I. First New Deal (the "Hundred Days")
A. Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) and election of 1932
1.Roosevelt background
1.Symbolic representative of ordinary citizens
2.Fifth cousin of Teddy Roosevelt
3.Graduated from Harvard
4.Contracted polio and lost the use of his legs, confined to a wheelchair
2. "New deal" promise in his speech accepting the democratic nomination for president in 1932
A. Vagueness
B. Popular reception
C. Guaranteed every man a right to comfortable living, balanced federal budget, repeal of Prohibition
3. Outcome
A. FDR landslide victory over Herbert Hoover, 57% of popular vote
B. Strong Democratic gains in Congress
B. Initial approach to economic crisis
1. New Deal as alternative to socialist, Nazi, and laissez-faire solutions
A. Hoped to reconcile democracy, individual liberty, and economic planning
2. Lack of initial blueprint
A. At first, he relied heavily for advice on a group of intellectuals and social workers who took up key positions in his administration
B. Drew in reform traditions of the progressive era
C. His advisers did not speak with one voice and were often in conflict with one another
3. Circle of advisors
A. Leading figures
B. Outlooks
I. Roots in Progressive reform
II.Dominant preference for regulated "bigness"
1. Elements
a. Production quotas
But not until the 1930s did the federal government launch the program of dam construction that transformed the region. The project created thousands of jobs for the unemployed, and the network of dams produced abundant cheap power.
b. Subsidies for removal of land from cultivation
The project also had less appealing consequences. Fromtimeimmemorial,theColumbiaRiverhadbeenfilledwithsalmon.ButtheGrand CouleeDammadenoprovisionforthepassageoffish,andthesalmonallbutvanished.
c. Destruction of crops, livestock
The Depression did not produce a single pattern of international public response.
2. Aims: revival of farm prices and incomes
“the trustee for those in every country who seek to mend the evils of our condition by reasoned experiment within the framework of the existing social system.”
3. Outcomes
a. Revival of farm prices and incomes
Roosevelt oversaw the transformation of the Democratic Party into a coalition of farmers,industrial workers, the reform-minded urban middle class, liberal intellectuals, northern African-Americans,
b. Uneven impact on farmers
i. Gains for landowning farmers
Rather than walking out of a plant, thus enabling management to bring in strikebreakers, workers halted production but remained inside.
ii. Exclusion and displacement of tenants, sharecroppers
The victory in the auto industry reverberated throughout industrialAmerica.
4. Worsening of rural hardship
a. Dust Bowl and mass displacement of farmers
Windsnowblewmuchofthesoilaway,creatingtheDustBowl,astheaffect-ed areas of Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, andColorado were called. A local newspaper described the situation in CimarronCounty,Oklahoma:“Notabladeofwheat;cattle dying on the range, ninety percent of the poultry dead
b. John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath
OtherimportantmeasuresofRoosevelt’sfirsttwoyearsinofficeincludedthe ratification of the Twenty-first Amendment to the Constitution, whichrepealed Prohibition;
H. New Deal and housing
1. Initiatives
a. Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC)
The Home Owners Loan Corporation and FederalHousing Administration (FHA) insured millions of long-term mortgages issued by private banks.
b. Federal Housing Administration (FHA)
The Home Owners Loan Corporation and FederalHousing Administration (FHA) insured millions of long-term mortgages issued by private banks.
c. Federal construction of low-rent housing
thenation’sbroadcastairwavesandtelephonecom-munications; and the creation of the Securities and Exchange Commission to regulate the stock and bond markets.
2. Aims
a. Protection of homeowners from foreclosure
In 1935, the Supreme Court, still controlled by conservative Republican judges who held to the nineteenth-century understanding of freedom as liberty of contract, began to invalidate key New Deal laws.
b. Expanded access to home ownership
In a unanimous decision, the Court declared the NRA unlawful because in its codes and other regulations it delegated legislative powers to the president and attempted to regulate local businesses that did not engage in interstate commerce.
c. Inexpensive rental housing
At the same time, the federal government itself built thousands of units of low-rent housing. New Deal housing policy represented a remarkable departure from previous government practice.
3. Outcomes
a. Preservation or attainment of home ownership for millions
In 1935, the Supreme Court, still controlled by conservative Republican judges who held to the nineteenth-century understanding of freedom as liberty of contract, began to invalidate key New Deal laws.
b. Affirmation of "security of the home" as fundamental right
Having failed to end the Depression or win judicial approval, the FirstNew Deal ground to a halt.
I. Further Initiative
1. Repeal of Prohibition
2. Federal Communications Commissions
3. Securities and Exchange Commissions
J. Overall Impact
1. Transformation of Role of Federal Government
2. Scale of relief, public projects
3. Failure to end depression
K. Supreme Court and new deal
1. Invalidation of NRA Schecter poultry case
2. Invalidation of AAA; USA vs Butler
A. Labor's great upheaval—reawakening the labor movement
1. Preconditions
a. Encouraging signals from federal government
1. Election of FDR-
2. Section 7a of National Industrial Recovery Act- granted workers legal rights to form unions.
3. Wagner Act
b. Receding of ethnic differences- immigrants dominated the industrial labor force.
c. Militant leadership- socialist and communists.
2. Aspirations
a. Better wages- workers demands went beyond this.
b. Check on employer power- ends arbitrary power.
c. Labor rights- allowed to organize into unions
d. Union recognition- 1934 2,000 strikes
3. Labor upheaval of 1934
a. Nationwide wave of strikes- 2,000 strikes
b. Major strikes
1. Toledo auto workers-10,000 striking auto workers
2. Minneapolis truck drivers- four month strike by truck drivers
3. San Francisco dockworkers-first general strike since 1919
4. Textile workers (New England to Deep South)
B. Rise of Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO)
1. Origins
a. Split within American Federation of Labor (AFL)- welders, or machine repairers
b. Walkout of insurgent AFL leaders; John L. Lewis-
2. Agenda
a. Organization of industrial bastions- CIO set out to create unions here
b. "Economic freedom and industrial democracy"- Lewis said this about of bastions of American economy
3. Landmark struggles
a. United Auto Workers sit-down strikes (Cleveland, Flint)- March 1937
1. Spirit of militancy, unity
2. Victory, recognition by General Motors
b. SteelWorkersOrganizingCommittee
1. Recognition by U.S. Steel- company agreed to recognize it
2. Continued resistance from small firms; Republic strike bloodshed- 1937 picnic strike by rebuild steel workers
4. Overall progress
a. Explosion of union membership- 9 million by 1940
b. Achievement of workplace power, dignity-
c. Impact on politics
5. Political vision
a. Activist federal government
b. Economic and social security
c. Redistribution of wealth
C. Voices of protest—other crusaders for economic justice
1. Upton Sinclair; End Poverty in California movement
2. Huey Long; Share-Our-Wealth movement
3. Father Charles E. Coughlin
4. Dr. Francis Townsend; Townsend Clubs
Second New Deal
A.Triggering factors
1.Persistence of Depression - Roosevelt failed to pull the country out of the Depression.
2.Popularunrest - Many wanted greater economic equality.
3.Democratic gains of 1934 - Led to Roosevelt launching The Second New Deal in 1935.
B.Underlying aims
1.Economic security - The main emphasis of the Second New Deal was economic security.
2.Redistribution of income; broadening of purchasing power - Americans were guaranteed to be protected against unemployment and poverty.
C.Central initiatives
1.Tax on wealth, corporate profits - Congress levied a highly publicized tax on large fortunes and corporate profits.
2.Rural Electrification Agency - One of the most successful programs.
A.Electric power to farmers - By 1950, 90% of farmers had received electricity.
B.Soil conservation - The Federal Government promoted soil conservation and family farming.
C.Minimal benefits for non-landholders - The federal government purchasing and converting land, allowed benefits to mainly the landowners and not the sharecroppers.
3.Works Projects Administration (WPA)
A.Mass participation - Hired 3 million Americans.
B.Impact on national life - Improved and changed the physical face of the United States.
C.Infrastructure - It constructed thousands of public buildings and bridges, more than 500,000 miles of roads, and 600 airports.
D.The arts - The most famous WPA projects were in the Arts.
4.Wagner Act (National Labor Relations Act)
A.Provisions - Allowed the National Labor Relations Board to supervise elections in which employees voted on union representation.
B.Rights to organize, union representation, collective bargaining - It outlawed the firing and blacklisting of union organizers.
C.Federal enforcement; National Labor Relations Board - Theyenforcedthe outlawing of unfair labor practices.
D.Democratization of workplace; "Labor's Magna Carta" - Early landmark in the history of freedom.
5.The American welfare state—Social Security Act (1935)
A.Provisions - It was supposed to ensure the material well-being of ordinary Americans.
a)Unemploymentinsurance
b)Old-age pensions
c)Aid to disabled, elderly poor, and families with dependent children
B.Key features
a)System of taxes on employers and workers
b)Mix of national and local funding, control, and eligibility standards
C.Significance: launching of American welfare state - The American Government would now supervise not simply temporary relief but a permanent system of social insurance.
D.In comparison with European versions
A.FDR and the idea of freedom—Contested meanings
-Superb politician and master of political communication
-harnessed radio's power to bring his message directly into American homes
-"fireside chats": his radio shows
1. New Deal version
a. Expanded power of national state
-reclaimed the word freedom and made it a cry for the New Deal
b. Social and industrial freedom
-"greater security for the average man"
-if life wasn't safe for citizens he made sure he helped them
c. Economic security over liberty of contract
-reckless spending restricted American freedom
-American Liberty League
d. FDR and modern liberalism
-laissez-faire
2. Anti-New Deal version
-working class voters had he majority
a. Freedom from government regulation, fiscal responsibility
-democrats wanted "democracy of opportunity for all the people"
b. Individual freedom
-united whites, northern blacks, Protestants, Catholics and Jews p
c. American Liberty League
-conservative business men and politicians
-mobilized opposition to Roosevelt's policies
d. Hoover's The Challenge to Liberty
-launched strident attacks on FDR for endangering "fundamental American liberties"
B. Election of 1936
1.FDR vs. Republican Alfred Landon
- Landon denounced Social Security and other measures as threats to industrial liberty
- FDR insisted that "new despotism" was the main issue of the election
2.Sharp divisions between classes, conceptions of freedom
3.Outcome: Roosevelt landslide
4.Significance
a. Seeds of anti-government conservatism
b. "New Deal coalition"
- antigovernment conservatism bent on upholding the free market and dismantling the welfare state
5.FDR's second inaugural
- his second address was the first to be delivered on January 20th
C. The court fight—the court-packing plan
1. Motivations
-the depression
-the country as "too little"
2. Widespread alarm over
-people feared the president was an aspiring dictator
3. Ultimate success
a. New receptiveness of Supreme Court to New Deal regulation
-Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes
-new definition of freedom
b. Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes conversion
D. Winding down of Second New Deal
- momentum of the second new deal slowed
1. Last major New Deal measures
a. United States Housing Act
- passed in 1937, initiating the first major national effort to build homes for the poorest Americans
b. Fair Labor Standards Act
- bill failed to reach the floor for over a year
- finally passed in 1938
- it banned goods produced by child labor
2. 1937 economic downturn
- Roosevelt reduced federal funding for farm subsides and WPA work relief
3. Shift in New Deal approach to economic crisis
a. Adoption of Keynesian, public spending tool
b. Discontinuation of economic planning, redistribution
A. New Deal and American women
1. Expanded presence of women in federal government-they advised the president and shaped public policy. (Eleanor D. Roosevelt was most prominent)
2. Political decline of feminism-. As the New Deal increased women's visibility in national politics, organized feminism disappeared as a political force.
3. Depression-era resistance to women's employment-the women workforce rise and the government tried to reverse this trend with:
a. From government-The Economy Act of 1932 (prohibited both members of a married couples from holding federal jobs)
b. From labor movement-barred women from jobs. Women should be supported by men.
4. Uneven access to New Deal benefits-did not exclude women from benefits. The male-headed household powerfully shaped social policy.
B. Exclusion of blacks from key entitlements of welfare state
1. The southern veto, southern Democrats' power-southern blacks lost the right to vote. Democrats enjoyed a political monopoly of the region.
2. Confinement to public assistance portion of Social Security Act
a. Dismal provisions-came from the political left and black organizations.
b. Stigma of welfare dependency-open to all who could prove they were in need of financial aid. The benefits were low. Standard moral decided if hey were elegable.
C."Indian New Deal"
1.Commissioner of Indian Affairs John Collier
-Launched an Indian New Deal
2.Transformation of Indian policy
a.Shift from forced assimilation to cultural autonomy
-He replaced boarding schools meant to eradicate the tribal heritage of Indian children with schools on reservations, and dramatically increased on Indian Health
b.Indian Reorganization Act
-Federal authorities once again recognized Indians' right to govern their own affairs, except where specifically limited by national laws
3.Limits of progress
a.Legal
-the Navajos, the nations's largest tribe, refused to cooperate with the Reorganization Act as a protest against a federal soil conservation program that required them to reduce their herds of livestock
b.Material
-The government did not make any of the irrigation water available to the region's reservations
D.Mexican-Americans and the New Deal
1.Meager opportunity for work
-With demand for their labor plummeting, more than 400,000 returned to Mexico, some voluntarily, others at the strong urging of local authorities in the southwest.
2.Mass departure for Mexico (voluntary and forced)
-A majority of those encouraged to leave the country were recent immigrations, but they included perhaps 200,000 Mexican-American children who had been born in the United States and were therefore citizens
3.Situation of California farmworkers
a.Grim conditions
-In California's vegetable and fruit fields, whose corporate farms benefited enormously from New Deal dam construction that provided them with cheap electricity and water for irrigation
b.Exclusion from Social Security and Wagner Acts
-The Wagner and Social Security Acts did not apply to agricultural laborers
c.Suppression of unionism
-When the workers tried to organize a union as part of the decade's labor upsurge, they were brutally suppressed.
E. Hardships for African-Americans
1. "Last hired and first fired"
As the “last hired and first fired,” African-Americans were hit hardest by the Depression.Even those whoretained their jobs now faced competition from unemployed whites who had previously considered positions like waiter and porter beneath them.With an unemployment rate double that ofwhites, blacks benefited disproportionately from direct government reliefand, especially in northern cities, jobs on New Deal public-works projects. Half of the families in Harlem received public assistance during the 1930s.
2. Disproportionate rates of unemployment
The Depression propelled economic survival to the top of the black agenda. Demonstrations in Harlem demanded jobs in the neighborhood’s white-owned stores, with the slogan “Don’t Buy Where You Can’t Work.”
3. Growing black focus on economic survival
W. E. B. Du Boisabandoned his earlier goal of racial integration as unrealistic for the foreseeable future. Blacks, he wrote, must recognize themselves as “a nation within a nation.” He called on blacks to organize for economic survival by building an independent, cooperative economy within their segregated communities, and to gain control of their own separate schools (a position reminiscent of that of Booker T. Washington, whom he had ear-lier condemned).
F. New Deal for blacks
1.Egalitarian current in New Deal
Although Roosevelt seems to have had little personal interest in race relationsor civil rights, he appointedMary McLeod Bethune, a prominent black educator, as a special adviser on minority affairs and a number of other blacks to important federal positions.
2. Shift of black voters to Democratic party
Thanks to the New Deal, Bethune proclaimed, a “new day” had dawned when blacks would finally reach “the promised land of liberty.” The decade witnessed a historic shift in black voting patterns.
3. Preservation/reinforcement of racial order by New Deal
a.FDR failure to support federal antilynching la
Despite a massive lobbying campaign, southern congressmen prevented passage of a federal antilynching law. FDR offered little support.
b. Discriminatory aspects of New Deal
Despite a massive lobbying campaign, southern congressmen prevented passage of a federal antilynching law. FDR offered little support. “I did not choose the tools with which I must work,” he told Walter White of the NAACP; he could not jeopardize his economic programs by alienating powerful members of Congress.