Transcript The New Deal

The New Deal
President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s
plan to fix the US economy
The New Deal was….
 A plan to offer relief, recovery and
reform
 All aspects of the plan were aimed at
combating problems caused by the
Depression
First Hundred Days…
 From his inauguration in March of
1933 to June = 100 days
 FDR pushed programs through
Congress to provide relief, create
jobs, and stimulate the economy
Emergency Banking Act
 March 5, 1933 – closed all banks for 4 days
 March 9, 1933 – Emergency Banking Act
 Authorized the government to inspect the
financial health of all banks
 Inspectors found most banks were in good
shape – 2/3 reopened by March 15
 This helped American gain confidence in the
banking system and start saving again
 More $ in savings meant the banks could
make more loans
Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation (FDIC)
 This insured bank deposits up to
$5000
 1933
Federal Emergency Relief
Administration (FERA)
 1933
 This agency gave $ to local relief
agencies
 Harry Hopkins – Director
 FERA also put money into public
works programs which were
government funded projects to build
public facilities
Civil Works Administration (CWA)
 November 1933
 This agency gave jobs building or
improving roads, parks, airports, and
other facilities to the unemployed
 4 million employees
Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
 March 1933
 Over 2.5 million young, unmarried
men got jobs restoring and
maintaining forests, beaches, and
parks
 Earned $1 /day but lived free of
charge, rec’d food and medical care
as well as job training
Indian Reorganization Act of 1934
 Directed by John Collier
 Ended the sale of tribal lands
 Helped to begin restoring some lands
that had been sold under the Dawes
Act (1887) to Indian groups
National Industrial Recovery Act
(NIRA)
 June 1933
 Set up to increase industrial prices
 Set up the National Recovery
Administration (NRA)
National Recovery Administration
(NRA)
 June 1933
 Set up to balance the unstable
economy through sensible planning
 Regulated wages, working conditions,
production and prices
 Also set minimum wage and gave
organized labor collective bargaining
rights (unions)
 The new codes worked for a while but
higher wages meant higher prices
 Consumers stopped buying
 The cycle of rising production and
falling consumption returned
 Business began failing
Public Works Administration (PWA)




November 1933
Directed by Harold Ickes
Set up large scale building projects
Grand Coulee Dam on the Columbia
River----the causeway connecting Key
West to the Florida mainland---NYC’s
Triborough Bridge
Federal Securities Act
 May 1933
 Required companies to provide
financial information if they sold stock
publicly in their business
Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC)
 May 1933
 Set up to regulate the stock market
 Had the power to tell companies what
info. had to be included in their
financial statements
 Also gave the Federal Reserve Board
the power to regulate the purchase of
stocks on margin
Home Owners Loan Corporation
(HOLC)
 June 1933
 Refinanced or reshaped the terms of
mortgages to make the payments
more affordable
 In 3 years – the HOLC had made
more than 1 million low interest loans
Agricultural Adjustment
Administration (AAA)
 May 1933
 Attempted to raise farm prices
through subsidies (gov’t loans)
 Used $ from a new tax to pay farmers
to NOT raise certain crops or animals
 It was hoped that lower production
would raise prices
Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)
 May 1933
 Helped farmers with flood control
 Provided jobs by reactivating the
hydroelectric power facility
 Gave cheap electric power and many
recreational opportunities to the
entire region ( TN, Miss., KY, AL, GA)
Advances for Women…
 1st female Cabinet member –
Secretary of Labor – Frances Perkins
 Highest ranking African American
female – Mary McLeod Bethune –
director of the Division of Negro
Affairs of the National Youth
Administration
Problems with the New Deal…
 Many were not seeing great changes
happening fast enough
 Former Pres. Hoover complained that the
country was losing its freedom to a staterun gov’t
 The US Supreme Court declared NIRA
unconstitutional because it gave the Pres.
lawmaking powers and regulated local
rather than interstate commerce
 It also ruled that the tax that funded the
AAA gov’t subsidies to farmers was
unconstitutional
2nd New Deal
 Mid-term elections (1934) showed that
most Americans were in support of FDR’s
programs
 1935 – FDR launched a second set of
reform to hush critics who said that he was
not doing enough for the ordinary citizen
 More social welfare benefits, more control
over business, stronger support for unions,
and higher taxes on the rich
Works Progress Administration
(WPA)
 1935-1943
 Work was set up for over 8 million US
citizens
 Constructed or improved over 20,000
playgrounds, schools, hospitals and
airports
 Supported the creative work of many
artists and writers
Farm Security Administration (FSA)
 1937
 Loaned over $1 billion to farmers and
set up camps for migrant farm
workers
 Helped small farm owners
 Helped to resettle tenants and
sharecroppers on productive land
National Labor Relations Act
aka…The Wagner Act
 1935
 Strengthened collective bargaining and
closed shops (work places open only to
union members)
 Outlawed spying on union activities and
blacklisting (agreement that employers
won’t hire union leaders)
 Set up a National Labor Relations Board
(NLRB) to enforce its provisions
Fair Labor Standards Act
 1938
 Banned child labor
 Established a minimum wage for all
workers covered under the act
Social Security Act
 1935
 Purpose was to provide regular payments
to people who could not support
themselves
 The system offered three types of
insurance…Old Age Pensions and Survivors
Benefits, Unemployment Insurance, & Aid
for Dependant children, the Blind and the
Physically Disabled
Election of 1936
 Kansas Governor Alfred Landon – R
v. Pres. Franklin D Roosevelt – D
 LANDSLIDE victory for FDR
 523-8 (electoral college vote) FDR
lost in only two states – Maine and
Vermont
 Landslide victory showed that most
Americans believed in FDR and his
New Deal
Problems arise….
 The New Deal worked for many but
left many out in the cold
 FLSA only covered ¼ of all workers
 The minimum wage was set at $.25 –
well below what most were earning
 Less helpful to women and minority
groups
Women…
 NRA codes permitted women to be
paid less than men in ¼ of all cases
 Men received preference in job and
relief programs
 No program protected domestic
workers – largest female occupation
African Americans…
 Relief programs in the south enforced racial
segregation
 Were not offered professional or skilled jobs –
lower wages than whites
 Social Security did not cover farmers or
domestics so it failed to cover nearly 2/3 of
working African Americans
 Last hired – first fired in the north –
discrimination was strong
 Lynchings still took place
Critics of the New Deal…
 Republicans opposed FDR and his
New Deal
 Wealthy hated FDR because of his
socialist ideas and the new higher tax
– Revenue Act of 1935 or the Wealth
Tax Act – raised taxes on incomes
over $50,000 and on corporations
and their profits
Social Security Critics…
 Many complained that it penalized
successful, hardworking people
 SS# were seen as a step towards a
militaristic, regimented society
 Many believed that all Americans
would soon have to wear dog tags
with SS# for Gov’t control
American Liberty League
 Led by Alfred E. Smith & Nat’l Assoc.
of Manufacturers & wealthy
businessmen like DuPont family
 The New Deal limited American
freedom in an unconstitutional “unAmerican” manner
 Compulsory unemployment insurance
felt like “Bolshevism” (USSR)
Upton Sinclair
 Muckraker - Ran for Gov. of California
with the idea of EPIC – End Poverty in
California
 Economic system of the state taking
over factory and farms
 Opponents discredited him with fake
newsreels showing Russians accented
people praising him – he lost the
election
Demagogues
 Leaders who manipulate people with halftruths, deceptive promises and scare tactics
 Father Charles Coughlin – the Radio Priest
– 10 million people listened
 Often contradicted himself - nationalism v.
privatization– attacked FDR – supported
anti-Semitism – praised Hitler and Mussolini
 1942 Roman Catholic church ordered him
to stop broadcasting
Huey Long - Demagogue
 Lawyer, Gov of LA, US Senator
 Nicknamed the “Kingfish”
 Large following – he supported
“Share the Wealth” idea – limit
income and inheritance
 Wanted to become President
 Shot and killed by an enemy in 1935
prior to nomination
Court-Packing Scheme
 FDR wanted major court reforms after
they had “messed” with the NIRA and
AAA
 FDR wanted to “lighten the burden”
for the Justices – go from 9 judges to
as many as 15 – one new for each
over the age of 70
 Most knew that he wanted to “pack”
the court with New Deal supporters
Court Packing….
 Critics blasted the President for trying
to inject politics into the court system
 Uphold the idea of separation of
powers
 FDR was forced to withdraw his
reform bill
 Did appoint several new Justices with
retirements – the court became a
little more in line with the New Deal
Recession of 1937
 Production and employment fell
 New SS tax coming out of employees
paychecks was partly to blame – less
money to spend
 Also FDR had cut many expensive
programs (WPA)
 National Debt rising – total amount of
$ that the gov’t has borrowed and
has yet to pay back
Recession cont’d
 Gov’t borrows when its revenue (income)
does not keep up with its expenses
 To fund all of the New Deal prograns –
massive amounts of money was borrowed
 1933 Nat’l Debt $21 billion – $43 billion in
1940
 The WPA was expanded and other cut
programs were brought back
 Slowly unemployment eased and the
economy picked back up – but things would
remain sluggish until the 1940’s
Union Membership
 Rose from 3 million in 1933 to 10.5
million in 1941 – about 11.3% of the
total workforce – by 1945 36% were
unionized
 American Federation of Labor (AFL)
 United Mine Workers
 Combo of 7 unions made into the
Committee for Industrial Organization
(CIO)
Committee for Industrial
Organization (CIO)
 By 1938 – the CIO had 4 million
members
 Changes its name to Congress for
Industrial Organizations
 John L Lewis became the 1st President
 It was a coalition – alliance of groups
with similar goals – to challenge
conditions in industry – by way of
strikes
Back to the Wagner Act…
 Strengthened collective bargaining and
made management bargain in good faith.
However it did not force management to
accept union demands
 This led to a wave of huge strikes
 Many were sit-down strikes – sitting down
and refusing to leave – pickets were set up
outside – both actions prevented the
company from bringing in scabs (substitute
workers)
Strikes…
 Rubber-tire plants in Akron, Ohio –
sit-down strikes in 1936
 General Motors plants – UAW
members – sit-down strikes.
 Main plant in Flint, Michigan –
occupied by UAW workers
GM strikes back…
 Turns off heat in the buildings &
blocked entries to keep food and
supplies from the striking workers
 Called Police to arrest picketers –
violence erupted
 UAW wife grabbed a bullhorn and
urged the other wives to get involved
 Women set up food deliveries, formed
a women's brigade to help picket
GM Strike cont’d
 Michigan Gov. Frank Murphy and
Pres. Roosevelt refused to call in the
Militia and eventually GM gave in to
the unions demands
 Not all strikes were successful – Ford
refused to allow unions in his shops
 Ford had his men beat UAW members
when they tried to give out leaflets to
Ford workers in Detroit
Republic Steel Company
 May 1937 – Chicago Police killed 10
picketers and injured 84 other
unionized workers
 The US Supreme Court got involved
and outlawed sit-down strikes
because they were so effective and
such an obstacle to negotiations
New Deal & Culture
 New books were published about the hard
times faced during the Depression
 Radio was extremely popular – soap operas
were sponsored by soap companies to
entertain the stay at home moms and to
get them to buy their product
 Opera and symphony music became
popular on the radio
 Technicolor movies began - $.25 admission
 Double features and drive-ins began
Movies….
 Movies were used by many agencies
to promote their work – FSA
documentaries were produced
 Comedies and movie musicals
became popular
 The Wizard of Oz came out in 1939
 Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse cartoons
were very popular
 Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs - 1937
WPA and the Arts
 FDR felt that arts should not be given up
simply because of the Depression
 Writers, historians, artists, musicians and
playwrights were supported by funds from
the WPA
 Historians wrote state guidebooks and
collected the life stories of former slaves
 Free music lessons were set up and
community symphonies were organized –
they were also sent to lumber camps and
small towns to preserve folk heritage
More support of the Arts…
 2,000 murals, 100,000 paintings,
17,000 sculptures were funded by the
gov’t
 Theater/plays were performed to
created awareness of social problems
 House Un-American Activities
Committee (HUAC) accused the
theater groups of communist
activities and funding was cut
New Deal Achievements
 Many bridges, tunnels, hospitals, dams,
and public buildings are still in use today
 Some New Deal agencies still exist
like…TVA, FDIC, SEC
 The Social Security system still operates –
women were initially were excluded from
benefits
 The greatest achievement was to instill
hope in Americans after such a horrible
period of time