The New Deal 1933 — 1937 CHANGE

The New Deal 1933 - 1937

CHANGE IN LEADERSHIP ? 1932 - Franklin Delano Roosevelt won the presidential election in a landslide.

Roosevelt’s New Deal First 100 Days of Legislation A New Deal for the American People

FDR n n Before inauguration in March 1933 FDR met with his advisors n Brain Trust

New Deal n 3 Goals n n n Relief for the needy Economic Recovery Financial Reform

Fireside Chats n March 12, 1933 - FDR’s first fireside chat n Informal Radio Address n n n Personal Connection Focus on Banking “If the country is to flourish capital must be invested in enterprise. But those who seek to draw upon other people’s money must be wholly candid regarding the facts on which the investor’s judgment is asked. ”

New Deal Legislation n Glass Stegall Bank Act- Congress passed legislation to help strengthen banks n This law established the FDIC n n n Provided federal insurance for individual bank accounts of less than $5, 000 Federal Securities Act- required companies to provide information on all stock offerings 1934: Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) - set up by Congress to regulate the stock market n Helped prevent insider trading

New Deal Legislation n Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA)- raised crop prices by lowering production “I live on Brown place he Says I haft to move For he going to tear this Old house there no place I can find to move to. . . Shear crop for him he got half of Every thing he rais the people that get Just haft to trade at Sertin Stores. . . ” Government paid farmers per unused acre

New Deal Legislation n Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA)- raised crop prices by lowering production “I live on Brown place he Says I haft to move For he going to tear this Old house there no place I can find to move to. . . Shear crop for him he got half of Every thing he rais the people that get Just haft to trade at Sertin Stores. . . ” Government paid farmers per unused acre

New Deal Legislation n Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Put young men between 18 & 25 to work Built roads, developed parks, planted trees, strung telephone lines n n Men lived in military style camps Wages of $30 per month- $25 sent directly home to family n Over 200 million trees planted in Great Plains to prevent another Dust Bowl

New Deal Legislation n Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) : direct relief to the needy n $500 million n n Half given directly as grants for unemployed Other half given on the basis of every federal dollar paid the state had to match $3

New Deal Legislation n Public Works Administration (PWA)provided money to states to create jobs n Construction projects; building schools & community centers’ n n Failed to make a dent in unemployment Civilian Works Administration (CWA)created in Nov. 1933 n Built 40, 000 schools and paid 50, 000 rural school teachers

Middle-Aged former insurance man in Alabama n “When I got that (CWA Identification) card it was the biggest day in my whole life. At last I could say, ‘I’ve got a job. ’ ”

New Deal Legislation n National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA)- June 1933 Established codes for fair competition practices within the business world National Recovery Administration (NRA) n n Set prices to ensure fair competition Set standards on work hours & banned child labor Competing businesses met to to draft the codes of fair competition Congress granted workers the right to form unions and bargain

Challenges to the NRA n n Huey Long felt that it was a plan, “to regiment business and labor much more than anyone did in Germany and Italy. ” Ruled Unconstitutional by: n n Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States FDR on NRA’s unconstitutionality “You know the whole thing is a mess. It has been an awful headache. . . I think perhaps NRA has done all it can do. ”

New Deal Legislation n Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) n n Focused on the Tennessee River Valley Malaria/Low Income n n Renovated 5 existing dams and built 20 new ones Jobs, flood control, and hydroelectric power to the area (rural electrification)

New Deal - Housing Legislation n n Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC)government loans to homeowners facing foreclosure n Extend short term loans (15 year) to longer, smaller payment loans (30 yr. ) FDR on the HOLC: Protecting home-owners from “inequitable enforced liquidation at a time of general distress is a proper concern of the Government. ”

The Second Hundred Days: Second New Deal

Critics n n n Liberals: Didn’t do enough to help poor Conservatives: Too much direct relief American Liberty League (Conservative) n n Led by Business Leaders Opposed New Deal measures it believed violated individual rights

Critics n Huey Long - LA senator n Developed social program “Share Our Wealth” n Mass Mailings n 7. 5 million supporters n 1935 – assassinated n Long to the Senate: n "[A] mob is coming to hang the other ninety-five of you damn scoundrels and I'm undecided whether to stick here with you or go out and lead them. ” n https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=hphg. Hi 6 FD 8 k

Critics n Dr. Francis Townshend n Unemployed Doc n Gov’t. pensions for retirees over 60 $200 monthly n Encourage retirements & spur unemployed n Precursor of Social Security

Critics n Father Charles Coughlin n Initial FDR supporter n Radio Priest Weekly sermons w/ 40 million listeners n Monetary reform & nationalization of banks n Anti-Semitic fascist supporter

Coughlin Quotes: n n Fr. Charles Coughlin on FDR: n Roosevelt is the “dumbest man ever to occupy the White House” and was an “anti-God” while implying that bullets would be permissible to dispose of an “upstart dictator in the United States. . . when the ballot is useless. ” From a Coughlin speech following Kristallnacht: n "Jewish persecution only followed after Christians first were persecuted. "

The Second Hundred Days: Second New Deal n Attempt to help sharecroppers & migrant workers n n 1935: Resettlement Administration – loan $ to small farmers to buy land 1937: Replaced by the Farm Security Administration (FSA) n Agency made pictorial record of the time

Dorothea Lange for the FSA

The Second New Deal Programs n WPA- Works Progress Administration n $5 billion budget n More than 8 million people n Built airports, roads, libraries, schools, hospitals n Also employed: teachers, actors, writers and artists n FDR on Federal Art Project: n “Some of it was good, some of it was not so good, but all of it native, human, eager, and alive: All of it painted in their own country, and painted about things that they know and look at often and have touched and loved. ”

The Second New Deal Programs n NYA- National Youth Administration n Specifically designed for young people n n Wagner Act- National Labor Relations Act n n n 2 million high school & college students Established national labor relations board Companies could not threaten workers or fire union members Fair Labor Standards Act-1938 n Set maximum hours & minimum wages n n 44 hour work week/ 25 cents an hour (1938) 40 hours/ 40 cents an hour (1940/45)

The Second New Deal Programs n Social Security Act n Set up a pension for retired workers 65 or older n Aided people with disability n Unemployment compensation n FDR on Social Security Funding: n “Those taxes were never a matter of economics. They are politics all the way through. We put those payroll contributions there so as to give the contributors a legal, moral, and political right to collect their pensions and unemployment benefits. With those taxes in there, no damn politician can ever scrap my social security program. ”

Effects of the New Deal n n Gave opportunities to women & minorities but still faced prejudice 1936 Gallop poll n 82% of Americans believed that women should not work if their husbands had a job

Women & New Deal n FDR named women to several key positions n n n Cabinet, ambassador, judges Francis Perkins became the 1 st female cabinet member Mary Mc. Leod Bethune to head the Office of Minority Affairs n Organized a “black cabinet”

FDR & African Americans n n Tried to increase racial equality but never fully committed to civil rights Refused to get rid of the poll tax & support a federal anti-lynching law n n Feared losing support in the south Actually gained African American support

New Deal Coalition n Diverse groups dedicated to supporting the Democratic Party n n n Labor unions felt FDR was a “friend of labor” 1930’s union membership soared Allowed democrats to control politics for two decades

Election of 1936 & The Downfall of the New Deal

Downfall of the New Deal n n n n Mandate Hubris? “Court Packing” Unhappy with revocation of NRA & AAA Provided for the replacement of any federal jurist over the age of 70 n 6 on Supreme Ct. Alone Reasoning n Elderly justices not up to task, needed new blood n Behind in its workload n 108 of 803 cases n 03 -04 73 of 8, 883 Bill Defeated Court ends up becoming ardent New Deal defenders

Downfall of the New Deal n “Roosevelt Recession: ” n 1937 Recovery n FDR decides to balance budget, cuts appropriations for ND Programs n Resulting Downturn n From 1938 on, Foreign Affairs Dominate National Attention