Transcript Chapter 12 Section 3 The New Deal Coalition

Chapter 12
Section 3
The New Deal Coalition
Election of 1936
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Democrat
Alf Landon
Republican
Supporters of the Democratic Party
• The New Deal caused shifts
in party loyalties.
• People in the South had
been the core of the
Democratic Party.
• Support for the New Deal
came from a coalition that
included farmers, industrial
workers, immigrants,
African Americans, women,
and ethnic minorities.,
progressives, and
intellectuals.
1936 Election Results
• FDR (blue) won
the 1936
election in a
landslide against
Alf Landon (red).
U.S. Supreme Court and the New Deal
• Just like the NRA and
the NRIA, the Supreme
Court struck down the
Agricultural Adjustment
Act as unconstitutional
in 1936.
• Other New Deal
programs seemed
threatened.
Battling the U.S. Supreme Court
• After winning re-election,
FDR tried to change the
political balance on the U.S.
Supreme Court through a
court-packing plan.
• Under FDR’s plan, the
president would be allowed
to appoint an additional
member to the Supreme
Court for every justice over
the age of 70.
• At that time, FDR would be
allowed to appoint six new
justices.
FDR’s Plan Backfires
• This court-packing plan
was a political mistake.
• Roosevelt appeared to
be threatening the
Court’s independence.
• Many people opposed
the idea, and the courtpacking bill never
passed.
Balance the Budget????
• In 1937 the economy
seemed on the verge of
recovery.
• Roosevelt decided to
balance the budget.
• Then unemployment
surged again.
Debate within FDR’s Cabinet
• This recession led to a debate
in his cabinet.
• Treasury Secretary Henry
Morgenthau favored cutting
spending.
• Economist John Maynard
Keyes wanted the government
to spend heavily in a
recession, even if it required
deficit spending.
• Roosevelt was hesitant to start
deficit spending but decided
to ask for more funds in 1938.
Second New Deal Legislation
• In Roosevelt’s second term, Congress passed:
– Laws to build low-cost housing.
– The Farm Security Administration gave loans to
tenant farmers so they could purchase farms.
– The Fair Labor Standards Act which provided for
the abolition of child labor, and also set the first
federal minimum wage.
Was the New Deal effective?
• The New Deal did give Americans a stronger
sense of security.
• However, the New Deal had only limited
success in ending the Depression.
– Unemployment remained high until after World
War II.
1938 Mid-Term Elections
• The Roosevelt recession
enabled more
Republicans to win seats
in the 1938 mid-term
elections.
• As Republicans and some
conservative Southern
Democrats began
blocking New Deal
legislation, FDR shifted his
attention to the growing
threats posed by
Germany and Japan.
What did the New Deal actually do?
• By 1939, the New Deal had ended.
• As a whole, the New Deal tended to operated
so that it balanced competing economic
interests.
– As a result, business leaders, farmers, workers,
and consumers expected the government to
protect their interests.
NLRB v. Jones and Laughlin Steel
• Two Supreme Court rulings
encouraged the government
to take on this role.
• One was the 1937 case of
NLRB v. Jones and Laughlin
Steel.
• In the case, the Supreme Court
ruled that the federal
government had the
constitutional authority, under
the interstate commerce
clause, to regulate production
within a state.
Wickard v. Filburn
•
•
•
•
•
•
Another Supreme court case,
Wickard v. Filburn in 1942.
A farmer (Filburn), was growing an
excessive amount of wheat to use on
his farm.
During the Great Depression, the
government ordered excessive crops
to be destroyed so that farm prices
would rise.
The government ordered the
excessive wheat destroyed and for
Filburn to pay a fine
This time the Supreme Court allowed
the government to regulate
consumption.
These decisions increased federal
power over the economy and gave
the government a mediator role.
Broker State
• The New Deal set up
this role of broker state.
– This means the
government brokers, or
works out, conflicts
between different
interest groups.
New Deal Legacy
• The biggest change
brought about by the
New Deal is Americans’
view of government.
• New Deal programs
created a safety net for
average Americans.
• Safeguards and relief
programs protected
them against economic
disaster.
Debate on the New Deal
• People wanted the government to keep this
safety net in place.
• However, some critics thought the New Deal
gave the government too much power.
• People still debate today whether the
government should intervene in the economy.
Entitlement Programs
• Another issue still
debated today is how
much the government
should support
disadvantaged people.