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Franklin D. Roosevelt:

Encountering the Farm Crisis

Brady Coulthard

Historical Paper

Senior Division

2,500 Words

1

“If the farmer is poor then so is the whole country.”

- Polish Proverb

To fully understand the present situation of agriculture, one needs to look at the history of

agriculture. The agricultural industry in America has not always been supported by the American

government. From 1920 to 1930, farmers encountered financial struggles experiencing a 60%

decline of income.1 Unfortunately farmers during this time period lacked a strong advocate to

support them. Once Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected president in 1933, farmers finally had an

ally.2 Roosevelt understood that new legislation for farmers was necessary. The struggles

farmers encountered in the early 1900s, led to President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s exploration of

legislation, such as the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933 This act hoped to provide

immediate relief for those farmers, and the generations of farmers to come, who have

experienced times of disaster.

During World War I, farmers expanded their farms in order to fill markets that were

formerly supplied by Europeans.3 Approximately 50 million

4 European men were fighting in the

War and were unable to keep up with the farming needs of the continent. American farmers were

ready to pick up the slack and with better technology and fertilizers, farmers were able to expand

acreage more efficiently.5 However, at the end of the War, Europeans began to farm heavily

again, which caused a collapse in agricultural prices. After WWI, most of America was thriving,

there were new leisure activities and there was a general feel of energy and excitement.6 Not

1 "Farm Foreclosures." (n.d.): n. pag. Rpt. in Encyclopedia of the Great Depression. Ed. Robert S. McElvaine. N.p.:

Macmillan Reference USA, 2004. Web. 2 Cayton, Andrew R. L. America: Pathways to the Present. Needham, MA: Prentice Hall, 2002. Print.

3 Bondi, Victor. American Decades: 1930-1939. Vol. 4. Detroit: Gale Research, 1995. Print. American Decades.

4 "WWI Casualties and Deaths Table." Wisconsin Public Television. PBS, n.d. Web.

5 Cayton, Andrew R. L. America: Pathways to the Present. Needham, MA: Prentice Hall, 2002. Print.


2

everyone enjoyed the “Roaring 20s”; farmers continued to struggle to make ends meet. Once the

stock market crashed in 1929, banks also began struggling - there had been too much bought on

credit and margin and not enough exchange of hard cash.7 By 1932, banks foreclosed on

approximately 1,000 farms per week.8 Crop prices had been dropping during the 1920s, but in

the 1930s they fell as much as 60%9. Farmers tried to pay bills in the only way they knew how:

by increasing acreage and yields.

Amidst the Great Depression, the struggles of farmers escalated to a new level because of

natural disasters10

. Farmers encountered an unrelenting drought11

and hail12

. The Henderson farm

in Oklahoma experienced these hail storms. Carolina Henderson wrote in the summer of 1935,

“Yet now our daily physical torture, confusion of mind, gradual wearing down of courage, seems

to make that long-continued hope look like a vanishing dream.”13

Henderson’s quote

demonstrates that at times like the Great Depression, farmers fell into a depression.

While there were some attributes of the farm struggle that farmers could not control,

some of the farmer’s struggles came from their own bad practices. Farmers would plow straight

up and down inclines. They also stripped their land of nutrients.14

Farmers today understand in

order to not depreciate land of nitrogen - crops need to be rotated.15

According to Joe Lauer, Paul

Porter, and Ed Oplinger, using a five-year corn and five-year soybean rotation resulted in higher


8 Hook, Sue Vander. The Dust Bowl. Ed. Jill Sherman. Edina, MN: ABDO, 2009. Google Books. Google. Web.

9 "Farm Foreclosures." (n.d.): n. pag. Rpt. in Encyclopedia of the Great Depression. Ed. Robert S. McElvaine. N.p.:

Macmillan Reference USA, 2004. Web. 10

"Country Storms." Trove. National Library of Australia, n.d. Web. 11

Bondi, Victor. American Decades: 1930-1939. Vol. 4. Detroit: Gale Research, 1995. Print. American Decades. 12

Hook, Sue Vander. The Dust Bowl. Ed. Jill Sherman. Edina, MN: ABDO, 2009. Google Books. Google. Web. 13

Duncan, Dayton. The Dust Bowl: An Illustrated History. San Francisco: Chronicle, 2012. Print. 14

Bondi, Victor. American Decades: 1930-1939. Vol. 4. Detroit: Gale Research, 1995. Print. American Decades 15

Lauer, Joe, Paul Porter, and Ed Oplinger. "The Corn and Soybean Rotation Effect." Wisconsin Corn Agronomy.

UW-Extension, n.d. Web

3

yields.16

If the knowledge of proper crop care was available in the Great Depression, farmers

would have been more financially stable.

Considering the farm crisis, an agricultural unrest began to form. In 1932, upset

Wisconsin dairymen hijacked milk trucks and spilled the milk onto the ground. Farmers armed

with shotguns stopped the sales of foreclosed farms.17

On May 3rd, 1932, 3,000 Iowa farmers

voted to strike on July 4th. [Appendix I]18

The farmers refused to sell their produce to markets

unless they were compensated for the planting expenses. They demanded their wishes to be met

by using violence. The Iowa farmers’ strike was unsuccessful due to police clearing up the

strikes and putting an end to the violence.19

The police were more concerned with clearing up the

violence than helping out the cause.

Franklin D. Roosevelt took office in March of 1933. Once he was in office, he promptly

went to work to resolve the United States’ struggles. Roosevelt introduced the New Deal, a

domestic program focused on resolving social and economic issues. Roosevelt first wanted to

help struggling banks; fortunately, Roosevelt knew that the farm crisis was equally as important.

In his Fireside Chat on July 24th, 1933 he declared, “We have been producing more of some

crops than we consume or can sell in a depressed world market. The cure is not to produce so

much”.20

“The New Dealers”21

gathered to develop a way to stop the overproduction of products.

Stemmed from his ideas, the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933 (AAA) was created.

The AAA was an attempt to oblige reductions of agricultural products, therefore driving up

16

Lauer, Joe, Paul Porter, and Ed Oplinger. "The Corn and Soybean Rotation Effect." Wisconsin Corn Agronomy.

UW-Extension, n.d. Web. 17


Ganzel, Bill. Iowa Farmer Protest. Digital image. Living History Farm. N.p., 2003. Web. 19


Roosevelt, Franklin D. "Fireside Chat (Recovery Program).," July 24, 1933. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T.

Woolley, The American Presidency Project. 21

Bondi, Victor. American Decades: 1930-1939. Vol. 4. Detroit: Gale Research, 1995. Print. American Decades.

4

prices.22

This new legislation would pay farmers to leave land unplowed and to raise fewer

animals. It also promised farmers a minimum price for their crops. These prices would be

secured by taxing food processors and distributors. Taxes were also being used to provide

subsidies to farmers to avoid foreclosures. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a

subsidy is, “money that is paid usually by a government to keep the price of a product or service

low or to help a business or organization to continue to function”.23

In this instance, the

government was exchanging money with farmers to make sure they were able to sustain their

lives. Roosevelt wanted the AAA passed before the 1933 growing season.24

Due to time

restraints, it was not passed until after the growing season. Unfortunately, the government had to

pay farmers to destroy crops. In 1933, as many as 10,000,000 acres of crops were destroyed;

200,000 pregnant sows were killed.25

All of these extreme measures were needed to stop

overproduction and raise the agricultural economy.

To many farmers, the spectacle of destroying food during the Great Depression felt

unreal. LeRoy Hankel, a born and raised farmer, explained how farmers needed the AAA

whether they wanted it or not, “Most farmers couldn’t afford not to take the government

payments”. Some farmers protested this decision, “A few said, ‘The government isn’t going to

tell me what to do’”.26

Deep down, farmers knew that if they wanted to be rescued from the farm

crisis, they would need to participate in the AAA. By 1934, more than 3,000,000 farmers were

participating in the AAA.27

22

Roosevelt, Franklin D. "Message to Congress on the Agricultural Adjustment Act.," March 16, 1933.

Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project. 23

"Subsidy." Def. 1. Merriam-Webster. N.p., 2015. Web. 24

Roosevelt, Franklin D. "Message to Congress on the Agricultural Adjustment Act.," March 16, 1933.



Hankel, LeRoy. "LeRoy Hankel - Participating in the AAA." Interview. AAA, Agricultural Adjustment Act. Living

History Farm, 2003. 27


5

There are many different ideas about the effects of subsidies. In an interview with Pamela

Selz-Pralle, a University of Wisconsin graduate, she comments, “[...] subsidies aren’t intended to

give farmers income. They are intended to help farmers stay in business due to extreme losses

due to weather conditions they can’t control. The subsidies were NOT there to be nice to

farmers! They were there because U.S. people want cheap food”.28

This may have been the idea

people had about subsidies, but by 1936, it was proven that prices had recovered and farm

income had doubled because of the AAA. 29

Wisconsin farmers benefited from the AAA as seen

in the chart found in [Appendix II].30

From 1932 to 1934 income increased by 29%.31

This

increased income disproves Selz-Pralle’s theory.

Even though the AAA distressed farmers, the processors were troubled the most. William

M. Butler, a receiver of Hoosac Mills Corp, challenged the regulation of agriculture and

invalidated the taxes raised used to fund the AAA. It was proven in the United States v. Butler

case32

that Congress had power to spend and tax for the general welfare, but cannot regulate

what the taxes are used for. Justice Harlan Fiske Stone opposed the AAA, defining it as a,

“tortured construction of the Constitution.”33

Therefore, with a 6-3 vote, the AAA was ruled

unconstitutional by the Supreme Court on January 6th, 1936.34

The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) stated, “With the election of

Franklin D. Roosevelt as President in 1932, conservation of soil and water resources became a

28

Selz-Pralle, Pamela. "Selz-Pralle's Response To Farm Subsidies." E-mail interview. 22 Feb. 2016. 29


Ebling, Walter H., Senior Agricultural Statistician. The Situation In Agriculture. Article of General Interest. N.p.:

The Wisconsin Blue Book, 1935.The State of Wisconsin Collection. University of Wisconsin Digital Collections.

Web. 31

Ebling, Walter H., Senior Agricultural Statistician. The Situation In Agriculture. Article of General Interest. N.p.:

The Wisconsin Blue Book, 1935.The State of Wisconsin Collection. University of Wisconsin Digital Collections.

Web. 32

United States v. Butler, 297 U.S. 1. United States Supreme Court. 6 Jan. 1936. Justia. Chris Skelton, n.d. Web. 33

Leuchtenburg, William E. "When Franklin Roosevelt Clashed with the Supreme Court – and Lost." Smithsonian.

Smithsonian, 2005. Web. 34

United States v. Butler, 297 U.S. 1. United States Supreme Court. 6 Jan. 1936. Justia. Chris Skelton, n.d. Web.

6

national priority in the New Deal administration.” Because of this idea, Congress met the court’s

objections by rewriting the Agricultural Adjustment Act as the Soil Conservation and Domestic

Allotment Act. Roosevelt articulated on March 1st, 1936, “In signing the Soil Conservation and

Domestic Allotment Act, I feel that I am approving a measure which helps to safeguard vital

public interests not only for today, but for generations to come.”35

According to Roosevelt’s

statement on signing the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act, the new legislation had

three purposes: conservation of the soil and proper land use, reestablishing and maintaining farm

income, and the promise of always having food for consumers.36

Roosevelt did not think of the

Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act as a final plan, simply as a platform for the

continual building and improving of the agricultural industry.

It came to Roosevelt’s attention in 1938 by frustrated farmers that he should expand on

the idea of the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act. On February 16th, 1938,

Roosevelt thought back to 1933, and his encounter of the farm crisis. He declared, “Great

progress has been made since the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933 went into effect.”37

This

progression was one of the reasons Roosevelt thought it was necessary to keep providing support

for farmers. In order to continue helping farmers, The Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 came

into effect as a substitute for the farm subsidy policies from the AAA of 1933. The Agricultural

Adjustment Act of 1938 said that the funding for the subsidies would no longer come from the

35

Roosevelt, Franklin D. "Statement on Signing the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act.," March 1,

1936. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project 36

Roosevelt, Franklin D. "Statement on Signing the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act.," March 1,

1936. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project 37

Roosevelt, Franklin D. "Statement on Signing the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938.," February 16, 1938.

Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project.

7

processors, but the federal government.38

This change pleased the processors as well as the

farmers.

Roosevelt explored other ways of rescuing the farmers, including the creation of

administrations. Roosevelt and Congress created programs to give farmers respite from

foreclosures on their homes and farms. The Farm Credit Administration (FCA), was established

in 1932 and taken under Roosevelt's administration in 1933. The main purpose of the FCA, and

similar programs, was to help farmers refinance the mortgages on their farms rather than lose

them to foreclosure. Franklin Roosevelt used executive powers to help the farmers as well. On

April 30th, 1935, he ordered Executive Order 7027 to create the Resettlement Administration, a

program with a goal of moving farmers from lands with exhausted soils to efficient lands.39

This

enriched land would allow farmers to continue to produce crops. Roosevelt’s also used his

executive power on May 11th, 1935. He ordered Executive Order 7037 to establish the Rural

Electrification Administration, giving electricity to farms.40

The New York Times stated,

“F.D.R. may be guilty of the most extreme disregard for civil liberty, although his action was

endorsed by Congress and later upheld in two landmark Supreme Court decisions.”41

Congress’

support for Roosevelt’s executive orders helped progress the agricultural industry. These other

pieces of legislation further helped rescue the farmers from their crisis.

Though Roosevelt had many supporters due to his reforms and use of executive power,

some in Congress felt he abused his power as president.42

One senator from Minnesota compared

38


Roosevelt, Franklin D. "Executive Order 7027 Establishing the Resettlement Administration.," May 1, 1935.


Roosevelt, Franklin D. "Executive Order 7037 Establishing the Rural Electrification Administration.," May 11,

1935. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project. 41

"Stretching Executive Power in Wartime." Campaigning for History. The New York Times, 27 May 2007. Web. 42

Gaziano, Todd F. "The Use and Abuse of Executive Orders and Other Presidential Directives." The Heritage

Foundation. The Heritage Foundation, 21 Feb. 2001. Web.

8

Roosevelt to the “beast of the Apocalypse...who set his slimy mark on everything.”43

It can be

said that Roosevelt abused his executive powers. He used his veto 30% more in his terms than all

preceding presidents combined.44

In 1935, Franklin D. Roosevelt pushed for another round of

reforms.45

He tried attacking big businesses and wealthy citizens. This earned him the title,

“traitor to his class” and the hatred of legislators who used to support him.46

However, many of

these new programs, benefited farmers. In his three terms, Roosevelt issued more executive

orders per year than any other president [Appendix III],47

However, Roosevelt had been

president during a depression and a war.48

Roosevelt could not wait for Congress to make up

their minds because America needed immediate action. His use of executive powers showed how

progressive Roosevelt was in the exploration of developing new legislation.

A biography published by the Miller Center at the University of Virginia wrote, “Faced

with the Great Depression and World War II, Franklin D. Roosevelt, guided America through its

greatest domestic crisis [...]. [Roosevelt and the New Deal] helped bring about beginnings of a

national recovery.” Their programs laid out a platform for the future government to support

American farmers. An example of how the government has continued to help farmers was when

President George W. Bush passed the 2002 U.S. Farm Bill.49

The 2002 U.S. Farm Bill went into

effect on May 13th, 2002, which moved the focus of the nation’s dairy industry from Eau Claire,

Wisconsin, to Boston, Massachusetts.50

Prior to the bill, Eau Claire was seen as the hub of the

dairy industry. Subsidies were based on how far away you lived from Eau Claire; the greater the

43

Leuchtenburg, William E. The American President: From Teddy Roosevelt to Bill Clinton. N.p.: Oxford UP,

2015. Google Books. Google. Web. 44

Schneiderman, Dee. "Relationship Between Roosevelt & Congress."Synonym. Demand Media, n.d. Web. 45


Schneiderman, Dee. "Relationship Between Roosevelt & Congress."Synonym. Demand Media, n.d. Web. 47

Gaziano, Todd F. "The Use and Abuse of Executive Orders and Other Presidential Directives." The Heritage

Foundation. The Heritage Foundation, 21 Feb. 2001. Web. 48

"Stretching Executive Power in Wartime." Campaigning for History. The New York Times, 27 May 2007. Web. 49

S. 107-171, 107th Cong., United States Government Publishing Office (2002) (enacted). Web. 50

S. 107-171, 107th Cong., United States Government Publishing Office (2002) (enacted). Web.

9

distance from Eau Claire, the higher the subsidy would be. As a result of the 2002 U.S. Farm

Bill, subsidies would be linked to a base price for milk in Boston. If the base price of milk

dropped below $16.94 per 100 pounds to the Boston farmer, the rest of the country’s dairy

farmers would receive subsidies51

. Minnesota Public Radio stated that many Midwest farmers

said a new pricing standard was long overdue.52

Andy Kronebusch, a Minnesota dairy farmer,

explained that he makes a comfortable living, but he would not if the government did not offer

subsidies. The big picture is simple; without government assistance, farmers would continue to

see financial struggles.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) continued to assist farmers in time

of struggles by creating disaster-relief programs. Roosevelt’s creation of subsidies inspired the

USDA to provide emergency farm loans to help producers who had losses of production and

profit due to drought, flooding, and other natural disasters. The Noninsured Disaster Assistance

Program (NAP) provides assistance for crop losses when crop insurance is not available.

Programs like the Livestock Forage Program (LFP) and Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP)

provide benefits and compensation to farmers who have lost grazing land due to drought or fire,

or who have lost livestock caused by attacks by animals reintroduced into the wild.53

A Michigan

man, who lost cattle due to reintroduced wolves, wanted the wolves to be killed.54

The LIP’s

goal has been to steer away from deadly action such as the unnecessary killing of animals and

instead to compensate farmers in order to help them repay for the loss of their animals. Without

these programs, farmers would be as helpless as farmers during the Great Depression.

51

Druley, Laurel. "Midwest Dairy Farms Get a Boost from Farm Bill." Minnesota Public Radio. MPR, 20 May

2002. Web. 52

Druley, Laurel. "Midwest Dairy Farms Get a Boost from Farm Bill." Minnesota Public Radio. MPR, 20 May

2002. Web. 53

"Emergency Farm Loans." Farm Loan Programs. United States Department of Agriculture, n.d. Web. 54

"Farmers Eager for Right to Kill Attacking Wolves | Fox News." Fox News. FOX News Network, 26 Jan. 2012.

Web.

10

President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s exploration of legislation for agriculture rescued

farmers from the farm crisis and set a foundation of support for the years to come. Without

Franklin D. Roosevelt encountering the farmers’ struggles, the Agricultural Adjustment Act of

1933 would have never been created. The Agricultural Adjustment of 1933 gave farmers

subsidies, insured guaranteed prices for products, and controlled production levels. The

Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933 was extremely successful because it helped recovered

prices and doubled the farm income.55

President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Agricultural

Adjustment Act of 1933 served to satisfy farmers for many years to come. Without the vast

exploration accomplished by Franklin D. Roosevelt, the farming community would have

collapsed and America would not be known as the agricultural powerhouse it is today.

55


11

Appendix I

The above image is a primary source of the Iowa farmers protesting with an attempt to block

roads leading to markets. They strived to reduce supplies to raise prices. This strike showed how

farmers were at unrest.

Ganzel, Bill. Iowa Farmer Protest. Digital image. Living History Farm. N.p., 2003. Web.

12

Appendix II

Wisconsin Gross Farm Income in Millions of Dollars

Estimates 1929 - 1934

Farm income in Wisconsin reached a low point in 1932. But from 1932 to 1933 (the year the

AAA was passed), the income grew from 186 million dollars to 204 million dollars. From 1933

to 1934 the income grew from 204 million dollars to 242 million dollars. The income increased

by 29% because of Franklin D. Roosevelt. This increase of income shows how successful the

AAA was in supporting farmers.

Ebling, Walter H., Senior Agricultural Statistician. The Situation In Agriculture. Article of General

Interest. N.p.: The Wisconsin Blue Book, 1935. The State of Wisconsin Collection. University

of Wisconsin Digital Collections. Web.

13

Appendix III

This chart shows how Franklin D. Roosevelt issued more executive orders than any other

president. His use of executive orders proved that new legislation was a necessity. He understood

that in times of crisis, like the 1930s, he didn’t have time to wait for legislation to get passed.

Gaziano, Todd F. "The Use and Abuse of Executive Orders and Other Presidential Directives." The

Heritage Foundation. The Heritage Foundation, 21 Feb. 2001. Web.

14

Annotated Bibliography

Primary Sources

"Country Storms." Trove. National Library of Australia, 1930. Web.

“Country Storms” is a newspaper article that was published during the Great Depression.

This article was used to explain the natural disasters farmers encountered and how they

were suffering. This article ties into my historical paper because it was used to explain

the disasters that created the farm crisis. In addition, this article was an important source

to help give background information to my paper.

Ganzel, Bill. Iowa Farmer Protest. Digital image. Living History Farm. N.p., 2003. Web.

This image of an Iowa Farmer Protest was uploaded on to the Living History Farm

website by Bill Ganzel. This image depicts how violence was used by Iowa farmers

because they were at unrest. I chose to put this image in my appendix because it is

important to the paper, and I feel the picture gave off more information than me

describing the picture.

Hankel, LeRoy. "LeRoy Hankel - Participating in the AAA." Interview. AAA, Agricultural

Adjustment Act. Living History Farm, 2003.

This primary source is an online interview with LeRoy Hankel, a farmer in the 1930s

who suffered through the Great Depression. The bias of this interview is in favor for the

Agriculture Adjustment Act of 1933. This interview ties into my historical paper because

it shows how many farmers found benefits from the AAA. Furthermore, the interview

was crucial for my research about the farmers’ opinions.

Roosevelt, Franklin D. "Address on Agricultural Adjustment Act, 1936." PBS: American

Experience. PBS, n.d.

Boasted by Franklin D. Roosevelt, this speech has a bias towards the success of the

Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933. He claimed in this speech how successful the

Agricultural Adjustment Act had been. This speech ties into my historical paper because

Roosevelt agrees with farmers that the Agricultural Adjustment Act had made great

progress for the rescue of the agricultural industry in just two years.

15

Roosevelt, Franklin D. "Executive Order 7027 Establishing the Resettlement Administration.,"

May 1, 1935. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency

Project.

This executive order was important to my paper because it showed that the Agricultural

Adjustment Acts were not the only things Franklin D. Roosevelt did for the struggling

farmers. This order was crucial for my historical paper because it backed up my thesis:

Roosevelt wanted to encounter the farmers’ struggles.

Roosevelt, Franklin D. "Executive Order 7037 Establishing the Rural Electrification

Administration.," May 11, 1935. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The

American Presidency Project.

Information about Executive Order 7037 was crucial for my historical paper. Franklin D.

Roosevelt’s exploration of new legislation such as this executive order, backs up my

thesis. This information supported my thesis, and was used to show one of the many

ways he wanted to rescue farmers from the farm crisis.

Roosevelt, Franklin D. "Fireside Chat (Recovery Program).," July 24, 1933. Online by Gerhard

Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project.

Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Fireside Chat about the Recovery Program explained what

Roosevelt wanted to do as a president. He brought up the need for the New Deal, which

was a huge part of my historical paper.

Roosevelt, Franklin D. "Message to Congress on the Agricultural Adjustment Act.," March 16,

1933. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project.

This message to Congress from Franklin D. Roosevelt proposed the idea of the

Agricultural Adjustment Act and why it would be beneficial. Roosevelt put bias into his

message in favor of the AAA. Quotes were taken from this message and put into context

in my historical paper.

Roosevelt, Franklin D. "Statement on Signing Amendments to the Agricultural Adjustment

Act.," August 24, 1935. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American

Presidency Project.

Franklin D. Roosevelt explained how the Agricultural Adjustment Act had been of great

value for the farmers. This source was used only for more background information about

Congress and Roosevelt’s feelings towards the act.

16

Roosevelt, Franklin D. "Statement on Signing the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938.,"

February 16, 1938. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American

Presidency Project.

This statement is a primary source from Franklin D. Roosevelt. This source has a bias

towards Congress’ progressiveness on fixing the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933.

Roosevelt's statement was important for the research of what he and Congress did after

the AAA of 1933 was ruled unconstitutional.

Roosevelt, Franklin D. "Statement on Signing the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment

Act.," March 1, 1936. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American

Presidency Project

Roosevelt also used a statement for when he signed the Soil Conservation and Domestic

Allotment Act. This source shows how Congress moved forward immediately after the

AAA of 1933 was ruled unconstitutional. It also proves how Roosevelt wanted to not

only help the farmers, but the soil as well.

S. 107-171, 107th Cong., United States Government Publishing Office (2002) (enacted). Web.

This law was passed by President George W. Bush in 2002. This source is the exact law

uploaded online by the United States Government Publishing Office. This law was

important for my historical paper because it proves that what Roosevelt did in the 1930s

was kept in mind when decisions were made regarding farmers in the 21st Century.

United States v. Butler, 297 U.S. 1. United States Supreme Court. 6 Jan. 1936. Justia. Chris

Skelton, n.d. Web.

This is a case brief of the United States v. Butler court case. This case is needed in order

to understand the Agricultural Adjustment Act thoroughly. Without this case brief, one

one not understand how the processors were hurt by the act. This case was essential for

my historical paper because if one wants to understand the Agricultural Adjustment Act,

one needs to first understand the parties involved.

Secondary Sources

"Agriculture." The New Deal and World War. American History | From Revolution to

Reconstruction and Beyond, n.d. Web.

17

This article gave me a detailed background of what Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New

Deal did for agriculture. This source helped me start my paper in the right direction.

"A New Deal for Farmers: Franklin D. Roosevelt and Rural America." Hope, Recovery, Reform:

The Great Depression and FDR's New Deal (n.d.): 1-6. FDR4Freedoms. Web.

This essay showed how Franklin D. Roosevelt tackled the issue of overproduction. It also

explained the farm foreclosure crisis. Another important piece of this essay that I used in

my historical paper, was the information about providing electricity to farms.

Bondi, Victor. American Decades: 1930-1939. Vol. 4. Detroit: Gale Research, 1995. Print.

American Decades.

Bondi’s textbook American Decades: 1930-1939 outlined this entire era that my paper is

focused on. It highlighted the biggest issues America was facing, while explaining who

helped to resolve these struggles. This source was filled with statistics also.This textbook

also helped me understand the relationship between Franklin D. Roosevelt and his

Congress, and how it affected the legislation.

Cayton, Andrew R. L. America: Pathways to the Present. Needham, MA: Prentice Hall, 2002.

Print.

This high school American History textbook gave me background information on the

1920s. This information was crucial for me to contrast the lives of farmers and lives of

the majority of the population.

Druley, Laurel. "Midwest Dairy Farms Get a Boost from Farm Bill." Minnesota Public Radio.

MPR, 20 May 2002. Web.

This source helped me relate my topic to the 21st Century. It gave me quotes that I used

in my

historical paper also.

Duncan, Dayton. The Dust Bowl: An Illustrated History. San Francisco: Chronicle, 2012. Print.

From this book, I found Caroline Henderson's quote that I used to explain the depression

of the farmers.

18

Ebling, Walter H., Senior Agricultural Statistician. The Situation In Agriculture. Article of

General Interest. N.p.: The Wisconsin Blue Book, 1935.The State of Wisconsin

Collection. University of Wisconsin Digital Collections. Web.

Walter H. Ebling’s entry in the Wisconsin Blue Book of 1935, backed up statistics that I

have found previously from other sources. Ebling’s reasoning for the statistics, also

helped me understand the effects of the Agricultural Adjustment Act.

"Emergency Farm Loans." Farm Loan Programs. United States Department of Agriculture, n.d.

Web.

This United States Department of Agriculture publishing helped me understand what was

available for farmers today as far as subsidies and emergency loans.

"Farm Foreclosures." (n.d.): n. pag. Rpt. in Encyclopedia of the Great Depression. Ed. Robert S.

McElvaine. N.p.: Macmillan Reference USA, 2004. Web.

This section of McElvaine's textbook, went into detail about what caused the farm

foreclosures (the bank’s financial struggles). It also provided statistics about the amount

of foreclosures during the Great Depression.

"Farmers Eager for Right to Kill Attacking Wolves | Fox News." Fox News. FOX News

Network, 26 Jan. 2012. Web.

This news article from FOX News Network, proved how the Livestock Indemnity

Program’s goal has been to steer away from deadly action such as the unnecessary killing

of animals and instead to compensate farmers in order to help them repay for the loss of

their animals

Ganzel, Bill. "AAA, the Agricultural Adjustment Act & Administration." AAA, the Agricultural

Adjustment Act & Administration. Living History Farm, 2003. Web.

This website related more to the farmers than Franklin D. Roosevelt. It gave a description

of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933 and how it directly affected farmers. It also

gave different reasons for farmer’s participation or the lack of participation.

19

Ganzel, Bill. "A New Deal for Farmers during the Great Depression." Living History Farm. N.p.,

2003. Web.

This post on this website showed what inspired Franklin D. Roosevelt and what his

motives

were when he passed the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933. In order to prove

Roosevelt was for the farmers, this article was necessary.

Gaziano, Todd F. "The Use and Abuse of Executive Orders and Other Presidential Directives."

The Heritage Foundation. The Heritage Foundation, 21 Feb. 2001. Web.

The Heritage Foundation published this article to provide readers information about

presidents who have used and abused their executive powers. From this source I found a

chart that shows that Franklin D. Roosevelt used the most executive orders than any other

president.

Hook, Sue Vander. The Dust Bowl. Ed. Jill Sherman. Edina, MN: ABDO, 2009. Google Books.

Google. Web.

Sue Vander Hook’s book The Dust Bowl summarized all of the issues farmers faced

during the great depression. It also gave information about the many protests from this

time period. The Dust Bowl spoke more about the farm life in general than just the Dust

Bowl, therefore it was a crucial source for my paper.

Lauer, Joe, Paul Porter, and Ed Oplinger. "The Corn and Soybean Rotation Effect." Wisconsin

Corn Agronomy. UW-Extension, n.d. Web.

This piece of advice from Lauer, Porter, and Oplinger gave statistics about proper crop

rotation and how not to deprive soil of nutrients. If farmers had this knowledge in the

1930s, some of their struggles could have been solved.

Leuchtenburg, William E. The American President: From Teddy Roosevelt to Bill Clinton. N.p.:

Oxford UP, 2015. Google Books. Google. Web.

This book by Leuchtenburg gave a brief biography of Franklin D. Roosevelt. It gave me a

quote regarding Congress’ opinion on Roosevelt. This book was essential to show the

criticism Roosevelt received.

20

Leuchtenburg, William E. "When Franklin Roosevelt Clashed with the Supreme Court – and

Lost." Smithsonian. Smithsonian, 2005. Web.

This article gave direct quotes from the United States v. Butler court case. It stated many

the many oppositions of the Agricultural Adjustment Act and other cases regarding

Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal.

Schneiderman, Dee. "Relationship Between Roosevelt & Congress."Synonym. Demand Media,

n.d. Web.

This article explains the relationship between Roosevelt and his Congress. Roosevelt and

Congress disagreed many times, and Schneiderman was able to display this in

“Relationship Between Roosevelt & Congress.”

Selz-Pralle, Pamela. "Selz-Pralle's Response To Farm Subsidies." E-mail interview. 22 Feb.

2016.

This e-mail interview between myself and Selz-Pralle focused on one question. Selz-

Pralle explained the initial opinion on subsidies.

"Stretching Executive Power in Wartime." Campaigning for History. The New York Times, 27

May 2007. Web.

This opinion article showed me how Congress’ support for Roosevelt’s executive orders

was essential for the progress of agriculturists.

"Subsidy." Def. 1. Merriam-Webster. N.p., 2015. Web.

Merriam-Webster’s definition of the term “subsidy” was used in my historical paper so I

could introduce the word formally.

Summers, Robert S. "Franklin D. Roosevelt." President of the United States. N.p., 26 Jan. 2014.

Web.

Summer’s summary of Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidency was crucial for my research. It

showed me what his morals were and how he was a progressive president.

Trueman, C. N. "Farmers and the New Deal." History Learning Site. N.p., 22 May 2015. Web.

This website proved how the New Deal greatly impacted farmers for the better, no matter

what their current situation was. It also explained how the struggles of farmers were

being carried out because the Hoover administration did little for the farmers.

21

"WWI Casualties and Deaths Table." Wisconsin Public Television. PBS, n.d. Web.

This source informed me of how many European soldiers went to World War I that could

no longer fill the markets with produce.

franklin d. roosevelt - national history day in...

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