■Essential Questions:
–How successful was Franklin
Roosevelt’s New Deal?
–Which demographic group
benefited the most from New Deal
programs? Why?
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,
West, urban,
labor,
■ New
reached
its high
point when
ethnic
groups,
blacks,
&
the
poor
FDR was re-elected in 1936
■ FDR’s experienced more setbacks in
his 2nd term than his 1st term but he
still remained a popular leader
Packing the SupremeU.S.
Court
v. Butler
Schechter v. U.S.
(1935)Court was (1936)
■The Supreme
FDR’s
last obstacle to overcome:
–The Court ruled the NRA & AAA
All 9 were
justicesunconstitutional
were old, white men; Only 3
were sympathetic to the New Deal; 2 were
–FDR’s solution
was
to New
ask Deal
unpredictable;
4 wanted to
block
Congress to appoint 1 new
Justice
Willis
Van
Devanter
planned
to
retire
justice
for
each
justice
over
70
in 1932, but stayed on because he felt FDR
old & unsafe for the presidency”
was yrs
“unfitted
–This controversial “court packing”
plan would add 6 new justices
Packing the Supreme Court
■The court-packing scheme was
legal but set a scary precedent:
–The Senate strongly resisted
FDR
& the Court
defended
FDR
eventually
appointed
5 justicesitself
to
the Supreme
Court inattacks
his 4 terms
against
“ageism”
–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
UsedImpact
strikes &onsit-ins
The
Organized Labor
to unionize Ford,
■Unions
were
weak
in
the
1920s:
Chrysler, & GM Unionized the textile,
–Onlyunionized
3 million people
union
rubber,were
electrical,
Peacefully
metal
industries
members;
Most joined the AFL
U.S.
Steel
which
barred
unskilled
By 1940,
the CIO
had morelaborers
union
than the
AFL (~10m
total)
■Inmembers
1938, John
Lewis
formed
the
Congress of Industrial
Organizations (CIO) & used the
Wagner Act to bring collective
bargaining to more workers
CIO President John Lewis
AFL-CIO merged
in 1955
With AFL president Gompers way back in 1922
Republic Steel Strike in 1937
10 strikers died
The Impact on Organized Labor
■For the 1st time, unskilled & skilled
laborers were unionized:
–Women & African-Americans
benefited because they made
up a large % of unskilled labors
–While the New Deal’s Wagner
Act helped make unions
stronger, major steps to unionize
were initiated by the unions
themselves, not the federal gov’t
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 blacks:
The NRA stands for
–Racism
& segregation
remained
“Negroes
Robbed
Again”
Social
Security
“looks
like a sieve
with
the
holes during
just large
enough
for the
strong
the
Depression
majority of Negroes to fall through”
–The NRA allowed lower
wage
—NAACP
scales for black workers; The
Blacks
the lastfor
hired
AAAwere
allowed
the eviction of
& first fired & tenant farmers
sharecroppers
Blacks AAA
experienced
–Minimum
wage
& 50%
SS did not
is a “continuation
of
unemployment
rate
the
same
raw deal”
apply to farmersold
& domestic
servants (65% were black)
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
Eleanor Roosevelt with
singer Marian Anderson
The Impact on Mexican-Americans
■Mexican-Americans fared even
worse than blacks:
–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
Hundred
Second
Hundred Life
Days
The
New Days
Deal and
American
■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