The New Deal
Chapter 15
• Republicans – Hoover
• balanced budget, protective tariff, gold standard,
immigration restrictions, not repeal of Prohibition…
• Democrats – Franklin D. Roosevelt
• repeal of 18th Am., balanced budget, competitive tariff,
unemployment and old age insurance…
Election of 1932:
The Election of 1932
• FDR won and promised the people a “New Deal”
• Hoover was now a lame duck.
• This led to the passage of the 20th Amendment which
moved up the presidential inauguration to Jan.
• 21st amendment repealed prohibition
• CQ: What was the New Deal? How did F.D.R. react to
the challenges facing the country?
Day 4 Ch. 15 The New Deal
• Appealed to the common man, especially
southerners, powerful speaker.
• Surrounded himself with the “Braintrust”- expert
advisors
• He used radio “fireside chats” to talk to the
American people.
• He said, “The only thing we have to fear is fear
itself”
Franklin D. Roosevelt (32nd President)
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Economy was in total collapse
Banks Closed
People are reluctant to invest or deposit money
Wages are low
Decline in value of agricultural commodities
Unemployment reigns
What Challenges
Faced FDR?
• FDR called an emergency session of
Congress for 100 Days…
• Implemented the NEW DEAL:
• Extended government’s role in
regulating the economy
• Restored consumer confidence
How did FDR respond?
• Relief- from hunger, foreclosure,
and suffering
• Recovery- employment, increase
consumer spending
• Reform- banking practices, stock
exchange, labor and business
practices
Goals Of New Deal- “3
R’s”
FDR Created Alphabet
Agencies
• Emergency Banking Act- kept banks closed until
safe to open
• Federal Depositor’s Insurance Corporation (FDIC)insured all deposits up to $5,000
Banking & Investment
• Encouraged crop diversification
• Paid farmers to leave land fallow
• Destroyed livestock and crop surpluses
(infuriated many)
• It hurt more than it helped and was later
declared unconstitutional.
Agricultural Adjustment
Administration (AAA)
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Employed over 2 million single men
Earned $ and sent home
Lived in camps(free room and board)
Built roads, bridges, parks, etc.
Civilian Conservation Corps
(CCC)
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Built bridges and dams(9)
Provided flood control
Produced fertilizer
Gave hydroelectric power to a very poor region
Tennessee Valley Authority
(TVA)
• Less than 10% of rural
households had electricity
• REA installed power lines to
more than 225,000 homes
Rural Electrification
Administration (REA)
• Largest New Deal agency- $10 billion
• Employed 8 million workers
• Constructed roads, buildings, bridges
• Employed actors, musicians, artists, writers
Works Progress Administration
(WPA)
• Retirement pension for elderly
• Helped disabled and accident victims
• Unemployment assistance
• Deducted from paycheck
• What are the current concerns about SS?
Social Security
Administration (SSA)
• Federal Housing Administration (FHA)
• United States Housing Authority (USHA)
Housing Assistance
• Wagner Act- strengthened union’s rights
• Fair Labor Standards Act- banned child labor,
set minimum wage, overtime pay
Labor
• CQ: What was the effects of the New DEAL? List some
cultural things that came out of the 30’s.
Day 5
• John Maynard Keynes-British economist
• Gov’t gives direct intervention and deficit
spending during times of economic hardship in
order to stimulate economic recovery/growth
• Government spending exceeded tax base
• Deficit reached $5 billion under FDR
Keynesian
Economics
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Indian Reorganization Act
Gov’t stopped selling tribal lands
Tribes could elect tribal councils
Did not address discrimination
against African Americans
Minorities and the New
Deal
Vocal opponents of the FDR & New Deal
• Al Smith
• Father Charles Coughlin
• Dr. Townsend
• Huey Long- Gov. of Louisiana, advocated income
redistribution, “Share Our Wealth” societies
American Liberty
League
• New Deal programs were challenged in the
Supreme Court and some agencies were found
unconstitutional.
Supreme Court v. New
Deal
• FDR wanted to appoint 6 new Supreme Court
Justices.
• Congress was furious and stopped him, felt he
was overstepping his power
• Finally, a S.C. Justice resigned and FDR
appointed Hugo Black (D-AL)
• This shifted balance in FDR’s favor
• Over the next few years, 7 other Justices
resigned
FDR’s Response
FDR & the Supreme Court
• Union membership grew, strikes resulted
• American Federation of Labor (AFL) and
Congress of Industrial Organizations- (CIO)
organized.
Labor v. Capital
• General Strike of textile workers (’34)400,000 workers strike
• Flint Sit-Down Strike- workers protest GM,
workers sit-down at work and refuse to
leave, draws a crowd of over 5,000 and in
turn violence erupts with police
• Memorial Day Massacre(‘37)- Steel workers
in Chicago strike, 10 killed and 90 injured by
police
Major Strikes
Flint Sit-Down Strike
• Helped banking
practices
• Helped regulate
security exchange
• Stimulated Industry
• Employed Millions
• Empowered Unions
• Set minimum wage
• Prohibited child labor
• Encouraged crop
diversification
• Unemployment
remained high- >15%
• Many people still
suffered….
• DID NOT END THE
DEPRESSION!
• Some programs were
deemed
unconstitutional
Praise & Criticism of the New Deal
• Influenced by Depression, provided entertainment
and escapism
• Culture captured the emotions of era
Popular Culture of the
1930’s
• Over 60% of Americans attended theaters weekly
($.25)
• Marx Brothers (video)
• “Gone With the Wind”
• Gangster films- “Little Caesar”
Movies
Same writers of the 1920’s
• John Steinbeck- Grapes of Wrath
• Margaret Mitchell- Gone With the Wind
• Richard Wright- Native Son
• Nora Zeale Hurston- Their Eyes Were Watching
God
• Dale Carnegie- How To Win Friends and Influence
People
Literature
• Over 80% of Americans owned radios
• Listened to FDR’s “Fireside Chats”, news, and
programs
• The Lone Ranger
• The Green Lantern
• Orson Welles- “War of the Worlds”
Radio
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Superman
Batman
Dick Tracy
Little Orphan Annie
Dr. Seuss
Comics
• People wanted music that made them feel GOOD
• Duke Ellington- “It Don’t Mean a Thing if it Ain’t Got
That Swing”
• Louis Armstrong
• Glenn Miller Orchestra
• Shirley Temple (“Good Ship Lollipop” clip)
• But music reflected their hard times… (ex. Blues)
• Folk/protest music became popular – Woody Guthrie
Music
Grant WoodEdward HopperAmerican Gothic Nighthawks
Grandma
Moses
Horace Pippin
Alexander Hogue-Avalanche By
Wind
Photography “Migrant Mother” Dorothea Lange