CHAPTER 23JOEL GARCIA

FRANCISCO GUADAMUZJUAN CARLOS GUERRERO

YUNIA HERNANDEZCARLOS IZQUIERDO

STEPHEN MENENDEZMARLEN ROMERO

The New Deal

SECTION 1

Forging a New Deal

Nation’s Hope

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was inaugurated on March 1933. “The only thing we have to fear is

fear itself.” Roosevelt felt that the only way to

have the public support his plans was to clam panic and create confidence in the future.

He promised a new deal

New Deal: Name given to programs presented

by Roosevelt in order to alleviate the Great Depression

Financial Institutions

In the first hundred days on his presidency, Roosevelt pushed for programs that provided relief, created jobs, and stimulated the economy.

March 5, 1933: All banks ordered to close for four days Emergency Banking Act approved on March 9th Banks re-opened on March 15

Glass – Steagall Banking ActFederal Securities ActSecurities Exchange Act and Securities and

Exchange CommissionCongress gave the Federal Reserve Board the power

to regulate the purchase on the stick market. In July 1933, Roosevelt decreased the value of the

currency by taking it off the gold standard.

Relief and Jobs

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC): Established March 1933 Put men to work maintaining parks, forests, and beaches Workers got free housing, food, and medical care

Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA): Established May 1933 Sent funds to local relief agencies and public works programs

Civil Works Administration (CWA): Established on November 1933 Put unemployed people to work improving roads, parks, and

airportsIndian Reorganization Act (1934): ended the sale of

tribal lands and restored lands to Indian owners

Economy

National industrial Recovery Act (NIRA): Established June 1933 Aimed to boost declining industrial prices Led to the creation of the National Recovery

Administration Aimed to stabilize the economy through planning NRA created codes to regulate wages and for some time

the codes helped but after prices rose and consumers stopped buying

NIRA’s work is now done by the Public Works Administration (PWA). Florida mainland connection to the Keys

Homeowners and Farmers

Home owners’ Loan Corporation (HOCL): refinanced about one million mortgages between 1933 and 1936 but many people stilled lost their homes.

National Housing Act (1934): Established the Federal Housing Administration (FHA)

Created to improve housing standards and conditions, and to stabilize the mortgage market

Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA): Established on May 1933 Tried to raise farm prices through government assistance Used profit from a new tax to pay farmers

Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA): Created May 1933 Helped farmers and provided cheap electric power

Reactivated a hydroelectric power facility from WWI

Important People in the New Deal

FRANCIS PERKINSFrancis Perkins was the first women to

ever be appointed to a Cabinet. Francis Perkins was formally a Progressive who headed the New York State Industrial Commission. Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Francis Perkins as Secretary of Labor. Francis Perkins played a big role in the New Deal because she pressed for laws that would help both the workers and the unemployed. Perkins accomplished economic justice and security for all Americans.

Francis Perkins

Important People in the New Deal

MARY MCLEOD BETHUNEMary McLeod Bethune was one of

the most important African American Women in the New Deal. Was a leader in the black women's club movement and served as president of the National Association of Colored Women. Mary Bethune was also a delegate and advisor to national conferences on education, child welfare, and home ownership for the Black. Mary McLeod Bethune was a main spokesperson for African American concerns.

Mary McLeod Bethune

Important People in the New Deal

ELEANOR ROOSEVELTEleanor Roosevelt was FDR’s wife

and distant cousin. She was an important character in the New Deal since she did all of her husband’s traveling. FDR could not travel because of his disability so Eleanor traveled for him, delivering all the news from the country. She was also known for standing up for what she believed in, sometimes causing problems for her husband.

Eleanor Roosevelt

Problems with the New Deal

When the New Deal did not show economic improvement people freaked and began to see its problems.

Most people worried that the New Deal was giving way too much power to the federal government therefore being unconstitutional.

The Supreme Court thought that the New Deal gave the president too much power since he was now allowed to make laws.

The Supreme Court also believed that the New Deal synchronized local, rather than interstate, business.

Another major problem was that millions of poor people were harmed by the New Deal.

The New Deal didn't increase the number of jobs in the economy, because the money spent on New Deal projects came from taxpayers who consequently had less money to spend on food, coats, cars, books and other things that would have stimulated the economy.

Second New Deal

Though FDR's first New Deal failed, people still had faith and rallied behind Roosevelt. And with the midterm elections of 1934, nationwide support for FDR's administration was evident. With hope to strike down the Depression, in 1935 FDR laid out a new plan that would hammer down the Depression. Historians claimed this period and legislation it produced the Second New Deal or the Second Hundred Days. Many critics stated that FDR was not doing much for the "ordinary Americans", FDR responded the bitter critiques with the Second New Deal. It included more social welfare benefits, stricter controls over business, stronger support for unions, and higher taxes on the rich.  

At the time, jobs were difficult to come by. New agencies sought to end this with the WPA or Works Progress Administration which was established in 1935 which employed more than 8 million citizens. With the WPA in effect, the agency managed to improve tens of thousands of playgrounds, schools, hospitals, & supported artwork and writers. The National Youth Administration was established within the WPA in the same year, provides the education, jobs, recreations, and counseling young men and women that were between the ages of 16 and 25, needed.

New and Expanded Agencies

The Second New Deal also acknowledged the hardships of agricultural workers. The original AAA had ignored farm workers that didn't own landed. Mexican American farm workers struggled to survive. Many returned to Mexico and others tried to form unions, only to be resisted from farming associations. In the south, when landlords accepted the AAA subsidies & took land of production, workers were left jobless as a result.

Rexford Tugwell, an economist in FDR’s Department of Agriculture, sought to appease the agriculture farm issue by loaning money to help resettle tenants and sharecroppers on productive land. It was not until 1937, that the Farm Security Administration (FSA) replaced Tudwell's agency banning more than $1 billion for migrant workers.

Rural Electrification

With the New Deal, electricity was brought to rural areas. By the 1930's, nearly 90% of Americans in rural areas. It was not encouraged for private companies to offer the provision of electricity due to the high cost in running power lines to remote areas. Roosevelt believed that the government was obliged to provide this essential service and not private enterprises. In order for this to persevere, in 1935 congress created the Rural Electrification Administration, which offered loans to electric companies and from cooperatives for building power plants and extending power lines and for farmers to wire their homes. Within four years, about 25% of rural households had electricity. The REA brought power to 98% of U.S. farms which also brought demands for electric appliances. This benefited manufacturing companies and local merchants.

New Labor Legislation

New labor legislation appeared once the NIRA provision, 7a, which granted labor unions the right to bargain and organize collectively, was expired due to the NIRA being declared unconstitutional. When this occurred, workers began demanding a new legislation to protect their rights. By July 1935, congress responded with the Wagner Act, named after its leading advocate, Robert Wagner. The act legalized such union practices such as collective bargaining & closed shops, which are the workplaces open exclusively to union members. The act also outlawed spying on union activities and blacklisting, a practice in which employers agreed not to hire union leaders. The act also established National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to enforce its provisions. The Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality, of the Wagner Act in the NLRB v. Jones and Laughlin (1939). The case established the federal government's ability to regulate disputes linked to interstate commerce. In 1935, Fair Labor Standards Act banned child labor & established a minimum wage for all workers covered under the act.

Social Security

In 1935, Congress passes the Social Security Act. It established a Social Security System in order to provide financial security in form of regular payments for people who can't support themselves. System offers 3 types of insurance:

Old Age pension & survivor's benefits- Workers & their employers paid equally into a nation's insurance fund. Retired workers or their surviving spouses were eligible to receive social security payments at age 65. The act didn't cover farm & domestic workers until 1954.

Unemployment insurance- Employer's with more than 8 employees funded this provision by paying by paying a tax.

Aid for dependent children, the blind, and the disabled- he federal government gave grants to states to help support needy individuals in these categories.

1936 Election

In the election of 1936, FDR faced the Kansas governor Alfred M. Landon. It was expected that FDR would win due to his popularity, yet no one would have foreseen the greatness of his victory. FDR swept the favor of every state except Maine and Vermont, winning 523-8 in the Electoral College. This meant everyone was for the New Deal, yet there were still some who disagreed.

SECTION 2

The New Deal’s Critics

WomenWomen African AmericansAfrican Americans

The new deal put women at a disadvantage.

One example is the NRA codes permitted lower wages for women's work in a quarter of al cases.

Jobs went to the male heads of the family, unless the men weren't able to work.

No program protected domestic service, women's largest occupation.

Federal relief programs reinforced racial segregation in the South.

Professional level jobs were not offered to African Americans as a rule.

They received lower pay for the same work.

Discriminatory practices still stood in the North.

Government offered no relief for violence against African Americans.

More African Americans supported FDR as time passed. They appreciated the help

of the programs for regaining employment.

FDR's record appealed to African Americans since he appointed more African Americans

than any president before him.

Limitations of the New Deal

Political Critics

Great Depression has people reacting to New Deal very differently Different political views criticize Roosevelt’s New Deal for what it does and

doesn’t do. Republicans opposed Roosevelt. They thought he went too far. Most of Roosevelt’s political oppositionists were wealthy white males. In the Early New Deal, people said that rural electrification was socialistic. Roosevelt imposes the Revenue Act of 1935 in the second New Deal that

was aimed at the rich (payback). The Social Security Act was seen as a beginning of a military society that

required any and all citizens to wear their numbers on dog tags in the future.

In 1934, American Liberty League was founded by the ex-democrats, leading business figures and the National Association of Manufacturers to try and be the “nose of the anti-FDR plane”.

Socialist novelist Upton Sinclair wanted thought that the New Deal wasn’t going to work anyways so he pushed for a total economic reformation when he took the democratic approach in running for California’s governor. He became very popular with the people so his opponents faked an association with Russian government and he lost with false meddling of communism.

Other Political Critics

FATHER CHARLES E. COUGHLINAt the start of the 1930’s he was well known for his

broadcasting of his sermons and grew to 10 million listeners on his radio show.

He soon started spreading the idea of nationalism, which is to allow government to take over public banks and redistribute evenly to the people. But contradicted himself and said that people should hold their sanctity including banks.

First he supported FDR and his plan to rehabilitate the economy but as the years progresses he began to openly attack FDR and call him uncalled for things.

In 1942 he was shutdown by the Roman Catholics for openly offending Jews on his show.

Pretty much, he was mad with power.

Other Political Critics

HUEY LONGHe never used derogatory remarks to gain power or

control but still gained a lot of support by improving the education system, medical care, and public services of the underprivileged.

He was a supporter of FDR in the beginning, but soon started his own way of fixing the economy.

He wanted the same thing that Coughlin wanted, to evenly distribute the nations income. He started a campaign called “Share-Our-Wealth”.

It would limit peoples incomes to 1million and have the government take the rest and evenly distribute it throughout the nation giving every family a minimum of 5000 dollars.

His ideas attracted a lot of people however, they were mathematically impossible. All he did was provide FDR with the support he needed to impose the Revenue Act.

In 1935, he was show by one of his political enemies.

Modern Day Political Critics

Today, we look at FDR as one of the greater presidents that have been sworn into office.

Roosevelt is praised for his efforts in refurbishing the 1930’s economy, but he is still critiqued about what exactly the New Deal did.

Critics today have examined all pieces of information and facts and state that the New Deal lacked in efficiency and actually slowed the economic progression while also attack the ideals of the free enterprise system.

They also say that the New Deal wasted resources. Example = paying farmers not to plant caused a time of hunger for those who were hit hardest in the depression.

Economists say that the New Deal violated the “American Free Economy”.

The Court-Packing Fiasco

The Court had invalidated the NIRA, the AAA, and many state laws from the Progressive Era.

February,1937, FDR proposed a major court-reform bill. FDR asked Congress to allow him to appoint as many as six

additional justices.(one for every justice that was at that time over 70 years old.)Since the Constitution did not

specify the number of Supreme Court Judges. FDR wanted to "pack" the court with supporters of the New Deal. Critics protested that FDR wanted to put politics into the

judiciary. Strong opposition forced FDR to withdraw his bill. Many Republicans and Southern Democrats united against

further New Deal legislation. Some older justices retired, which allowed FDR to appoint

justices who supported the New Deal. FDR got the court to side with him. 

SECTION 3

Last Days of the New Deal

Roosevelt’s Deal

The New Deal was the name that United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave to a sequence of central economic planning and economic stimulus programs he initiated between 1933 and 1938 with the goal of giving aid to the unemployed, reform of business and financial practices, and recovery of the economy during The Great Depression.

The New Deal Roosevelt had promised the American people began to take shape immediately after his inauguration in March 1933.

By 1939, the New Deal had run its course. In the short term, New Deal programs helped improve the lives of people suffering from the events of the depression. In the long run, New Deal programs set a precedent for the federal government to play a key role in the economic and social affairs of the nation.

Recession of 1937

In 1937, the American economy took an unexpected downturn, lasting through most of 1938. Production declined sharply, as did profits and employment. Unemployment jumped from 14.3% in 1937 to 19.0% in 1938. In two months, unemployment rose from 5 million to over 9 million, reaching almost 12 million in early 1938. Manufacturing output fell off by 40% from the 1937 peak; it was back to 1934 levels.

Response to the Recession The Roosevelt Administration reacted by launching a

rhetorical campaign against monopoly power, which was cast as the cause of the depression, and appointing Thurman Arnold to act; Arnold was not effective, and the attack ended once World War II began and corporate energies had to be directed to winning the war.

The Recovery

It began to get better in mid-1938, and every month it was better. However, employment did not regain the 1937 level until the war boom began in late 1940. Productivity steadily increased, and output in 1940 as well above the levels of both 1929 and 1937. Personal income in 1939 was almost at 1919 levels in aggregate, but not per capita. The farm population had fallen 5%, but farm output was up 19%, so the remaining farmers were better off than the average farmer in 1939.

New Deal’s Effect on Culture

During the Great Depression, artists created cultural legacies that lasted a long time.

Congress provided federal funds that aided these artists.

Congress supported the popular fine arts, and jobs.

During this time period, many works of literature emerged.

These works soon became classics.Some of these works were:

"The Good Earth" (1931) - Pearl Buck: peasant struggle in China

"Their Eyes Were Watching God" (1937) - Zora Neale Hurtson: strong-willed African American and the Florida town she lived in

"The Grapes of Wrath" (1939) - John Steinbeck: Dust Bowl victims who travel to California in search of a better life

James Agee and Walker Evans were allowed to live weeks with Alabama sharecroppers because of funding provided by "Fortune" magazine.

Their experiences resulted in the book "Let Us Now Praise Famous Men" (1941)

Radio became major entertainment source in America.

Comedy shows: (1930s) Jack Benny, Gracie Allen, George Burns, Fred Allen

Soap operas emerged during the 1930s, made especially for women.

Movies provided an escape from the harsh Depression.

$0.25 was the cost to see a double-feature movie or a ticket for the whole family to the drive-in theater.

Some famous films: "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington"

(1939) - Warner Brothers: good over evil

"Monkey Business" (1931) - Marx Brothers: comedy

"Duck Soup" (1933) - Marx Brothers: comedy

Classics: "The Wizard of Oz" (1939) "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs"

(1938) - Walt Disney Mickey Mouse cartoons - Walt Disney

Literature Radio & Movies

Literature, Radio, & Movies

The WPA and the Arts

FDR believe the arts should not be given up at any time. Provided WPA funds that supported artists, musicians, historians,

theater people, and writers. Federal Writers' Project (1935): assisted 6,000 writers like: Richard

Wrigt, Margaret Walker, Saul Bellow, and Ralph Ellison This project surveyed the nation's local government records, wrote state

guidebooks, and collected life stories from approximately 2,000 former slaves.

Federal Music Project: started community symphonies and organized free music lessons

Federal Art Project (1935): put artists to work Artists, during this project, painted over 2,000 murals, produced over 100,000

paintings, more than 17,000 sculptures, and hundreds of other works of art. Federal Theater Project: directed by Vassar College Professor Hallie

Flanagan, used drama to create awareness of social problems This project launched the careers of directors, playwrights, and actors such as: Burt

Lancaster, Orson Welles, Arthur Miller, and John Houseman. The House of Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) accused the

project of being a propaganda machine for international communism. The project was investigated in 1938 and 1939, and on July 1939, Congress

eliminated the project's funding.

New Deal Achievements

The New Deal had many programs that affected nearly every American.

It did not end the nation's suffering, but led to changes in daily life.

People accepted more government intervention in their lives, and grew accustomed to the larger government.

Laborers demanded more changes in the workplace.

Public Works and Federal AgenciesPublic Works and Federal Agencies Social SecuritySocial Security

New Deal bridges, tunnels, public buildings, dams, and hospitals exist to this day.

Federal agencies also survive to this day.

The Tennessee Valley Authority: remains a model of government planning

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation: still guarantees bank deposits

The Securities and Exchange Commission: continues to monitor the workings of stock exchanges

Had many critics. People complained, at first, that

its payments were too low. Discriminated women. Women would lose all benefits if

a man lived in the same household.

1939: Congress and the Social Administration developed a series of amendments.

This was to address the weakness of the system.

Amendments: raised benefit amounts, provided monthly benefit checks (instead of one-time payments), provided benefits for recipients' dependents and survivors, included farm workers, and added disability coverage.

Public Works and Federal Agencies

Legacy of Hope

The New Deal restored a sense of hope.Citizens wrote many letters to the President

and the First Lady asking for help.Government programs meant the difference

between survival and starvation for many.Economic recovery did not come until the

1940s, and did not come through New Deal programs.