The Election of 1932
■The depression made Hoover the
“victim” while Franklin Roosevelt
emerged as the “savior”:
–In the 1932 election, FDR was
able to unite the rural & urban
factions of the Democratic party
& won a landslide victory
–FDR appealed to Protestants &
Catholics, farmers & workers,
native-born & immigrants
“I pledge you—I pledge myself to a
new deal for the American people.”
The Hundred Days
■When FDR took over in 1933, the
FDR
for “broad
power of
U.S.asked
economy
wasexecutive
on the brink
that would be given to me if we were in
collapse:
fact invaded by a foreign foe.”
–Unemployment was at 25%
–38 states had total bank failure
■FDR requested from Congress
broad executive power to begin
his “New Deal” program of
economic relief, recovery & reform
“Let me assert my firm belief that
the only thing we have to fear is fear itself;
nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror
which paralyzes needed efforts to convert
retreat into advance.”
The Hundred Days
st hundred
Banks
were
regulated
(notdays,
nationalized);
■In
his
1
FDR
Now,
the FDIC
insures
the
economic
system
was
reformed
st
began
his
1
New
Deal
(1933-35)
deposits
up
to
$250,000
(not drastically changed)
■FDR’s 1st order of business was
Emergency
Banking
Act
of
1933
to restore confidence in banking:
–Declared a 4-day bank holiday:
closed or funded weak banks &
opened new gov’t-aided banks
–Glass-Steagall Act created the
FDIC which guaranteed all bank
deposits up to $5,000
The Hundred Days
■The greatest success of the First
New Deal was its ability to offer
relief to unemployed citizens via
the Reconstruction Finance Corps
–Modest relief checks were doled
to 15% of Americans
–Federal Emergency Relief Act
(FERA) pumped $500 million
into state welfare programs
The Hundred Days
■Relief efforts of the First New Deal
created more “alphabet agencies”
–Civilian Conservation Corps
(CCC) employed urban men
–Civilian Works Admin (CWA)
hired 4 million men & women
–Created the Public Works Admin
(PWA) to build public roads,
bridges, & buildings
CCC workers
paved roads,
planted trees,
built bridges
The Hundred Days
■The National Industrial Recovery
Act (NIRA) was the 1st attempt at
economic recovery:
–Created the National Recovery
Admin (NRA) set max hours &
minimum wages for workers &
stimulated industry by fixing
Additional
attempts
to stimulate
the economy
prices
& setting
production
limits
include taking the U.S. off the gold standard &
■Agricultural
Adjustment
Admin
ending prohibition
(21st amendment)
(AAA) subsidized farmers
National Recovery Administration
The NRA ended up being too
bureaucratic; business cooperation
gave way to self-interest & greed
The Hundred Days
■Some of FDR’s First New Deal
focused on long-term reforms
–Securities & Exchange
Commission (SEC) to regulate
the stock market & prevent
another stock market crash
–Tennessee Valley Authority
(TVA) created dams in 7 states
to provide cheap hydroelectric
power & create jobs
The Tennessee Valley Authority
Critics claimed the TVA was too socialistic;
Competing electric companies attacked the
TVA for selling cheaper electricity &
eliminating competition
The Hundred Days
■The 1st hundred days of FDR’s
administration were temporary
solutions to solve problems, but…
■…psychologically,
Americans believed
that FDR was actively
responding to the
Great Depression
Franklin Roosevelt &
the Second New Deal
(1935-1938)
Criticism of the First New Deal
■The failure of the New Deal to
end the depression led to growing
frustration among Americans
–From 1933-1934, the New Deal
focused on immediate problems
& did very little to help unskilled
workers & sharecroppers
–In 1935, FDR shifted approach
from economic relief to reform
Challenges to FDR
■By 1935, signs of discontent with
the New Deal were evidenced as
3 critics gained national attention:
–Father Charles Coughlin called
for nationalizing U.S. banks; used
anti-Semitism in radio sermons
–Francis Townsend appealed to
the elderly with a $200/mo
payment plan to anyone over 60
in order to stimulate the economy
Challenges to FDR
■Louisiana Senator Huey Long
proposed his Share the Wealth
plan to:
Hueythe
Long
threatened
to run
–Take from
rich—a
100%
rd Party candidate but
as
a
3
tax on allwas
personal
income
over
assassinated in 1935
$1 million
–Give to the poor—give every
American $2,500 per year
The Second New Deal
■The 1st act of the 2nd New Deal was
WPA helped but never employed enough
Works
(WPA),
the
peopleProgress
to stimulateAdmin
consumer
purchase
most
comprehensive,
direct-bearable
power—it
made the Depression
assistance program of the New Deal
–The national gov’t hired 10 million
Americans in an attempt to
stimulate the economy
–WPA created building projects,
funded artists, & pumped $10
billion into the economy
WPAcared
Public
Work
Project
WPA
less
about
what got done as long as
work was done: built hospitals, schools, airport
fields… but also moved leaf piles & dug ditches
Social Security
■Social Security Act (1935) was
the 1st U.S. welfare program for
the aged, disabled, & unemployed
–Old-age pensions to be funded
by employers & workers
–Unemployment compensation to
begin in 1942 funded nat’l taxes
but administered by states
–Welfare payments for the blind,
handicapped, & needy children
■Liberal critics
argued that SS did
not do enough
■Conservative
critics argued that
SS violated
individualism &
self-reliance
■Social Security
created America’s
1st welfare program
to help individuals
Labor Legislation
■Wagner Act (1935) created the
Nat’l Labor Relations Board to
oversee labor-management affairs
–Mandated
management
The
“Magna Carta”
for labor to
negotiate with unions regarding
40 hours
pay, hours, conditions if majority
per week
40¢ per hour
of workers vote for a union
■Fair Labor Standards Act (1938)
created 1st minimum wage &
maximum hour laws (aimed at
helping non-unionized workers)
The
gov’t
assumed
For the 1st time, the
Conclusions
gov’t used Keynesian responsibility for the
■The New
Deal was
made
of
health
of theup
nation's
economics
(deficit
economy &
spending
& gov’t
3 parts:
relief, recovery,
& citizens
reform
spending to stimulate The New Deal signaled
–New
Deal
was
most
successful
the economy)
the beginning
of the
in providing immediate
relief
to
welfare state
ease economic suffering
–The New Deal did not bring
economic recovery, redistribute
wealth, or end the depression
–The New Deal brought major
reforms that changed America
The End of the
New Deal
The 1936 election saw the birth of a new
End of the
Democratic coalition
that New
wouldDeal
last for
30
years: Deal
South,reached
West, urban,
■New
its labor,
high point
ethnic
groups,
blacks,
&
the
poor
when FDR was re-elected in 1936
■FDR’s experienced more setbacks
in his 2nd term than is 1st term but
he still remained a popular leader
Packing the Supreme
Court
U.S. v. Butler
Schechter v. U.S.
(1936)
(1935)
■The Supreme Court was FDR’s
last obstacle to overcome:
–The Court ruled the NRA & AAA
All 9 justices were old, white men; Only 3
unconstitutional
were were
sympathetic
to the New Deal; 2 were
unpredictable;
4 wanted to
block
–FDR’s solution
was
to New
ask Deal
Justice
Willis Vanto
Devanter
to retire
Congress
appt 1planned
new justice
in 1932,
but
stayed
on
because
he
felt
FDR
for
each
justice
over
70
yrs
old
was “unfitted & unsafe for the presidency”
–This controversial “court packing”
plan would add 6 new justices
Packing the Supreme Court
■The
court-packing
scheme
was
FDR eventually
appointed
5 justices
to
the but
Supreme
in his
4 terms
legal
set aCourt
scary
precedent:
–The Senate strongly resisted
FDR & the Court defended itself
against “ageism” attacks
–The crisis ended when the
Court declared the Wagner Act
& Social Security constitutional
& Judge Van Devanter resigned
The End of the New Deal
■1938 saw the end of the New Deal
–Other than the Fair Labor
Standards Act, FDR’s 2nd term
saw no new New Deal programs
–FDR’s court-packing plan hurt
his relationship with Congress
–The “Roosevelt Recession” of
1937 was the result of FDR’s
attempt to reduce gov’t spending
& balance the budget
Unemployment, 1929-1942
The Impact of the
New Deal
The Impact on Women
■The New Deal brought few
economic benefits to women:
–The New Deal allowed for
unequal wages; Social Security,
the NRA, & minimum wage laws
offered little help for women
■But, women did see gains in gov’t:
–The 1st female cabinet member,
Senator, ambassadors, & judges
were appointed under FDR
The 1stThe
female
cabinet
member:
1st female
Senator:
HattiePerkins
Caraway(Dept
(D-Arkansas)
Francis
of Labor)
The Impact on African-Americans
■The New Deal did little for African
Americans:
Social Security “looks like a sieve with
the holes just
large enough for
the
–Racism
& segregation
remained
majority
Negroes
to fall
through”
strongofduring
the
Depression
—NAACP
–The NRA allowed lower wage
Blacks
werefor
theblack
last hired
scales
workers; The
& allowed
first firedfor the eviction of
AAA
Blacks AAA
experienced
50% farmers
sharecroppers
tenant
is a &
“continuation
of
unemployment
rate
the
same
rawdid
deal”
–Minimum wage &oldSS
not
apply to farmers & domestic
The Impact on African-Americans
■Despite the inequalities of the
New Deal, blacks supported FDR:
–FDR hired African-Americans to
key gov’t positions
“While relief & WPA are not ideal, they are
Roosevelt
spoke
out
better–Eleanor
than the Hoover
bread lines
& they’ll
have toagainst
do until the
realdiscrimination
thing comes along”
racial
–The RFC brought assistance to
40% of unemployed blacks
through the WPA
The Impact on Mexican-Americans
■Mexican-Americans fared even
less than African-Americans:
–The Dust Bowl led to a flood of
whites into the agricultural fields
in the southwest
–Congress created immigration
restrictions & allowed for the
deportation of illegal residents to
reduce state welfare payments
–Received few New Deal benefits
The Impact on Native Americans
■Native-Americans remained the
poorest of all U.S. residents but
did benefit from the New Deal
–The Indian Reorganization Act
shifted U.S. Indian policy from
Indians as yeoman farmers to
unified & autonomous tribes
–Many gained employment in
the Indian Bureau
The Impact on the South & West
■The South & West benefited the
most from the New Deal:
–The AAA helped end Southern
dependence on sharecropping
in favor of a wage labor system
–The West received more work
relief & welfare than any region
–Hydroelectric power & irrigation
programs helped residents
Conclusion:
The New Deal &
American Life
First
Second
The Hundred
New Deal
and
American
Life
Days Hundred Days
■The New Deal lasted only 5 years
majority
of laws
10(1933-1938);
million were The 12
million were
still
unemployed
unemployed
FDR
came
in 2 bursts
in 1933 when
& 1935:
in 1939
took office in 1933
■The New Deal was not very
successful economically:
–Helped relieve suffering but did
not end the Depression
–American wealth remained
unequally distributed
The New Deal & American Life
■The New Deal was more
successful socially:
–Social Security, Wagner Act, &
the Fair Labor Standards Act
helped elderly & disabled
citizens, labor unions, & workers
–The New Deal did not help
women, minorities, domestic
workers, or small farmers
The New Deal and American Life
■The New Deal was most
successful politically:
–FDR’s leadership unified a
new Democratic voting bloc
–FDR used his leadership &
optimism to provide a vital
psychological lift to help citizens
endure the Great Depression