“Are You Making Any Money?”
• You make time, and you make love dandy,
You make swell molasses candy,
But, honey, are you making any money,
That's all I want to know!
You make fun, and you couldn't make trouble,
You make mistakes, say, that goes double,
But, honey, are you making any money,
That's all I want to know!
– Chris Bullock
“Brother Can You Spare a Dime?”
They used to tell me I was building a dream, and so I followed the mob,
When there was earth to plow, or guns to bear, I was always there right on
the job.
They used to tell me I was building a dream, with peace and glory ahead,
Why should I be standing in line, just waiting for bread?
Once I built a railroad, I made it run, made it race against time.
Once I built a railroad; now it's done. Brother, can you spare a dime?
Once I built a tower, up to the sun, brick, and rivet, and lime;
Once I built a tower, now it's done. Brother, can you spare a dime?
Once in khaki suits, gee we looked swell,
Full of that Yankee Doodly Dum,
Half a million boots went slogging through Hell,
And I was the kid with the drum!
» Yip Harburg
“This Land is Your Land”
As I went walking I saw a sign there
And on the sign it said "No Trespassing."
But on the other side it didn't say nothing
That side was made for you and me.
Nobody living can ever stop me,
As I go walking that freedom highway;
Nobody living can ever make me turn back
This land was made for you and me.
In the squares of the city, In the shadow of a steeple;
By the relief office, I'd seen my people.
As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking,
Is this land made for you and me?
-Woodie Guthrie
FDR, The New Deal and
Backlash
I. FDR
I. FDR
• FDR
– “Aristocratic” background
– Marriage to Eleanor
– Polio as turning point
– Reform governor in New York
• Unemployment insurance
• Anti-child labor laws
• Old age pensions
I. FDR
• Presidency
– Easily won election of 1932 (472 to 59)
– Adept at mass communication
– Relied on Eleanor for advice/PR
– Brains Trust advisors
• Keynesian Economics
• “Priming the Pump”
II. (First) The New Deal
• Emergency Banking Act
– Meant to prevent bank runs
• Hundred Days Alphabet Soup Agencies
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Civilian Conservation Corps
Federal Emergency Relief Administration
Tennessee Valley Authority
National Recovery Act
Public Works Administration
Agricultural Adjustment Administration
III. Backlash and Reaction
• On the Right
– Charged FDR with establishing
socialism/communism in the US
– American Liberty League
• Al Smith
– Father Charles Coughlin
III. Backlash and Reaction
• On the Left
– Charged FDR with not doing enough to help
America’s poor
– Huey Long
• Share Our Wealth
– Upton Sinclair
• End Poverty in California (EPIC)
IV. The Second New Deal
• Second New Deal 1935
– Represented a more liberal version of the New Deal
– Done in response to liberal critics
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Emergency Relief Appropriations Act (1935)
Social Security Act (1935)
National Labor Relations Act (1935)
Resettlement Administration (1935)
National Housing Act (1937)
Fair Labor Standards Act (1938)
V. Limits of the New Deal
• By 1937, some of the New Deal programs
had been repealed.
• Supreme Court struck down
– NRA (Schecter vs. United States)
– AAA (Butler vs. United States)
V. Limits of the New Deal
• FDR proposed the Judiciary
Reorganization Bill of 1937 to Congress.
– Expand court from nine to 15 judges.
– FDR could appoint an assistant judge for
every justice over 70.
– Both Republicans and Democrats were
angered by this move.
VI. The Success of the New Deal?
• Contemporaries and historians have given
the New Deal mixed reviews.
• Criticisms:
– 1937-38 “New Deal Depression”
– The creation of the American “welfare state”
– It did NOT end the Great Depression
– Did not largely help minorities or women (see
Monday)
VI. The Success of the New Deal?
• Praise
– Emotional successes
– Prepared the nation for WWII
– Was better than Hoover’s policies!
– Realigned the role of government
– Created a social safety net still in place today