Chapter 10 Page 1
Chapter 10 Roosevelt and the New Deal
The New Deal
I. A New Deal Fights the Depression
Americans Get a New Deal
Ø The 1932 presidential election showed that the Americans were clearly ready for a change
Ø Before FDR was president many states governors declared “bank holidays
1) Electing Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) – Democrat – governor of New York
q Wins an easy victory over Hoover and the Democrats also win control of both houses of Congress
q Why was this victory easy for FDR and the Democrats?
Presidents Hoover’s apparent failure to do
2) Waiting for FDR to take over
q FDR began to formulate a set of policies (the NEW DEAL) that would deal with problems caused by the Great Depression (Relief, Recovery, Reform)
3) The Hundred Days
q Between March 9 and June 16, 1933 , FDR launched a period of intense activity known as the Hundred Days – 15 major pieces of legislation
q What was the Emergency Banking Relief Act? Shut down banks until government inspected them
4) An Important Fireside Chat
q DEFINE fireside chats = FDR’s radio talks designed to calm down Americans
q What was their significance? People again began to deposit money in banks
q By the day of FDR’s inauguration in 1933 most of the nation’s banks were closed
5) Regulating Banking and Finance
q After his inauguration President Roosevelt’s first challenge was to restore America’s confidence
q Glass-Steagall Act = established the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) – it provided federal insurance for individual bank accounts
q Separated commercial from investment banking
q Federal Securities Act = required corporations to provide complete information on all stock offerings
ü What is the SEC? the Security and Exchange Commission whose job was to regulate the Stock Market
Helping the American People
Ø The Roosevelt administration also implemented programs to provide relief to farmers and other workers; also attempted to stimulate the economy
1) Rural Assistance
q Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA) = sought to raise crop prices by lowering production by paying farmers not to grow as much of their crop.
q What did the government also do that upset many Americans? Paid hog farmers to slaughter 6 million pigs
q The Farm Security Administration gave loans to tenant farmers so that they could
q Congress authorized the Farm Credit Administration to help farmers
q Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) = created 1000s of jobs and provided electricity to the badly depressed Tennessee River Valley
2) Providing Work Projects
q Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) = young men to work building roads, planting trees, etc
q National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) =
3) Promoting Fair Practices
q NIRA also sought to promote industrial growth by establishing codes of fair practices for individual industries.
q Workers were allowed to organize unions and bargain collectively.
4) Food, Clothing, and Shelter – New Deal programs that dealt with homes
q Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC) = provided government loans to homeowners who could not make loan payments.
q Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) = $500 million to provide relief for the needy
The New Deal Comes Under Attack
Ø DEFINE deficit spending = spending more money than you are making
1) The Supreme Court Reacts
q Supreme Court ruled some New Deal programs unconstitutional.
q What was FDR’s “court-packing” scheme?
FDR wanted to appoint 6 new justices who would be more sympathetic to his New Deal
2) Three Fiery Critics
- Charles Coughlin = The ‘Radio Priest” wanted a guaranteed national income and nationalization of banks. Anti-semitic views eventually cost him support.
- Attracted to the ideas of Frances Townshend
- Dr. Francis Townshend = believed FDR was not doing enough for the poor and elderly. He devised a monthly pension plan for the aged.
- Huey Long = the “King Fish” proposed a nation wide social program called “Share-Our-Wealth”. Everyone would have a home and income.
- President Roosevelt faced criticism from Democrat Huey long
II. The Second New Deal Takes Hold
The Second Hundred Days
Ø By 1935 the Roosevelt Administration was seeking ways to build on the programs established during the Hundred Days. (The Second New Deal)
ü Who pushed the President in this direction?
His wife Eleanor – a social reformer with great political skills
Ø The election of 1936
q Republicans ran Alfred Landon (governor of Kansas)
q President Roosevelt won a landslide election in 1936 in part because millions of Americans
q Democrats ran FDR and he won easily.
ü What (2) groups voted Democrat for the 1st time?
African-Americans and Labor unions
Roosevelt Extends Relief
Ø As part of the Second New Deal, the Roosevelt administration and Congress set up a series of programs to help youths, professionals, and other workers.
Works Progress Administration (WPA)
q Set out to create as many as jobs as possible as quickly as possible
q Headed by Harry Hopkins (former chief of FERA)
q Spent $11 billion and gave jobs to more than 8 million workers
q
Employed 8.5 million workers
Built 65,000 miles of roadways
125,000 public buildings
853 airports
124,000 bridges
8,000 parks
Ø List jobs for unskilled workers: construction workers
Ø List jobs for skilled workers:
National Youth Administration (NYA)
q Created specifically to provide education, jobs, counseling and recreation for young people. Students worked part-time jobs while in school
Improving Labor and Other Reforms
Ø FDR brought about important reforms in the areas of labor relations and economic security for retired workers.
Ø President Roosevelt’s and new Deal supporters in Congress believed that
1) Improving Labor Conditions
q After the Supreme Court ruled the NIRA unconstitutional, FDR and Congress passed the Wagner Act or National Labor Relations (3 provisions)
1. allowed for workers to join unions
2.
3. National Labor Relations Board – watch unfair labor practices and labor elections
q Formed after the passage of Wagner Act, the Committee for Industrial Organizations set out to organize all
q Fair Labor Standards Act = maximum hours per week (44), minimum wage ($.25), set rules for those under 16 and banned hazardous work for 18 and under
1) The Social Security Act – 1935
q Explain the following three provisions of this Act
1. Old-Age Insurance – 65 and older receive pension funded by workers/employers
For FDR, the payroll taxes imposed on workers and employees to help pay for Social
Security benefits were of the economic program
2. Unemployment Compensation - helped workers who were unemployed
3. Aid to Families – families with dependent children/disabled received money
By establishing safeguards and relief programs that protected against economic disaster were called
III. The New Deal Affects Many Groups
Ø President Roosevelt cut spending just as the first Social Security payroll removed 2 billion from the economy
Ø Roosevelt cited an which held the government should spend heavily in a recession to jump start the economy.
Ø The New Deal represented an important opportunity for minorities and women, but what they gained was limited:
1. Women
q Frances Perkins – 1st female cabinet member (Sec of Labor)
ü Instrumental in Social Security and labor legislation
q Still faced much discrimination (IDENTIFY)
Lower wages then men – accused of taking men’s jobs
2. American Indians
q Restored Indian reservation lands, giving Native Americans control over their lands, permitting them to elect their own governments
3. African-Americans
q required that contractors not discriminate against African Americans
q FDR appointed more than 100 African-Americans to key positions in the government
ü IDENTIFY
ü A. Philip Randolph African-American labor leader
ü Mary M. Bethune educator who worked for promoting opportunities for young African-Americans
ü the Black Cabinet group of African-American advisors to the President
FDR Creates the New Deal Coalition
Ø DEFINTION = an alignment of diverse groups dedicated to supporting the Democratic Party (Southerners, urban groups, blacks, union workers)
1) Labor Unions Flourish
q 1933-1941 membership grew from 3 million to 10 million
q IDENTIFY the CIO Congress of Industrial Organizations (large labor union)
q What was the Memorial Day Massacre?
10 people were killed and many were injured when police broke up a steel workers strike in Chicago
IV. The Impact of the New Deal
Ø By 1939 the New Deal was effectively over, and FDR was increasingly concerned with events in Europe, particularly Hitler’s rise to power.
Ø Economic Recovery from the Great Depression would not be complete and unemployment would remain high until
1) Supporters and Critics of the New Deal
§ Conservatives thought that FDR’s policies made the federal government to large and to powerful; stifled free enterprise and individual initiative
§ One legacy of the New Deal is the continuing debate over how much the government should
§ What did liberals think? FDR did not go far enough to socialize the economy
2) Expanding Government’s Role in the Economy
§ New Deal gave the President the power to have a more active role in the economy. HOW? Regulating supply and demand and government spending
§ The federal government, however, began getting deeper into debt from all the government spending plans
§ To pay for many New Deal Plan programs, President Roosevelt abandoned a balanced budget and began using
3) Protecting Worker’s Rights
§ New Deal legislation set standards for wages and hours, banned child labor, and ensured the right of workers to organize and collectively bargain.
§ . was a new Deal law that abolished child labor
4) Banking and Finance
§ New polices were enacted (SEC + FDIC) to regulate the stock market and to look over the banking industry.
Social and Environmental Effects
1) Social Security
§ The government undertook the creation of a Social Security system that would help a large number of needy Americans receive some assistance.
2) The Rural Scene
§ New Deal legislation set up quotas on the production of crops such as wheat to control surpluses.
§ Rural electrification helped to improve conditions in rural America
3) The Environment
§ Americans also continue to benefit from New Deal efforts to protect the environment.
§ IDENTIFY the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)
Federal project that built a series of dams that provided electricity for the Tennessee Valley