unit 9.5. worst year of the depression also an election year- fdr defeats hoover fdr was governor...
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ELECTION OF 1932
Worst year of the Depression also an election year- FDR defeats Hoover
FDR was governor of NY; suffered from polio and did most of his campaigning from car or train
Pledged a “new deal” for Americans
Repeal of prohibition, aid for the unemployed, and cuts in government spending
Supported by many, regardless of party affiliation
Congress became largely Democratic
20TH AMENDMENT Between the 1932 election in November and
FDR’s inauguration in March 1933, Hoover remained president
He was a “lame duck” president, powerless to do anything about the worsening depression
The 20th Amendment (the “lame duck” amendment) shortened the period between presidential elections and inaugurations Set January 20th as the new date for a president’s
inauguration
BRAIN TRUST & OTHER ADVISORS
In giving shape to his New Deal, Roosevelt relied on a group of advisors who assisted had him as governor of NY
Brain Trust: Columbia professors of law, political science, and economics
Most diverse group of people ever appointed to Cabinet positions (African Americans, Catholics, Jews, and women)
THE FIRST 100 DAYS
After being sworn in on March 4, 1933, Roosevelt immediately called Congress into a hundred-day-long special session
During this time, Congress passed into law every request of President Roosevelt Enacted more major legislation than any other
Congress in history
Bank holiday, repeal of prohibition, fireside chats
RECOVERY PROGRAMS
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) Guaranteed individual bank deposits up to $5,000
Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) Offered outright federal grants to state/local
governments operating soup kitchens or other forms of relief for the jobless/homeless
Public Works Administration (PWA) Allotted money to state and local governments for
building roads, bridges, dams, and other public works Provided thousands of public jobs
RECOVERY PROGRAMS
Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Employed young men on projects on federal
lands and paid their families small monthly sums
Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) A government corporation that hired people
living in the Tennessee Valley to build dams, operate electric power plants, control flooding and erosion, and manufacturing fertilizer
Sold electricity to residents at much lower rates than private companies
RECOVERY PROGRAMS
National Recovery Administration (NRA) Attempted to guarantee reasonable profits for
businesses and fair wages/hours for laborers
Help major industries set codes for wages, work hours, levels of production, and prices; gave workers the right to organize and bargain collectively
The NRA was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in Schechter v. U.S.
RECOVERY PROGRAMS
Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA) Similar to what the NRA did for industry
Encouraged farmers to reduce production (and therefore boost prices) by offering to pay government subsidies for every acre they plowed under
Also declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1935
RECOVERY PROGRAMS
The Civil Works Administration (CWA) Hired laborers for temporary construction
projects sponsored by the federal government
Employed over 4 million people to work for $15 a week
RELIEF PROGRAMS
Roosevelt’s first two years in office largely focused on recovery efforts
In 1935, the so-called second New Deal was launched
This batch of new legislation concentrated on relief and reform
RELIEF PROGRAMS
Works Progress Administration (WPA) Spent billions of dollars from
1935-1940 to provide jobs (3.4 million)
Most put to work constructing new bridges, roads, airports, and public buildings
Unemployed artists, writers, and actors were paid by the WPA to paint murals, write histories, and perform in plays
Resettlement Administration (RA) Provided loans to
sharecroppers, tenants, and small famers
Established federal camps were migrant workers could find decent housing
REFORM PROGRAMS
Reform legislation of the second New Deal reflected Roosevelt’s belief that industrial workers/farmers needed to receive more government assistance than members of business and privileged classes
Increased tax rates on incomes of the wealthy, on large gifts from parent to child, as well as on capital gains (sale of stocks or property)
REFORM PROGRAMS
Wagner Act (1935) Guaranteed a worker’s
right to join a union and a union’s right to bargain collectively
Outlawed business practices that were unfair to labor
National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) was empowered to enforce the law and protect worker’s rights
Rural Electrification Administration (REA) Provided loans for
electrical cooperatives to supply power in rural areas
THE SOCIAL SECURITY ACT (1935)
Created a federal insurance program based upon the automatic collection of taxes from employees and employers throughout people’s working careers
Social Security trust fund would be used to make monthly payments to retired persons over the age of 65 Also provided compensation for the
unemployed, disabled, and dependent children and their mothers
THE ELECTION OF 1936
Economy improved, but still weak/unstable
Republican challenger Alf Landon criticized the Democrats for spending too much money on the New Deal
Roosevelt wins in a landslide Every state but Vermont and Maine More than 60% of the popular vote
Many African Americans left the Republican party in support of Roosevelt’s New Deal
CRITICS OF THE NEW DEAL
While a large majority of Americans supported Roosevelt, New Deal programs were still highly controversial
New Deal legislation became the target of many liberals, conservatives, and demagogues
CRITICS OF THE NEW DEAL
Father Charles E. Coughlin Attracted a huge following
through weekly radio broadcasts
Called for issuing an inflated currency and nationalizing all banks
His attacks on the New Deal became increasingly anti-Semitic and Fascist before his superiors in the Catholic Church ordered him to stop his broadcasts
CRITICS OF THE NEW DEAL
Dr. Francis E. Townsend Proposed that a 2%
federal sales tax be used to create a special fund
Every retired person over 60 could receive $200 a month
Popularity of this plan persuaded Roosevelt to substitute a more moderate plan- the Social Security system
CRITICS OF THE NEW DEAL
Huey Long Louisiana “Kingfish”
Senator
Proposed the “Share our Wealth” program that promised a min. annual income of $5,000 for every American family to be paid for by taxing the wealthy
In 1935, Long challenged Roosevelt’s leadership of the Democratic party by announcing his candidacy for presidency
Killed by an assassin
CRITICS OF THE NEW DEAL
Conservatives claimed that programs such as the WPA and labor laws such as the Wagner Act bordered on Socialism or even Communism
Alarmed by: Increased regulations
Pro-union stance of second New Deal legislation
Financing government programs by means of borrowed money (deficit financing)
“COURT-PACKING”
Roosevelt did not appoint any Justices to the Supreme Court in his first term
In hopes of removing the Court as an obstacle to New Deal legislation, Roosevelt proposed a judicial-reorganization bill in 1937 Critics called it a “court-packing” deal
Proposed that the president be authorized to appoint to the Supreme Court an additional justice for each current justice over the age of 70.5 years
Would have allowed Roosevelt to add up to six more justices to the Court Many politicians (including Democrats) saw this as an attempt to tamper
with the system of checks and balances; decisively defeated by Congress
RISE OF UNIONS
New Deal measures (National Industrial Recovery Act & the Wagner Act) legalized labor unions
Committee of Industrial Workers (C.I.O.) Led by John L. Lewis Broke away from the American Federation of
Labor (AFL) and became its chief rival Concentrated on organizing union workers in the
automobile, steel, and southern textile industries
LAST PHASE OF THE NEW DEAL
Recession 1937-38 Economy entered a recession in the winter of 1937
Social Security tax reduced consumer spending at the same time Roosevelt was curtailing expenditures for relief and public works programs
Keynesian Economics Deficit spending was acceptable in difficult times because the
government needed to spend well above its tax revenues in order to initiate economic growth
Deficit spending was like “priming the pump” to increase investment and create jobs
As federal spending on public works and relief went up, so too did employment and industrial production
LIFE DURING THE DEPRESSION
Women Added pressures placed on
the family caused many more women to seek work
Accused of taking jobs away from men
Despite efforts on the part of Eleanor Roosevelt, New Deal legislation still allowed for women to receive lower wages than men
LIFE DURING THE DEPRESSION
Dust Bowl Famers Severe drought in the
1930s ruined crops
Poor farming practices over generations and high winds blew away tons of dried topsoil
Thousands of “Okies” and farmers from surrounding states moved westward to California in search of farm or factory work
John Steinbeck- The Grapes of Wrath (1939)
LIFE DURING THE DEPRESSION
African Americans Racial discrimination was
devastating for African Americans in the 1930s
Unemployment rate was higher than the national average
Excluded from state and local relief programs
Civil rights leaders got little support from Roosevelt, who feared losing the support of white southern Democrats
LEGACY OF THE NEW DEAL
Roosevelt’s New Deal was unique and there was nothing quite like it in later decades in terms of the challenges faced and the legislative records achieved
Historians have continued to debate whether the New Deal represented a revolutionary break with the past or an evolutionary outgrowth of earlier movements