop in union
membership would have an adverse effect
on the economy
JOHN L. LEWIS &
THE CIO
John L. Lewis was
then the president of
the United Mine
Workers Union
 The UMW and other
unions had grown
tired of the AFL and
split off to form the
Congress of Industrial
Organizations (CIO)

THE CIO



The CIO was typically
made up of lower paid
and ethnic workers
In Dec of 1938 members
of the UAW (a CIO spinoff) staged a sit-down
strike at a GM plant in
Flint, Michigan
The strike lasted 44
days but ended when
GM recognized the
UAW and their
demands
HOLES IN THE NEW DEAL


In 1935 the Supreme
Court began looking at
the New Deal from a
Constitutional
standpoint
In the case of Schechter
Poultry v. United States
the SC unanimously
ruled that the President
had no power in
regulating interstate
commerce and that the
NIRA was
unconstitutional



Shortly after this, the
SC ruled parts of the
Agricultural Adjustment
Act unconstitutional
Roosevelt responded by
saying that the court
had set the country back
to “horse and buggy”
days
The work that FDR had
done is his first 100
days was being erased
COURT PACKING
FDR, addressing Congress, unveiled a plan that
would weaken the seated justices of the SC
 His plan proposed adding as many as six new
justices to the already sitting nine
 This was based on FDR’s feeling that those
sitting on the bench were getting old and were
“overworked”

CRITICS CATCH ON TO FDR’S PLAN
Many recognized
FDR’s plan and knew
that these new
justices would most
likely be FDR
supporters that would
favor the New Deal
 They criticized FDR of
trying to “pack the
court” with New
Dealers

FDR might have
convinced Congress to
make the move to nine
justices, but the court
ruled in favor of the
New Deal on several
consecutive votes
 Two of these upheld
the Wagner Act





On two of the cases,
Justice Owen Roberts
provided the deciding vote
Many called Roberts’ voted
were “switched in time to
save nine”
Shortly after these votes
Judge Willis Van Devanter
left the court because he
felt the court was not
acting appropriately
This allowed FDR to
appoint a New Dealer to
the court and give him the
power he needed
SWITCH IN TIME TO SAVE NINE & VAN
DEVANTER
COURT PACKING CARTOONS
WHAT IS THE EFFECT OF ALL THIS?
After the New Deal, the government would play
an ever increasing role in the lives of the
American citizen
 Many New Deal administrations/acts are still
around today (FDIC, Social Security, Headstart,
Welfare)
 Besides the lasting effects, the New Deal had an
enormously positive effect on the people of the
Depression

CHANGES BROUGHT ABOUT BY FDR
One social change is
the role of the First
Lady
 Until Eleanor, the
First Lady was seen
and rarely heard
 After Eleanor, First
Women were often put
in the forefront

On a larger political
scale, FDR made the
Democrats what they
are today.
 Until this point, for
the most part, the
political parties were
reversed


FDR’s expanding the
role of the government
will continue to this
day
FDR had also been
hugely popular in the
then Democratically
“Solid South”
 Even though he
pushed for civil rights,
many Southerners
saw the New Deal as a
saving grace during
the Depression, and
FDR as the man that
brought it

THE FIRST NEW DEAL
“Hundred Days”- Time between March 9 and June 16, 1933 when
Congress passed 15 major acts to meet economic crisis.
THE SECOND NEW DEAL
EFFECTS OF THE NEW DEAL
National debt: 1933 21 billion dollars 1940 43
billion dollars
 Union Membership: 1933 3 million people
1941 10.5 million people
 Many public work projects still exist
 Fed agencies TVA,FDIC, & Social Security

TWO MAIN THINGS TO REMEMBER
Many people looked to
the arts/movies/radio
for an escape from
their lives during the
Depression
 Remember the
number from the
1920’s
 60 to 100 million a
week in the 1920’s

The U.S government
saw this and went to
work putting together
projects and
legislation that kept
many artists in work
 In addition it allowed
the government to
regulate what was
seen and “pass the
word” along

FILM
Most of the movies
produced were Good v.
Evil types where good
always wins
 Think about Wizard of
Oz- Dorothy gets the
Wicked Witch of the
West

COMMENTARY ON SOCIETY

In films like G-Men
and Mr. Smith Goes
to Washington the
American ideal of
government
winning over greed
and corruption
were with the
government and
audiences alike
because the main
characters fought
greed and
corruption
RADIO
The likes of Bob Hope,
Studs Terkel, and
Jack Benny all got
their starts in radio
during the 1930’s
Radio programs of the
’30’s were much like
the soap operas of
today
MONOPOLY
Monopoly could not have been created at a better
time in history.
 The most popular aspect of it was the fact that
you could “own” property in the game, even if you
could not in real life
 Many families, who could not afford a full game
set, would improvise and create their own game
pieces or rules

THE NEW DEAL AND THE ARTS

Noticing that many
artists and writers
faced hard times by
nature and were
facing even harder
time with the
Depression, WPA
director Harry
Hopkins established
the Federal Arts
Project
FAP
The project commissioned artists and writers to
produce anything from folk history books to
murals and canning instructions to Broadway
plays
 Photographers like Dorothea Lange and Ansel
Adams were hired by the Roosevelt
administration to photograph the plight of those
living in the Depression

LITERATURE OF THE DEPRESSION

We’ve all had to or
are going to have to
read GRAPES OF
WRATH which was
written during the
Depression about
migrant workers
going to California,
but the novel was
not the only form of
literature that
became popular in
the Depression
THE COMIC BOOK
Comic Books
became hugely
popular during the
1930’s
 Dick Tracey,
Batman, and
Superman all
appeared for the
first time during
the Depression
 These comics would
eventually move to
radio, and then to
motion pictures but
are still in print

REFLECT BACK WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT
Oct 29,1929: Stock Crash, Fears, Rumors,
what to do reflect back
 Dec. 24, 1931: include life during Depression
 Nov 8, 1933: A New Deal
