The New Deal’s Affect on Many
Groups
Chapter 23.2 – 23.5
NEW DEAL
• The strongest opposition to FDR’s “New Deal”
came from business leaders. Why?
• Strongest support came from middle class
workers, farmers, and immigrants.
Improvements
• The economy improved by 1935, but it had
not improved to FDR’s expectations.
• The New Deal is extremely popular (as are
Roosevelt & his wife, Eleanor)
• He then sought to expand on the programs
passed during the “hundred days” and
continue the government's work programs.
The Election of 1936…
• Roosevelt vs Alfred Landon (R)
• Once again Roosevelt wins and the Democrats
secure a majority in the House (Senate, House
of Representatives)
• *First election where more African Americans
vote Democrat than Republican
Women
• Women were appointed to several government
positions during FDR’s 1936 administration
• Women began to gain a larger share of the
workforce (more jobs) but still face discrimination
and were usually paid less and held less powerful
positions.
• A Gallup poll in 1936 showed that 82% of
Americans believed that a wife should not work
outside the home if her husband had a job.
African-Americans
• FDR appointed more than 100 African-Americans
to key governmental positions
• FDR never fully committed to civil rights because
he feared losing the support of southern whites
(the largest portion of the Democrat vote)
• Some New Deal programs openly discriminated
against African-Americans… offering them lower
pay for the same work & excluding them from
positions of power
Mexican-Americans
• A large amount of Mexican-Americans had
come to the country during the 1920s and
settled in the Southwest working as laborers
on farms
• Mostly supported FDR and his New Deal
because they benefitted from programs that
gave relief to farmers and new collective
bargaining laws
Native-Americans
• Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 helped
some by…
• 1. Strengthening tribal land claims
• 2. Moving away from “assimilation schools”
where N.A. children went sent to “learn to be
white” *Merrian-Report
• 3. Tribes could elect their own councils &
govern their own reservations
Culture of the 1930s
• Movies, radio, art, and literature all flourished
during the 1930s
• 65% of Americans went to at least one movie
per week
• 90% of Americans owned a radio
• Movie topics: comedies, musicals, love stories,
gangster films
Lasting affects of the New Deal
• How much of a role should the government play in the
lives of Americans? In the economy? *Still a huge
issue today
• FDR and the New Deal shape the underlying
philosophy behind the modern Democratic Party
(Progressivism, Government action / programs)
• Social Security – the government’s responsibility for
the social welfare of its citizens through programs and
relief for people with inadequate income (elderly, the
poor, mentally ill, disabled, etc)
Book Questions
• Pg. 728 (Terms 1-5, Main Ideas #1, 2,)
• Pg. 729 (#1-3 “Timeline”)
• STUDY GUIDE
• NEXT UNIT: World War II