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President Franklin D. Roosevelt's plan for overcoming the Great Depression, representing a basic change in American society. This chapter explores the launch and impact of the New Deal, including the banking crisis, the Hundred Days, and opposition from critics and courts.
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Chapter 22 The New Deal The Big Picture: The New Deal was President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s plan for overcoming the Great Depression. Although New Deal programs achieved varied levels of success, they did represent a basic change in American society.
Main Idea: In 1933 Franklin Delano Roosevelt became president of a suffering nation. He quickly sought to address the country’s needs with mixed results. Chapter 22 Section 1: Launching the New Deal
The Election of 1932 • Franklin D. Roosevelt had a strong political past. • Suffered from polio that left him paralyzed and in a wheelchair. • Became governor of New York in 1929. • Launched a relief program to aid the victims of the Great Depression, provided relief to 1 out of 10 families.
During his campaign he promised relief and public works that would provide jobs. • Attacked the Republicans response to the Great Depression. • Roosevelt won the Presidential Election of 1932 by a landslide.
A Political Partnership • Roosevelt had a personality that appealed to the American public – cheerful and optimistic. • Used the radio to connect with Americans in his fireside chats. • Roosevelt believed that it was the government’s duty to provide direct aid to the people.
Franklin D. Roosevelt deeply valued his wife Eleanor Roosevelt. • He trusted her with very important tasks and took her opinion seriously. • She became a powerful political force campaigning for several causes including ending lynching.
Banking Crisis • In order to stop the “run” on banks, Roosevelt issued an executive order to temporarily close the banks. He called it a bank holiday.
He also pushed through the Emergency Banking Act that gave government officials power to examine each bank, determine its soundness, take steps to correct problems, and if necessary close the bank. • This was the first of his Fireside Chats. • The plan worked, banks began to reopen and ordinary Americans began to return their funds to the banks. • The Glass-Steagall Act created the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) that provides government insurance for depositors’ savings.
The Hundred Days • The resolution of the banking crisis was just the beginning of a critical period of government activity that came to be known as the Hundred Days. • Roosevelt called his new relief programs The New Deal. 3 Main goals: 1) Relief 2) Recovery 3) Reforms
Beyond the Hundred Days • Roosevelt continued to pass legislation to help the nation after his hundred days: • Civil Works Administration (CWA): provided winter employment to 4 million workers that built highways, sewer lines, and airports. • Indian Reorganization Act: Limited the sale of Indian lands and provided assistance to native groups in developing their resources, economy, and culture.
Trouble for the New Deal • Some believed the New Deal had not gone far enough; some believed that it had gone too far. • The leading critics of the New Deal were:
Huey P. Long who believed the policies were too friendly with banks and businesses. • Created an organization that provided every family with $5000 to buy a home, proposed to fund this effort by taxing the wealthy. • Father Charles Coughlin promoted his religious views and criticism of the president over his radio talk show “radio priest.” • Dr. Francis Townsend criticized the New Deal for not doing enough for older Americans. He wanted a program to provide pensions for people over the age of 60. • The American Liberty League spoke on behalf of many conservatives who felt that the New Deal programs had gone too far.
Opposition from the Courts • Some critics believed that the New Deal programs violated the constitution and challenged them in court. • Found parts of the New Deal unconstitutional. • Roosevelt was still very popular with the American public.
Main Idea: A new wave of government initiatives starting in 1935 resulted in some strong successes and stunning defeats for President Roosevelt. Chapter 22 Section 2:The Second New Deal
The Second Hundred Days • Democrats held ¾ of all the seats in the Senate in 1934 – clear indication of American support of Roosevelt. • Meanwhile, courts were finding parts of the New Deal unconstitutional and the economy refused to budge. • Still liberals wanted Roosevelt to do more. • During his second hundred days Roosevelt did do more. He called it the Second New Deal.
Emergency Relief • The Second New Deal sought to expand one of the successful parts of the New Deal – work relief programs. • The Emergency Appropriations Act which created job opportunities for Americans. • Created the Works Progress Administration (WPA) that employed 8.5 million Americans for all kinds of public works projects (parks, zoos, oral history, arts). • Americans appreciated being able to work hard for a paycheck rather than just get a handout.
Social Security • The Social Security Act was passed in 1935 that set up a pension or regular payments for Americans 65 and older. • No need to fear hunger and homelessness once you couldn’t work anymore. • Included unemployment insurance so that you could have a financial cushion while looking for work. • Roosevelt would have to raise taxes in order to fund the new Social Security Act. • To avoid a tax increase some workers were left out of it including farmers, government employees, and household workers.
Reviving Organized Labor • Many businesses ignored the NIRA and the new regulations on Unions, government had a hard time supporting them. • Passed a new act called the Wagner Act outlawed a number of anti-labor actions, also set up the Labor Relations Board that gave the government more power in protecting workers.
American Federation of Labor (AFL) had been the largest union in the country; it looked down upon many unskilled (immigrant) laborers. • The Committee for Industrial Organization or CIO rose to challenge the AFL. • Helped organize the first sit-down strike for workers at General Motors (GM). • After six weeks GM recognized the union and the CIO had its first labor victory.
Election of 1936 • In one last effort to satisfy Americans before election time Roosevelt passed the Rural Electrification Act (REA) that would provide money to groups trying to bring electricity to people living outside of cities. • Increased electricity availability to 90%. • The economy had finally taken a turn for the better and unemployment was down 10%. • American voters had no problem voting in Roosevelt in 1936. • African Americans switched from Republican to Democrat.
A Troubled Year • Frustrated that the courts had ruled many of his legislative acts unconstitutional Roosevelt came up with a plan to reorganize the court system. • Wanted to add six judges and give the president the power to appoint new judges. • Many people were against this and felt it gave the president too much power. • People in his own party began to desert him.
Farm Tenancy Act was passed to aid the tenant farmers and sharecroppers. • Many had been pushed off the land due to other New Deal programs. • Gave them the opportunity to buy land of their own. • Roosevelt’s New Deal program also had wins in the Supreme Court that enabled Roosevelt to move forward.
There was a drop in the economy in 1937; Roosevelt feared a deficit in the economy. • Keynesian Economics supported the ideology that deficit spending could provide jobs and stimulate the economy. • By the end of his second term the positive feelings about Roosevelt and the New Deal had begun to fade.
Main Idea: The Great Depression and the New Deal had a deep impact on American culture during the 1930s. Chapter 22 Section 3:Life During the New Deal
New Roles for Women • Eleanor Roosevelt became an important figure in campaigning for women’s issues. • Other women also moved into political roles – Frances Perkins became Secretary of Labor. • Roosevelt appointed women to many different political roles while he was president. • Women in society still experienced discrimination. • New Deal programs paid men more than women. • Women in the workforce were looked down upon – men believed they shouldn’t be working.
New Roles for African Americans • Roosevelt appointed many African Americans to different federal positions while he was president. • Unofficial group called the Black Cabinet met under Mary McLeod Bethune and advised the president. • African Americans still experienced hardships in society. • Roosevelt could not pass as much legislation affecting African Americans as he wanted because of Southern Democrats. • African Americans were still voting Democrat for the first time since before Lincoln.
Story of the Great Depression • Artists exposed the stories of the Great Depression through art and literature. • Dorthea Lange photographed the Great Depression; she worked as a part of the Farm Security Administration taking pictures of the rural poor to raise awareness. • Books like The Grapes of Wrath were published to expose the hardships of the poor during the Great Depression.
Popular Entertainment in the 1930s • People started going to the movies weekly. • Few movies were depression themed. • Movies tried to help movie goers escape from their problems. • Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire appeared in movies with glamorous dance themes. • New movie techniques allowed different types of movies to be released. • Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs became the first full length animated movie. • The Wizard of Oz and Gone with the Wind were also released.
Radio brought a variety of news and views into American homes. • Roosevelt conducted his fireside chats over the radio and other political and religious views. • Entertainment radio was also very popular – The Lone Ranger, War of the Worlds and other entertainment shows were broadcast over Radio. • Radio broadened the appeal of Jazz and helped popularize swing. • Swing featured “big bands” and allowed for different dance styles. • Duke Ellington and Count Basie were two famous African American swing musicians.
Main Idea: The New Deal had mixed success in rescuing the economy, but it fundamentally changed Americans’ relationship with their government. Chapter 22 Section 4: Analyzing the New Deal
Relief, Recovery, and Reform • Relief programs successfully helped millions of people get some sort of relief from the Great Depression and became a permanent fixture of the American government. • Social Security and Unemployment insurance still exist today.
New Deal was not as successful in recovering the American economy, unemployment remained high. Many gains were wiped out in the recession of 1937. • New Deal reforms were more successful and long lasting. • The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation helped restore public confidence in the Banking system.
The New Deal had mixed results. • Some historians believe the New Deal hurt businesses confidence and slowed down the pace of recovery. • Some believe the New Deal was too timid and a lot more money should be spent to help relieve hard times. • The New Deal overall had an impressive track record for internal improvements for America. • Many roads, bridges, dams, and public buildings were built through New Deal programs.
Changing Relationships • The New Deal changed the relationship between government and citizens. • Expanded the role of government to helping citizens by providing aid and relief. • Moved away from the laissez-faire economics of the 1920s.
Limits of the New Deal • While the relief programs gave aid to millions of people they were never meant to provide a permanent solution to joblessness and often did not provide enough money to live comfortably. • Level of government assistance varied from state to state. • Some New Deal programs allowed discrimination against African Americans, Hispanics, women, and other groups. • Didn’t want any programs to go against local standards.
The End of the New Deal • The country’s sense of optimism with the New Deal plans had depleted by 1938. • Republicans and Southern Democrats called out Roosevelt on his promises to cut taxes, balance the budget, and return more power to the states. • Last piece of legislation to pass was the Fair Labor Standards Actthat established a minimum wage and set the maximum number of hours a person could work a week and established overtime pay.
Roosevelt thought the best way to defend his New Deal plans would be to hand pick the Democratic candidate. • None of the president’s candidates won. • No more New Deal legislation would be passed. • American attention turned away from domestic affairs and towards growing conflict in Europe that would result in WWII.
