Chapter 33: The Great Depression and the New Deal

Austin SperlChapter 33: The Great Depression and the New DealFDR: Politician in a WheelchairAmericans upset as 11 million were unemployedRepublicans renominated Herbert Hoover and Democrats nominated New York governor Franklin Delano RooseveltEleanor Roosevelt one of most active First LadiesRoosevelt a great speaker and champion for the forgotten man

Presidential Hopefuls of 1932In the campaign Roosevelt wanted to prove he was not invalid, display his personality, and attacked Hoovers spendingHoovers campaign was weary and half-hearted such as the slogan It Might Have Been Worst Hoovers Humiliation in 1932Roosevelt easily won the election 472-59 in the electoral collegeBeginning of the transition of blacks from the Republican party to the DemocratsIn the lame duck period, Hoover tried to start some long-range policies but Roosevelt was uncooperative

FDR and the Three Rs: Relief, Recovery, ReformRoosevelt declared a nationwide banking holidayThe Democratic Congress in FDRs first Hundred Days had an unprecedented amount of legislation passed Roosevelt was given a lot of executive power but didnt always know what to do with itRoosevelt Manages the MoneyEmergency Banking Relief Act of 1933 passedRoosevelt used radio for his fireside chatsGlass-Steagall Banking Reform Act made the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation insuring individual deposits of $5,000FDR ordered all gold to be exchanged for paper currency and took nation off gold standard

Creating Jobs for the JoblessCivilian Conservation Corps (CCC) employed 3 million in government campsFederal Emergency Relief Act (FERA) aimed for immediate relief granting $3 billion to statesAgriculture Adjustment Act (AAA) made millions available for farmers and mortgagesHome Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC) refinanced mortgages of non-farm homesCivil Works Administration (CWA) gave temporary jobs in the winterA Day for Every DemagogueFather Charles Coughlin on the radio against the New DealDr. Francis E. Townsend promised everyone over sixty years old $200 a month and Senator Huey P. Long promised every family $5,000 from richWorks Progress Administration (WPA) spent $11 billion on public buildings, bridges, and hard-surfaced roads creating 9 million jobs

New Visibility for WomenWomen became more active with Eleanor Roosevelt the most visibleSecretary of Labor Frances Perkins first female cabinet member and Mary McLeod Bethune director of the Office of Minority AffairsAnthropologist Ruth Benedict developed the culture and personality movement with her student Margaret Mead expanding the ideasPearl S. Buck wrote The Good Earth Chinese peasant life

Helping Industry and LaborNational Recovery Administration (NRA) assisted industry, labor, unemployed helping laborNRA grew unpopular and the Schechter decision declared it unconstitutionalPublic Works Administration (PWA) intended for industrial recovery and unemployment relief spending $4 million on 34,000 projectsCongress legalized wine and beer with alcohol content exceeding 3.2% and eventually the 21st Amendment

Paying Farmers Not to FarmAgricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA) paid farmers to reduce crop acreageActually increased unemployment and the Supreme Court killed it in 1936Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act paid farmers to plant soil-conserving cropsSecond Agricultural Adjustment Administration continued paymentsDust Bowls and Black BlizzardsMixture of drought and wind made the Dust Bowl leading many Okies and Arkies to move west to CaliforniaFrazier-Lemke Farm Bankruptcy Act made possible suspension of mortgages up to five yearsResettlement Administration moved the near-farmless to better landCommissioner of Indian Affairs John Collier promoted the Indian Reorganization Act

Battling Bankers and Big BusinessFederal Securities Act curbed bad information on stocksSecurities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was a watchdog agencyChicagoan Samuel Insulls multibillion-dollar corporation collapsed and in response the Public Utility Holding Act passed

The TVA Harnesses the TennesseeThe electric-power industry attracted New Dealers saying it had excessive ratesTennessee Valley Authority (TVA) made dams on the Tennessee River helping 2.5 million poorHelped employment and gave cheap electric powerHousing and Social SecurityFederal Housing Administration (FHA) gave small loans to householdersUnited Housing Administration (USHA) lent money to states for low-cost constructionSocial Security Act gave regular payments to the elderly, handicapped, delinquents, and othersA New Deal for LaborWagner Act reasserted the right of labor to organize and bargain collectivelyUnskilled workers began to organize like the Committee for Industrial Organization with the AF of L but later splitWon strike against General Motors and the US Steel Company but little companies fought back in Memorial Day massacresFair Labor Standards Act set minimum wage, maximum hours, and child laborCIO changed to Congress for Industrial Organization

Landon Challenges the ChampRepublicans nominated Kansas governor Alfred M. Landon against RooseveltLandon and American Liberty League were anti-New DealRoosevelt won in electoral college 523-8FDR won from remembering the forgotten manNine Old Men on the Bench20th Amendment cut lame duck period by six weeksFDR controlled Congress but not the CourtProposed a Court-packing plan where a new justice would be added for every member over 60 making 15 justicesVoted down The Court Changes CourseThe scheme failed but the Court started to vote his way and he replaced retireesShowed public did not want the Supreme Court tampered with and now less New Deal reforms passed in Congress

Twilight of the New DealUnemployment decreased from 25% in 1933 to 15% in 1937 but still highA Roosevelt recession hit in 1937 from government policies so Roosevelt embraced Keynesianism policiesReorganization Act gave FDR limited powers for administration reformsHatch Act barred federal official from active political campaigning and solicitingNew Deal or Raw Deal?Critics of the New Deal said it had done nothing and pointed out the increased debtIt took World War II to stop depression and unemployment

FDRs Balance SheetNew Dealers said it relieved the worst of the depressionRoosevelt may have saved free enterprise even though businesses resented himMuch reform in place without a revolution

Varying ViewpointsHistorians say that some sort of New Deal would have taken place in the Great DepressionLeftist scholars say the deal did not reach far enoughConstraints school said New Deal offered as much reform as circumstances allowed and people wantedRecently historians say New Deal put women back into their traditional roleNew Deal was a half-way revolutionThemesPolitical: Roosevelt was able to control the panicked Congress to pass his New Deal legislation until his Court-packing schemeEconomic: Roosevelt ordered the nation to switch to paper currency and took the nation off the gold standard to increase inflation to make it easier to pay debtsSocial: Women began to have a more active role in society and politics with government jobs and studiesThemesPolitical: Roosevelt able to easily win both the 1932 and the 1936 campaigns with his appeal to the forgotten manEconomic: The 1937 Roosevelt recession led FDR to use the Keynesianism idea of stimulating the economy with deficit spendingSocial: The Dust Bowl darkened skies in the Plains so many people moved out of the area in search for food, shelter, and jobs