Launching the New Deal

1. Launching the New Deal Ch. 22, Section 1, pp. 698 - 708

2. The Election of 1932 • Stricken with polio at the age of 39. • Paralyzed permanently from the waist down. • Rebounded to become governor of New York in 1929. • He launched a groundbreaking relief program to aid the state’s victims of the Great Depression.

3. The 1932 Campaign • Offered more public works programs. • The previous administration denied the distress of unemployment. • Roosevelt received more than 57% of the popular vote. • Democrats gained control of both houses.

4. A Political Partnership • Effective communicator that used the radio for his fireside chats. • He made people feel better during their time of hardship. • He believed that the government should take direct action to help people.

5. Eleanor Roosevelt • Distant cousin and wife of FDR. • Served as husband’s eyes and ears during his bout with polio. • Would later become her own political force after the death of FDR.

6. Roosevelt Takes Action • “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” • Temporarily closed all banks. • Pushed through the Emergency Banking Act. • Corrected the problems of the bank or closed it. • Glass-Stegall Act created the FDIC. • $1 billion in new deposits.

7. The Hundred Days • Pushed through the “New Deal” • Accomplish three goals: • Relief for those suffering. • Recovery for the economy. • Reforms would prevent from happening again. Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) gave young men jobs – ages 18-25. Plant trees or preserve parks.

8. The Hundred Days • Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) gave farmers a subsidy. • Subsidy meant they could grow less crops. • Price of crops went up. • Public Works Administration (PWA) • Federal Securities Act – Companies had to share information. • Securities and Exchange Commission – Government’s watchdog over stock markets.

9. Critics of the New Deal • Huey Long – Senator of Louisiana. • Set up the “Share Our Wealth Society”. • “Every man a King” – Every family given $5,000 to buy a home, plus an income of $2,500. • Heavy taxes on wealthy Americans. • Father Charles Coughlin, a Catholic priest, called FDR a double-crosser in how he dealt with bankers. • Dr. Francis Townsend – Provide pensions for people over 60.

10. Beyond the Hundred Days • Tennessee Valley Authority was created in May, 1933. • Provided hydroelectric power to people and businesses. • The dams controlled floods and made it navigatable.

11. New Deal Quiz • What are the three “R’s” of the New Deal? • Which Act created the New Deal? • Famous quote of FDR. • What does the CCC stand for? • What does PWA stand for? • What ages were the men who worked for the CCC? • What does the SEC do? • What did the Federal Securities Act do? • List three critics of FDR. • What does TVA mean? • Which critic said, “Every Man a King.”

12. Second New Deal • By 1935 federal judges had prevented the enforcement of almost every measure of the New Deal. • Oppose an expanded role of government. • President could not be issued a blank check to turn over to private parties that would create or enforce codes. • Extraordinary economic conditions did not justify an enlargement of constitutional powers.

13. Defeat of the AAA • Debtors could keep properties up to five years after bankruptcy. • Violation of the 5th amendment, which prohibited the federal government’s taking of private property without just compensation. • Milk company attacked its processing tax, which the AAA used to finance its crop subsidies.

14. Defeat of the AAA • It was not a “true tax”. • Roosevelt and his advisers began to draft new legislation that considered constitutional themes more carefully than before.

15. Wagner Act • 600 unions had disbanded by 1935. • Eliminate inequalities in the bargaining powers of employees and employers. • Outlawed company unions. • It threw the weight of the federal government behind the right of labor to collectively bargain.

16. Sit-Down Strikes • Workers at Goodyear and GM sat down on the job for weeks until they were recognized. • United Auto Workers was established. • Committee for Industrial Organization was formed. • CIO became a political force and donated to the Democratic Party.

17. Fair Labor Standards Act • Minimum wage was put into law and maximum hours and prohibited the employment of children. • Minimum wage was 25 cents per hour and 44 hour week which would decline to 40 in two years. • Clerks, farmers, streetcar operators, fisherman, and domestic servants were excluded.

18. WPA • FDR realized that short term relief efforts had not ended the Great Depression. • Was an effort to unite all emergency public works. • Quit the business of relief. • Responsibility for the unemployed would go back to state and local governments.

19. Expanding Workfare • Henry Hopkins would lead the WPA. • Maximum employment was the first priority. • Paid a secure wage below the minimum wage. • Suppose to leave the WPA as soon as better jobs were available. • Demonstrate they were deserving of relief work.

20. Workfare • WPA was the employer of last resort. • “Spend and spend, tax and tax, elect and elect”. • WPA employed 8 million people at one point between 1935-1943. • Added to the nation’s wealth in transportation infrastructure and the conservation of natural resources.