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FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT AND THE NEW DEAL

FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT AND THE NEW DEAL. America: Past and Present Chapter 26. The Great Depression. 1920s optimism drives increase in expectations of a better way of life After 1929 despair sets in. The Great Crash. 1928--soaring stock prices attract individual, corporate investment

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FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT AND THE NEW DEAL

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  1. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT AND THE NEW DEAL America: Past and Present Chapter 26

  2. The Great Depression • 1920s optimism drives increase in expectations of a better way of life • After 1929 despair sets in

  3. The Great Crash • 1928--soaring stock prices attract individual, corporate investment • 1929--stock market crashes • directly affects 3 million • credit crunch stifles business • Businesses lay off workers • Demand for consumer goods declines

  4. Unemployment, 1929-1942

  5. Effects of the Depression • Hardship affects all classes • The middle class loses belief in ever-increasing prosperity • Thousands of young homeless, jobless

  6. Fighting the Depression • Republican attempts to overcome catastrophe flounder • Depression gives Democrats opportunity to regain power

  7. Hoover and Voluntarism • Hoover initially seeks solution through voluntary action, private charity • Eventually aids farmers and bankers • Resists Democratic efforts to give direct aid to the unemployed • perceived as indifferent to human suffering • programs seen as incompetent

  8. Bank Failures, 1929-1933

  9. The Emergence of Roosevelt • Franklin Roosevelt • born to wealth and privilege • 1921--crippled by polio • 1928--elected governor of New York • talented politician • 1932--defeats Hoover with farmer- worker-immigrant-Catholic coalition

  10. The Hundred Days • Banking system saved from collapse • Fifteen major laws provide relief • New Deal aims to reform and restore, not nationalize, the economy

  11. The Tennessee Valley Authority

  12. Roosevelt and Recovery • National Recovery Administration • industries formulate codes to eliminate cut-throat competition, ensure labor peace • codes favor big business, unenforceable • 1935--NRA ruled unconstitutional • Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933 • farmers paid to take land out of cultivation • prices increase • sharecroppers, tenant farmers dispossessed

  13. Roosevelt and Relief • 1933--Harry Hopkins placed in charge of RFC to direct aid to unemployed • 1933--Civilian Conservation Corps provides employment to young people • 1935--Works Progress Administration place unemployed on federal payroll • Programs never sufficiently funded

  14. Roosevelt and Reform • 1933-34--focus on immediate problems • 1935--shift to permanent economic reform

  15. Challenges to FDR • Father Charles Coughlin advocates nationalizing banks, anti-Semitism • Francis Townsend calls for wealth redistribution from young to the elderly • Huey Long calls for redistribution of wealth by seizing private fortunes

  16. Social Security • 1935--Social Security Act passed • Criticisms • too few people would collect pensions • unemployment package inadequate • Establishes pattern of government aid to poor, aged, handicapped

  17. Labor Legislation • 1935--Wagner Act • allows unions to organize • outlaws unfair labor practices • 1938--Fair Labor Standard Act • maximum hour • minimum wage

  18. Impact of the New Deal • Had a broad influence on the quality of life in the U.S. in the 1930s • Helps labor unions most • Helps women, minorities least

  19. Rise of Organized Labor • 1932--National Recovery Act spurs union organizers • Congress of Industrial Organization (CIO) formed by John L. Lewis • CIO unionizes steel, auto industries • 1940--CIO membership hits 5 million, 28% of labor force unionized

  20. The New Deal Record on Help to Minorities • Crop reduction program allows whites to fire or evict blacks, Hispanics • Public works programs help by providing employment • New Deal figures convince minorities that the government is on their side • 1934--Indian Reorganization Act gives American Indians greater control

  21. Women at Work • Position of women deteriorates in ‘30s • jobs lost at a faster rate than men • hardly any New Deal programs help • Progress in government • Frances Perkins, Secretary of Labor, the first woman cabinet member • women appointed to several other posts • Eleanor Roosevelt a model for activism

  22. End of the New Deal • 1936--New Deal peaks with Roosevelt’s reelection • Congress resists programs after 1936

  23. The Election of 1936 • FDR’s campaign • attacks the rich • promises further reforms • defeats Republican Alf Landon • Democrats win lopsided majorities in both houses of Congress • FDR coalition: South, cities, labor, ethnic groups, African Americans, poor

  24. The Supreme Court Fight • Supreme Court blocks several of FDR’s first-term programs • 1937--FDR seeks right to "pack" Court • Congressional protest forces retreat • FDR’s opponents emboldened

  25. The New Deal in Decline • 1936--cutbacks for relief agencies • 1937--severe slump hits economy • Roosevelt blamed, resorts to huge government spending • 1938--Republican party revives

  26. The New Deal and American Life • New Deal’s limitations • depression not ended • economic system not fundamentally altered • little done for those without political clout • Achievements • Social Security, the Wagner Act • political realignment of the 1930s

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