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Hellfire Nation
Chapter 12: The New Deal Call to Alms
The New Deal began during a time of economic uncertainty, class struggle, and fear.
Traditional morality and religion seemed to fade out of politics and was replaced by a new set of
morals. Social Justice, fairness, equality, and hard times were the new standards of morality.
The Roosevelt administration saw the disintegration of Victorian morality controls, the spread of
the welfare state, and the establishment of a powerful standing military.
Poverty and Morals (350-354): During the election of 1932 Roosevelt began to preach
new morality as part of his campaign. Puritans viewed poverty as a sign from heaven that an
individual was receiving punishment for sins such as laziness, criminal behavior, or a lacking
will. Roosevelt replaced that image by mixing Social Gospel and modern science. The causes of
poverty were now often out of the control of an individual and the impoverished were our
“virtuous neighbors who have fallen on hard times” (351). The theme of contrasting values
would be repeated throughout the rest of the century: vice or illness, individual sin or social
responsibility
Once the Democrats took control of the White House, conservatives attacked the new
standards of morality. The repeal of the 18th amendment was unpopular among many
Southerners and Protestants. However, many religious groups supported the New Deal
programs, seeing them as an opportunity to build a society on the principles of Christ. Among
many young New Dealers, they were excited by the new secularism of the programs. They
marveled at new technology and new solutions to old problems in social and economic realms.
Us and Them Revisited (354-362): Roosevelt’s moral rhetoric centered on his picture of a
utopian communal society. Roosevelt confessed that his rhetoric had a religious tint, but rather
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than sanction an immoral class of stereotypes (Germans, Irish, blacks, witches), his moral
politics preached understanding and charity. Despite the New Deal rhetoric, bigotry and social
division remained, now largely operating among class, race, and gender lines.
The New Deal, with its programs of support for the working populace tended to
demonize the rich. Politicians, such as Huey Long of Louisiana, advocated for a radical redistribution of wealth. “The problem was simple, said [Long]. The rich had grabbed too much.
The answer was just as easy: share the wealth” (356). For all of Long’s demagoguery, he was
pointing out the great issue of the day, and his rhetoric darkly mirrored Roosevelt’s own rhetoric.
The American ‘them’ had passed from the impoverished on the fringes of society to the greedy,
who had grabbed too much.
In 1932, the Democratic Party was divided between the liberal New Dealers and
Conservative Southern politicians. Race politics played a major role in many New Deal
programs because Democratic politicians had to hold their coalition together. New Deal
programs designed to help out the poor, often had to include language that either outright
exempted blacks, or allowed Southern politicians to exempt blacks at home. Southern apartheid
continued, but Northern revulsion grew. “This is her first lynching” by Reginald Marsh
appeared in the New Yorker in 1934, and united Northerners behind anti-lynching legislation.
The New Deal programs were generally careful to use gender neutral language, which
broke from tradition that had a defined role for women. State legislatures were free to add
restrictions to many New Deal programs, and often did. During the time of the New Deal,
gender was not as big an issue as it had been during the progressive era, however the next
generation would revitalize the image of women as a threat to society.
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Comstockery Cracks (362-366): Comstocks in 1921 ruled James Joyce’s Ulysses an
immoral book, banned it from sale in the United States, and renewed the band in 1928. In 1933,
however, a US District Court overturned the ban. Anti-censorship lawyers saw this as part of a
larger social movement designed to get the courts out of the vice business. Similarly, many
courts also overturned bans on birth control. During the Great Depression, many families and
the government noticed that both welfare agencies and the poor would benefit from smaller
families. The Federal Court of Appeals overturned the ban on contraceptives, citing that medical
science now understood condoms to be safe and having children to be dangerous.
Where the federal government retreated from legislating against vices, the Catholic
Church moved in to fill its place. The first target was Hollywood. The church mobilized the
faithful to take oaths not to watch any obscene films, and also got federal support for
condemning and fining indecent films. Between 1936 and 1943, due to the Catholic Church’s
power to fine, only one film was released that was condemned by the church. In 1952, however,
the Supreme Court overturned the ability of the church and the government to censor films under
the grounds of the First Amendment.
The moral shift in the 1930s marked a distinct change in American liberalism. The
government left legislating against vices, and began withdrawing support for private campaigns
against immorality. The secular trend was a hallmark of the New Deal.
The City on a Hill Again (366-377): When WWII began; the United States had an
opportunity to stand out as an example for the world once again. Roosevelt changed his rhetoric
to a more universal discussion of human rights. His four freedoms speech mentioned freedom of
speech, freedom to worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. Roosevelt transformed
his American Social Gospel into an American mission to spread freedoms to the rest of the
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world. Before the attack on Pearl Harbor, many Americans belonged to “America First”
isolationist organizations. However, after the attack, many different views of fighting the war
emerged. The first, Norman Rockwell’s paintings symbolized the exportation of Roosevelt’s
Social Gospel to the rest of the world. He used archetypal images of innocent Americans,
families, and community. Lindbergh’s image of the war was that of America taking a stand
against foreigners who will endanger our way of life. Lastly, Henry R Luce painted a picture of
Americans leading, ministering, protecting, and teaching the rest of the world.
During the war, American differences tended to fade away and were replaced by a strong
desire for consensus. The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were seen as
documents proclaiming grand harmony between all American citizens. The dream of consensus
was forged in WWII and perfected during the 1950s against the threat of Communism. The
horror of the Holocaust forever changed the meaning of racial superiority. Many authors,
anthropologists, geneticists, psychologists, and historians reviled the concept of racial
superiority, and adopted resolutions condemning the concept. After the war ended, however,
scientific racism began to creep back toward normalcy.
During WWII the anti-immigrant coalition remained strong against immigrants from
Central Europe, despite the alarm over the fate of the Jews of Europe. Roosevelt instituted a
quota limit for fleeing Germans and Austrians, and made it even more difficult for Jews to leave
Europe. Many journalists took up the cause of the Jews and wrote editorials in favor of
providing shelter for displaced European Jews.
The War immediately incited violence against Japanese Americans. Local politicians
used the fear and anger of Pearl Harbor to rally people against the Japanese. Amid racial frenzy,
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Roosevelt issued an executive order to intern Japanese Americans in concentration camps.
Military authorities arrived and required the interned to sign loyalty oaths.
Mexican and African Americans also faced prejudice during the war. The city of Los
Angeles, for example, saw them as a threat to order, and tried to outlaw zoot suits in an effort to
reduce crime rates (seriously). Colored soldiers fought bravely in the war, but returned to
segregation at home. Race riots expressed the frustrations of many colored servicemen. Race
riots erupted in Harlem, Detroit, and L.A. The federal government began to get involved
because of America’s new status as the exemplar for the world. The Justice Department
intervened in cases of lynching and the Office of War Information protested against Latino
bashing. Concern about international opinion shaped American attitudes toward one another.
Questions

How did Roosevelt’s rhetoric mirror that of the Progressives? How did it differ?

What was done in the U.S. to “secularize” legislation?

What factors of the Great Depression caused the shift in morality?

What forces kept the Democratic Party together during the New Deal? What
forces divided them?

Why did the role of women change between the Progressive era and the New
Deal?

What made the government remove itself from regulating vices?

How did the different visions for American involvement in WWII reflect the
divisions in the country? What kinds of groups would have responded to each
vision?
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
Why did race matter so much during WWII?

How did the Four Freedoms speech represent Roosevelt’s Social Gospel?