http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3R
HnKYNvx8
12 Visions of America, A History of the United States
Recovering from the Depression
• Revamping Banking and Financial
Institutions: “Saving Capitalism”
• Glass-Steagall Act (1933)
• Security and Exchange Commission
(1934)
• Federal Housing Authority (1934)
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Helping Industry and People
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• National Recovery
Administration-NRA (1933)
• Federal Emergency Relief
Administration (FERA)
• Putting People to Work
Civil Works Administration
Civilian Conservation Corps
Public Works Administration
Works Progress Administration
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Visions of America, A History of the United States
http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~3841~360045:PWA-rebuilds-the-Nation--Prepared-b
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Visions of America, A History of the United States
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Visions of America, A History of the United States
When I came to
Carbon Hill five
years ago the
streets were in
very poor shape.
We had no curbs
or gutters except
this little piece
here by the
church and over
the paved street….
But WPA has
brought quite a
change. It's been a
wonderful help
to the town all right
and it has employed numbers of our people. Some few members of our
church are on the WPA. I think the casement in their financial condition
has had some influence on the spiritual life of the town; when people get
along financially they come to church; when they can't get along financially
they stay home. People are more cheerful and courageous when they are
able to make ends meet. It helps our merchants a lot. Rev. O. M. Fox, preacher
Black Methodist Church, Carbon Hill, Alabama
“To my way of thinking as far as the working and the advantage has come
to us from the New Deal, a good many people have been able to pull
through this year that wouldn't have been able to pull through without
the working of the WPA. The repairing of the churches and the
improvement to the town in general have been a great help to us.
If it was to quit we would go back farther than we were when we started
because to cut us off now would throw us in a worse panic that we were
when it started. During the winter season the streets being cleaned up
has helped church attendance. People didn't care to go out when the
ditches were so deep." Rev. C. H. McCall, preacher
Ben Pair, laborer (has
been on WPA — may
still be): "If they hadn't
had WPA people
would've just gone
down to the stores
and taken what they
needed. When the
kids look an' say
'Daddy, I'm hungry',
why — you just got to
have food."
Company Commissaries
are crowded with miners
and their families on pay
day. This shot was made
less than an hour after
the pay off. Miners get
paid for each day's work
in scrip rather than
money. Then on the first
Saturday after the tenth
of the month and on the
last Saturday of the
month the mine office will
redeem the scrip for
cash. Nevertheless many
of the miners do much of
their trading at the
company store.
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Visions of America, A History of the United States
Reforms to Ensure Social Justice
• The Challenge from “New Deal Dissidents”
– Father Charles Coughlin
– Francis Townsend
– Huey Long, Share Our Wealth
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Competing Visions
SHARING THE WEALTH
Senator Huey Long
outlined proposal to
redistribute wealth.
In letter to Eleanor
Roosevelt, an Indiana
woman protested that
government-distributed
relief robs honest men
to help “good-fornothing” loafers.
What competing images of the poor do Long and
this Indiana woman offer?
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• The Resurgence of Labor
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Visions of America, A History of the United States
The Resurgence of Labor
American Federation of Labor (AFL) – A
craft-based organization that accepted only
skilled workers, like carpenters or cigar
makers, who practiced a trade
Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO)
– A new type of labor organization that
organized workers within an entire industry
rather than by their trade orientation
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Envisioning Evidence
INTERPRETING PUBLIC OPINION POLLS
• George Gallop’s public opinion polls focused on
statistical sampling rather than volume of responses.
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Public Opinion and the New Deal
• Summarize the results of the survey.
• How is the survey interpreted by Gallup?
• What insight does it give into public
opinion during the Great Depression?
• What critique or analysis can you give of
the poll?
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Visions of America, A History of the United States