| (Lesson 9 Cont.) II FDR's New Deal * The Man, The Speech, The Moment, Audio Clip, Ch 28 A. The 3 Rs of the New Deal 1. Relief Programs--immediate aid for the unemployed 2. Recovery Programs--to get the economy up and running again 3. Reform Programs--to help prevent this (depression) from happening again 4. Keynesian Economics (John M. Keyne=British Economist) Depression ridden govts must spend their way back to prosperity B. First 100 Days (15 Major Bills) 1. Emergency Banking Act--only banks who could prove they were financially stable and sovering could reopen 2. AAA (Agricultural Adjustment Act) poverty in the midst of plenty--they were producing more, but getting less 3. NIRA (National Industrial Recovery Act)-Limit production, Price Guidelines, Section 7a (specified max 40 hr week&min wage) 4. PWA (Public Works Administraton) $6 billion; 35,000 construction projects; 500,000 workers 5. CCC (civilian Conservation Corps) work camps that employed 2.5 million young males ages 18-25, Black & White Wages: $30/month--they keep $5, the other $25 goes back to the economy (friends & family @ home) 6. WPA (Workes Progress Administration) The cultural programs of the New Deal Employed Federal writers, actors, historians, musicians, etc) 1935-1944; $11 billion; 9 million workers overall; most integrated & least segragated program C. Reform Programs 1. FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corp) 1933--$2,500 money in bank is insured by federal govt; raised to $5,000 2. TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) 1933 40,000 sq mi. in 7 states; Flood control & power plants. 3. SEC (Securities & Exchange Commission) 1934 Wall Street placed under Federal Supervision IV New Deal Opposition & Support A. Opposition from the Right 1. New Deal has gone too far, socialist leanings 2. Conservative Democrats & Big Business (Al Smith, John Davis 3. Supreme Court (7/9 Justices were Conservative) 4. Struck down the NIRA (1935) and the AAA (1936) B. Opposition from the Left 1. New Deal did not go far enough--The Depression had revived socialist and Communist ideas 2. The Neopopulists (new): a. Huey Long (1928-Governor of LA, 1932-US Senator) Share our wealth program--100% of $$ made over 1mill was taxed Would have run for pres in 1936 (assassinated in 1935) b. Father Charles Coughlin (Radio Priest, National Union for Social Justice, Nationalize the Banks and Utilities) (he has to tone down his political radicalism to stay a priest. c. Dr Francis Townsend--proposed a federal retirement tax, $200 monthly to retire age 60 C. The Roosevelt or New Deal Coalition 1. Dominated political scene for the next 30 years 2. Urban voters--Solidly Democratic, Labor, Blacks, Catholics, Ethnics, Intellectuals, Southern Democratic Block 3. Progressives: Eleanor Roosevelt; Francis Perkins--Sec of Labor, 1st female Cabinet member; Harold Ickes--Sec of Interior V The Modern Welfare State A. Second 100 Days (1935) 1. FDR followed in the vein of Jackson, TR, & Wilson 2. Washington became the guardian of the weak and unfortunate 3. FDR sent a list of "must" legislation to Congress: a. Social Security Bill b. A measure to replace the Section 7a of the NIRA c. A new Wealth Tax Act B. Wagner Act (National Labor Relations Act) 1. NLRB in DC; Supervise elections for Labor Unions 2. John Lewis and Sidney Hillman form the CIB (Congress of Industrial Organizations); not race restrictive 3. Union membership: 1930-3million; 1940-8.4 million C. Social Security System 1. FDR felt this was the most significant Act of the New Deal 2. Unemployment and Retirement Insurance, Employer and Employee payroll tax 3. Food Stamps added in 1939 4. Shortcomings: too heavy regressive tax, no health insurance D. Additional "MUST" Legislation 1. Fair Labor Standard Act (1938)--to replace NIRA a. 40 hr work day; b. Minimum wage of 40cents/hour; c. Time and a half pay for overtime; d. No one under 16 can be legally employed 2. Wealth Tax Act--effected estate taxes and gift taxes; targeting the rich; (1935) 3. Resettlement Administration Act (1935) 4. The ND basically made Capitalism more humane VI The Last of The New Deal A. Election of 1936 1. Hearst called the ND the Raw Deal; FDR was a traitor to his class 2. Conservatives charged FDR as a dictator, who gathered unheard of powers over American life 3. Big-Govt would soon overawe every other institution 4. FDR (D) 500 electoral, 28m popular, 46 state votes Alfred Landon (R) 8 elec, 17m pop, 2 states (ME & VT--not even his home state!) 5. By 1937, the unemployment was down to 14.5% B. FDR & the Supreme Court 1. 1937--FDR took his landslide re-election as motivation and went after the Supreme Court 2. FDR's Reorganization Plan--asked Congress for a bill to add 6 new judges to the Court 3. Supreme Court--"Few die and none retire" average age was 70! 4. In the midterm elections, the Democrats lost 81 seats in the House and 8 in the Senate ** American people thought of his plan as a "court-packing plan" just to get his ppl into the court C. The New Deal and Minorities 1. Blacks: His wife was his liaison (contact); CCC camps had a quota; WPA the most color-blind program of the ND ** CCC & WPA highly benefit the African Americans 2. Mexican-Americans: 400,000 deported in the 1930s largely b/c of Union pressure *most of them were illegals 3. Native Americans : IECP (Indian Emergency Conservation Program)--85,000 workers; IRA (Indian Reorganization Program) terminated the Dawes Act and gave them back their tribal govts *John Collier aided Indians as Commissioner of Indian Affairs D. Legacy of the New Deal (how did the ND effect history?!) 1. FDR & ND preserved the public's faith in Capitalism & Democratic Govt 2. The powerful ND voter coalition 3. Economic and Social Planning by the Federal Govt was now an established fact 4. Americans now looked to the President for strong leadership in hard times 5. Washington was made responsible for the nation's health. VII FDR's Foreign Policy (1933-1941) A. Good neighbor Policy 1. Eager for a new policy toward Latin America 2. Withdrew US troops from Nicaragua (1933), Haiti (1934), and Cuba (1934), and the Dominican Republic (1940) B. Hemispheric Defense (Sept 1939=when war officially began) 300 miles around the W Hemisphere 1. 1939--Panama Conference--21 American Republics set up a mutual defense plan |
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