THE

NEW DEAL

1933-1940

GUIDING QUESTIONSHow successful was the Roosevelt Administration’s “New Deal” in solving the problems of the Great Depression? (Consider: relief, Recovery, Reform; e.g. Agricultural Adjustment Act; Securities and Exchange Commission; Wagner National Labor Relations Act; Social Security Act)

How did it change the role of the federal government? How did it fashion a more stable economy and a more equitable society?

1932 ELECTIONFranklin D. Roosevelt attitude toward government“New Deal”

Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1920 Vice Presidential nominee for Democratic Party

Roosevelt Campaigning for Office in Kansas 1932

1932 ELECTION

Hoover “The Worst is Past" "Prosperity is Just Around the Corner"

1932 ELECTIONResults

Electoral Shift, 1928 and 1932

1932 ELECTIONLame-duck period (Nov. 1932-March 3, 1933)

banking industry collapseTwentieth Amendment (1933) Bank Failures, 1929-1933

Franklin D. Roosevelt and Herbert Hoover on the way to FDR's inauguration, March 4, 1933(Library of Congress)

Bank Failures, 1929-1933

FDR: A “NEW DEAL”“A New Deal for the American People”"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.“

confidence, optimism, public relations“Fireside chats”Eleanor Roosevelt

“Brains Trust” Goals: “Three R’s” - relief, recovery, reform

Roosevelt Delivering a Fireside Chat, 1935

The 3 Rs (*Handout)

1. Relief - Immediate action taken to halt the financial deterioration. Immediate assistance.2. Recovery - "Pump - Priming" Temporary programs to restart the flow of consumer demand (consumer = person who makes purchases)

3. Reform - Permanent programs to avoid

another depression 

Roosevelt Delivering a Fireside Chat, 1935

BBC Documentary: FDR and the New Deal

1. Why was the “first 100 days” campaign important to restore American confidence?

2. What were the main areas of focus that FDR addressed to end the 1930s Depression and how did he communicate his agenda?

3. Who were some of FDRs critics and what did they accuse him of?

4. How did natural disasters impact FDR’s New Deal and his plans for recovery?

5. How did FDR face opposition in Washington DC?

6. How did FDR face opposition in the Industry Sector?

FDR Holding a Press Conference, 1939

Eleanor Roosevelt visiting a West Virginia

Coal Mine, 1933 (c) Bettmann/Corbis

Eleanor Roosevelt visits West Virginia Coal Mine, 1933

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

FIRST HUNDRED DAYS

“Bank holiday” Emergency Banking Relief Act (Mar. 9)

Beer-Wine Revenue Act (Limits Revenue from Tariff) (Mar. 22)

Twenty-First Amendment (Nov. 1933)

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) (Mar. 31)

Public Works Administration (FERA May 12)

Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) (May 18)

Civilian Conservation Corps workers plant seedlings to reforest a section of forest destroyed by fire.

Roosevelt visits a Civilian Conservation

Corps camp 1933

TVA

FIRST HUNDRED DAYS

Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) (May 12) National Recovery Administration (NRA)

The National Industrial Recovery Act (June 16)

Schechter v. U.S. (1935)

Glass-Steagall Act (Banking Act of 1933) (June 16)

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)

Farm Credit Administration (June 16)

Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (June 13)

ADDITIONAL PROGRAMS OF FDR’S “FIRST” NEW DEAL (late 1933-1934)

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

Federal Housing Administration (FHA)

Dollar taken off gold standard

“THE NEW DEAL IN TRANSITION”: A “SECOND” NEW DEAL

“Second New Deal” (1935

onward) Works Progress Administration (WPA) National Labor Relations Act of 1935 (Wagner Act)

National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)

Rural Electrification Administration (1935)

Social Security Act (1935)

WPA Artist Sketching WPA Construction Workers

CRITICS OF THE NEW DEAL

American Liberty LeagueDr. Francis E. TownsendFather Charles E. CoughlinSenator Huey P. Long

“Share Our Wealth” Plan

Father Charles E. Coughlin (1891-1979)

Senator Huey Long1934

Criticisms of Conservative Opponents

Conservative opponents said the New Deal went too far:

It was socialism (killed individualism)It added to the national debt ($35 billion)It wasted money on relief and encouraged idlenessIt violated the constitution & states rightsIt increased the power of the Presidency (FDR was reaching toward dictatorship, Congress arubber stamp, independenceof judiciary threatened, separation of powers shattered)

Anti-New Deal Organization

Conservative opponents to the New Deal had an organization called the American Liberty League. They had money but were small in numbers, so FDR was not worried.

Criticisms of Radical Opponents

Radical opponents said the New Deal did not go far enough. They were demagogues (rabble-rousers) and had popular followings, so FDR was concerned.

Senator Huey Long (LA)Senator Huey Long said New Deal relief measures were mere crumbs and advocated a share the wealth plan (i.e., a guaranteed annual income of at least $5,000 for every American, financed by confiscating wealth of people who made over $5 million per year).

Father Charles E. Coughlin

Father Charles Coughlin was a rabble-rousing radio priest from Detroit. His broadcasts were called the “Golden Hour of the Little Flower.” He claimed there was an international bankers conspiracy and Jews were responsible. He advocated nationalization of banking and currency and national resources and demanded a “living wage.”

Dr. Francis E. TownsendDr. Francis E. Townsend was an elderly physician from CA. He had a plan for the federal government to pay $200 per month to unemployed people over 60. The program would be financed by a 2% national sales tax and each pensioner would be required to spend the money in 30 days. This would stimulate the economy.

“Old Reliable” cartoon

“New Deal Remedies

”

ELECTION OF 1936 - NATIONAL REFERENDUM ON THE NEW DEAL

Alf Landon “constitutionally and with a balanced budget”

Result: greatest landslide in US history

FDR 61%, Landon 36 % (Maine and VT)

new Democratic coalition:urban working classesNorthern urban blacksTraditional progressivesSouthern rural whites

Candidate Party % PopularVote

Electoral Votes

FDR Democratic 60.3% 523

Alfred E. Landon Republican 36.56% 8

William Lemke Radical 1.93%

Norman Thomas Socialist 0.41% (2.21 in 1932)

Earl Browder Communist 0.17 (0.25 in 1932)

The Election of 1936

The Roosevelt CoalitionWhile Republicans were still relying on their traditional base of political support (big business, big farmers, and conservatives), Democrats broadened their constituency by appealing to small farmers in the Midwest, urban political bosses, ethnic blue collar workers, Jews, intellectuals, and African Americans.

NEW DEAL IN DISARRAY

“court-packing plan” (1937)

results

“Roosevelt Recession” (1937)

Keynesian economicsJohn Maynard Keynes

(2nd) Agricultural Adjustment Act (1938)

Fair Labor Standards Act (1938)

national minimum wageMandated 40 hour work week

New Deal essentially at end:

FDR blunders continued hard timesCongressional opposition threat of world crisis

Supreme Court, 1943

Unemployment, 1929-1942

Recession of 1937-1938“Roosevelt Recession”

Employment rate was 14.3%FDR wanted to balance the federal budgetFDR cut federal spending for New Deal programsEmployment rate jumped to 19.0%1938-Return to deficit spending

Gross National Product 1920-1940

NEW DEAL AND LABOR

rise of labor unions in the 30s

Wagner Actdecline of welfare capitalismdeclining status of business leaders

Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO)

industrial unionismworked to include blacks & other minoritiesJohn L. Lewis - United Mine Workers

“Memorial Day Massacre” (1937)

"Little Steel“Revolution in lives of wage workers

higher wages, shorter hours, paid vacations, insurance and unionization that enabled them to settle disputes and have a measure of job security

Labor Union Membership, 1920-1992

Memorial Day Massacre, Chicago, 1937

*LASTING IMPACT OF THE NEW DEAL: Political and Economic Results

Political: increased power of the presidentIncreased role of Federal government in society Party Realignment; Democratic coalition

Economic: created the rudiments of the American welfare stateaided the stabilization of the stock market and banking systemestablished a power base for various disadvantaged groups to challenge the dominance of corporations

LASTING IMPACT OF THE NEW DEAL: Social Results

African Americansbecame strong supporters of Democratic party (but wages, unemployment)

“black cabinet”Women

Francis PerkinsEleanor Roosevelt

American IndiansIndian Reorganization Act of 1934

returned political authority to the tribes; tribal governments like city governmentsEnded Dawes allotment system; allowed collective land ownership (~ 4 million of the 90 million acres of Indian land lost under the allotment system returned to the tribes)

John Collier – new BIA chiefPueblo Indians in the Indian Service School. Taos, New Mexico 1936 (Library of Congress)

Eleanor Roosevelt visiting George Washington Carver Hall, men's dormitory for Negroes in Washington, DC(Library of Congress)

LASTING IMPACT OF THE NEW DEAL: Limits and Legacies

positive interpretations Saved capitalism?reformed capitalism, offering protection to disadvantagedcompleted process of progressive reform, then moved in direction of modern liberalismaccomplished as much as it could against conservative forces

negative interpretations Failed to end Depressionradical departure from progressive traditionlacked a central, guiding philosophymissed many opportunities to help those groups most in need of assistanceHindered economy’s recovery – market forces more efficient

Anti-Third Term Buttons,

1940

The Significance of

the New Deal

Physical Rehabilitation of Country

Attacked soil erosionBuilt dams and planted trees to prevent floodsReclaimed the grasslands of the Great PlainsDeveloped water power resourcesEncouraged regional reconstruction projects like the TVA and Columbia River project

Human RehabilitationEstablished the principle that government has responsibility for the health, welfare, and security, as well as the protection and education of its citizensEmbraced social security, public health, housingEntered the domain of agriculture and labor

Revitalization of Politics

Strengthened executive branchReasserted presidential leadershipRevitalized political party as a vehicle for the popular will and as an instrument for effective action.

Extension of DemocracyRedefined the concept of democracy so that it included not only political rights but economic security and social justice as well.

Government Expenditures

The total cost of the current bailout now exceeds $4.6 trillion dollars. It has cost more than all of these government expenditures combined. Figures in parentheses have been adjusted for inflation:

Marshall Plan: Cost: $12.7 billion ($115.3 billion)Louisiana Purchase: Cost: $15 million ($217 billion)Race to the Moon: Cost: $36.4 billion ($237 billion)S&L Crisis: Cost: $153 billion ($256 billion)Korean War: Cost: $54 billion ($454 billion)The New Deal: Cost: $32 billion est.($500 billion est.)Invasion of Iraq: Cost: $551billion ($597 billion)Vietnam War: Cost: $111 billion ($698 billion)NASA: Cost: $416.7 billion ($851.2 billion)TOTAL: $3.92 trillion

SOURCESBrinkley, American History: A Survey 10eWadsworth-Thompson http://www.wadsworth.com/history_d/special_features/image_bank_US/1929_1939.htmlLibrary of Congress American Memory ProjectRutgers Univ. Teaching Politics Image Bank http://teachpol.tcnj.edu/amer_pol_hist/.htmlKennedy, American Pageant 13eNash, The American People 6e; http://wps.ablongman.com/long_nash_ap_6/0,7361,592970-,00.html