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America: Back to the Drawing Board

America: Back to the Drawing Board. October 29, 1929 – “Black Tuesday”. Crash. $10 billion disappears in 1 day Banks fail Families lose savings 25% unemployment by 1932. The Bonus Army under attack in DC. Global Phenomenon. Each deals with crisis in own way Turbulent 1920s for Germany

jerry-murphy
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America: Back to the Drawing Board

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  1. America: Back to the Drawing Board

  2. October 29, 1929 – “Black Tuesday”

  3. Crash • $10 billion disappears in 1 day • Banks fail • Families lose savings • 25% unemployment by 1932

  4. The Bonus Army under attack in DC

  5. Global Phenomenon • Each deals with crisis in own way • Turbulent 1920s for Germany • Hyperinflation • Adolf Hitler comes to power (1933) • Benito Mussolini (1922) • Conservatives in power in France, UK

  6. America’s Path • America pursues center-left option • Preserve capitalism • FDR landslide in 1932 • Actually campaigns as fiscal conservative

  7. Franklin Delano Roosevelt • FDR was patrician • 5th cousin of TR • Ran for VP in 1920 • Got polio, lost use of legs • Amazingly, people didn’t know • Gained insight into suffering

  8. No Real Plan “The country needs and, unless I mistake its temper, the country demands bold, persistent experimentation. It is common sense to take a method and try it: If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something”

  9. The New Deal • Swift action • “All we have to fear is fear itself” • Wanted to stabilize economy • 1933 was the low point

  10. First 100 Days • Closed the banks • Provided funds to banks in trouble • Set up Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) • Took US off gold standard

  11. Major policy: the National Recovery Administration • Goal was partnership between business and govt • Set regulations for wages, prices across industries to reduce cutthroat competition and keep businesses afloat • Recognized right of workers to unionize • Rules were difficult to enforce and many businesses disregarded

  12. Other agencies built roads, bridges • Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) – govt agency to build dams and provide hydroelectric power to rural Americans

  13. Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) • Shore up crop prices by paying farmers not to grow • Unintentionally benefited larger landowners and pushed tenants off land • Promoted mechanization

  14. Federal Housing Administration (FHA) government-backed loans to make homeownership affordable for working class and middle class Americans

  15. The Pivot: 1935 • Supreme Court struck down NRA and other programs • Still dominated by conservatives • Workers organize and become more militant • Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) • FDR realizes he needs to take stronger action

  16. The “Second New Deal”

  17. Social Security Act of 1935 • old-age pensions • disability • unemployment insurance • Aid to Dependent Children (i.e. welfare)

  18. Wagner Act of 1935 • Right to organize • National Labor Relations Board

  19. Works Progress Administration • Built bridges, pools, post offices, etc • Hires painters, actors, writers

  20. The “New Deal Coalition” • Populist FDR wins 1936 on wave of working class support • African Americans in the North • Jewish voters • The urban middle class • Farmers • White Democrats in the South • Unions

  21. Opposed by small business and big business • Attack on “economic royalists” • Economy revives in 1936

  22. FDR’s Mistakes • Blunders by cutting government spending, causing recession • Tries to “pack court” with new Justices • Unpopular policy rejected • But court did move in his direction • Upheld minimum wage, Social Security, right to organize

  23. Roosevelt’s Record on Race • Indian New Deal • Actually beneficial • Stopped dividing and selling off Indian land • Ended boarding schools • Improved healthcare • But still in awful shape

  24. Africans American benefited less from New Deal than others • Southern Democrats influence • Domestic workers and farmworkers left out of Soc Sec • FDR did not really champion civil rights issues • But many in his admin opposed immigration, supported anti-lynching laws • Housing policies left in local hands • Racist practices of red-lining kept blacks and Latinos from getting loans

  25. Jews and other white ethnics increasingly included in American society

  26. The Popular Front • Communist Party only radical organization able to mobilize at start of Depression • Adopts ideal of Americanism • Operates through “front” organizations • Broad alliance with Socialists and New Deal liberals against fascism

  27. Communists fought for civil rights • Fought against Jim Crow and lynching the South, tried to organize black and white workers

  28. Influence on Hollywood, drama, literature of period • Celebrated “the people,” folk traditions, labor

  29. Communists less maligned then • But later having ties with CP causes trouble

  30. Bottom Line • Roosevelt prevents collapse of capitalism • Labor unions organize • Americans reject fascism and communism • But New Deal changes relationship between people and government

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