Post on 26-May-2020
transcript
CHAPTER 34
THE NEW DEAL
Election of 1932
• GOP re-nominates Hoover… why?• Dems nominate Franklin Roosevelt
– Gov. of New York• Heavy state spending
– Repeal prohibition– Very vague about plans– Young advisors known as the “Brain Trust”
• FDR won big - remained quiet aboutplans
Election of 1932
First 100 Days - Banks
• Needed to stop banks from closing– Declared a “Bank Holiday”– Emergency Banking Act
• (8 hours to pass)• Gave the govt. the power to regulate banking
transactions and reopen “good banks”– Glass-Steagall Banking
Reform Act• Created the FDIC
Unemployment during the Depression
First 100 Days - Jobs
• Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)– Employed about 3 million young men– Flood control, reforestation, conservation– Were required to send $ home to family
Civilian Conservation Corps
Direct Relief… Finally
• Federal Emergency Relief Act (FERA)– Led by Harry Hopkins
• member of the brain trust– Provided about $3 million for direct relief
and public works projects
Harry Hopkins
Other First 100 Days Legislation
• Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA)– $ to help farmers pay mortgages
• Homeowner’s Loan Corp. (HOLC)• Civil Works Administration
– Jobs, make work tasks– Helped get through winter of ‘33
• All this was more than any Prez everdreamed of doing - needed more
Critics of the New Deal
• Fr. Charles Coughlin– Priest with a radio show and
lots of listeners• Dr. Frances Townsend
– Wanted $200 a month for those over 60
– On the condition they spend it
“The Kingfish”
• The most powerfulcritic of the NewDeal was LouisianaSenator Huey Long– “Share our Wealth”
program– Guaranteed $5,000
income for everyAmerican family
• Got the money byheavily taxing the rich
FDR’s Response to the Critics
• Works Progress Administration– $ for public building projects– provided 9 million with jobs– jobs for college students, artists,
actors, & musicians• National Recovery Administration (NRA)
– Individual industries were to work out fair competition codes
– Labor unions were formally given the right to organize and bargain collectively
– Later found unconstitutional (Sick Chicken Case)
Public Works Administration
• Originally part of the NRA• Provided about $4 billion for public
works programs– Grand Coulee Dam on the Columbia River
• Paid for by taxes on alcohol– 1933 - 21st Amendment - repealed
prohibition
Farmers During the Depression
• Agricultural Adjustment Adm. (AAA)– Set “parity” prices for certain goods– Paid farmers to actually grow less
• $ came from a tax on processors of farmproducts
– Was passed after lots of crops already hadbeen planted
• Land was plowed up and livestock slaughtered• Very controversial
– Found unconstitutional
Farmers During the Depression
• Soil Conservation & Domestic Allotment Act– Paid farmers to grow soil-conserving crops or
to let land sit for a time period• Second Agricultural Adjustment Act
– Gave farmers parity prices if they did not growover a certain amount of certain crops
• Dust Bowl– Over tilling of land, drought, high winds– Govt. helped by moving farmers and planting
trees to stop the wind
Indian Re-Organization Act
• U.S. govt. policy still shaped by theDawes Act
• This new law encouraged tribes toestablish local self-govt.
• Also encouraged tribes to preserve theirnative crafts & traditions– Some tribes refused to organize under it
Reform - Banking & Business
• Truth in Securities Act– Sound information must be provided about stocks
• Securities & Exchange Commission– Est. to monitor the stock exchange
• Housing construction– Federal Housing Administration
• Small loans to homeowners to improve homesof build new ones
– U.S. Housing Authority• Lent $ to states & communities for low cast
construction (lots of opposition)
Tennessee Valley Authority (1933)
• Govt. built a series of dams along the TennesseeRiver– Partly to see how much it really cost to
produce power (not as much as was thought)• Some viewed govt. ownership of a public utility
like this very socialistic• Very popular for many• Led to cheap power, jobs, improvements in
farming, transformed the area
Tennessee Valley Authority (1933)
Social Security Act (1935)
• Three major parts:– 1) federal/state unemployment insurance– 2) pensions for the elderly
• Paid for by a tax on employees and employers– 3) money for the blind, disabled, children
and other dependents• Met heavy GOP opposition• Needed because of boom & bust cycle
of capitalism
Business Cycle
New Deal & Labor Unions
• NRA did a lot for labor, but declaredunconstitutional
• Wagner Act / National Labor RelationsAct (1935)– Created the National Labor Relations
Board– Reasserted the right of unions to organize
and bargain collectively
New Deal & Labor Unions
• Organization of unskilled labor shot up– Led by John L. Lewis
• Committee for Industrial Organization (CIO)• Split with the AFL, later became Congress of…
– Strikes had not been effective• new tactic - sit down strike• Successful at a GM
plant in Detroit
John L. Lewis
Sit-Down Strike
Fair Labor Standards Act
• Est. a minimum wage and maximum #of hours for industries involved ininterstate commerce– 40¢ / hour…..40 hrs. / week
• Forbade child labor under the age of 16• Overall, labor made huge strides with
the support of FDR
Election of 1936
• Dems were doing well with FDR• GOP nominates Alfred Landon
– moderate Gov. of Kansas who supportedsome New Deal programs
– Said FDR was too radical, experimental, and wasteful
• FDR won big
Election of 1936
FDR & the Supreme Court
• FDR saw his victory as a mandate forhis ideas and programs– He decided to go after the Supreme Court -
had won against him 7 of 9 times– Was very old and conservative
• 6 of 9 justices over 70 years old– FDR thought the public would support him
in an attempt to change the court
FDR & “Court-Packing”
• FDR proposed adding one justice for all thoseover the age of 70 (6 total)
• Congress and the public were both againstthis– the Court was something you don’t mess
with– The Court did start to vote more liberally after this
• Was a major defeat for FDR– He did eventually appoint 8 justices
FDR & “Court-Packing”
“Great! Now,once more all
together!”
Qualifying Test forthe Supreme Court
New Deal… Success???
• As of 1936 unemployment was still aproblem– 1937 - things started to look up
• Government Debt– How is all this being paid for?– John Maynard Keynes
• A British economist who believed deficitspending by the govt. was the only way to get acountry out of a severe depression
• Changed the role of the govt. in the economy
Other New Deal Programs
• Re-Organization Act– Gave the Prez unlimited powers for
administrative reforms– Allowed a sweeping reorganization of the
executive to streamline efficiency• Hatch Act
– A response to $ used in the New Deal and itspotential political effects (campaign $)
– Federal officials can not solicit $ for campaigncontributions (except for certain high rankingofficials)
Effects of the Depression & the New Deal
• New Deal lost momentum as the focus of thepopulation changed to Europe - pending war
• Effects:– Some said no effect at all - WWII ended it– Federal bureaucracy grew– National debt went way up– Some saw the negative effects of direct relief– Change in the theory behind govt’s role
• Actively help unfortunate citizens– Capitalism was saved, worst aspects fixed?