The Great Depression and the New Deal

FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT AND THE NEW DEAL

GOVERNMENT, POLITICS,AND ECONOMIC RECOVERY IN THE 1930s

THE NEW DEAL: 1933

• THE HUNDRED DAYS: March 9 to June 16

– Unemployment at 25%; about 12 million

– People living in “quiet despair”

– New legislation provided hope and inspiration

• The AAA--farm relief; TVA to revive South

• NRA-business and labor recovery

• CCC and FERA: dealt with unemployment

• Also banking reform and hunger relief

CRITICS ON THE “LEFT”

• Senator Huey Long of Louisiana: called for redistribution of wealth and income: SHARE OUR WEALTH PROGRAM

• Father Charles Coughlin: ‘the radio priest,’criticized bankers and capitalism; led the National Union for Social Justice

• Dr. Frances Townsend: mobilized the elderly with a plan for government pensions

1935: THE SECOND NEW DEAL

• A clearer challenge to business and wealth

– Social Security: old age pensions and unemployment insurance

– Wagner Labor Relations Act: made union membership legal and protected by National Labor Relations Board

– An increase in income tax on wealthy

– Helped FDR win election of 1936: a coalition or urban workers, farmers, minorities and liberals

THE END OF THE NEW DEAL (1)

• Landslide victory in 1936 over Alf Landon

– “I see one-third of a nation ill-housed, ill-clad, ill-nourished,” Second Inaugural

• Plan to change Supreme Court a disaster (7 of 9 judges appointed by Republicans)

– They were very conservative

– Opposed government intervention in the economy

– But so-called “court-packing plan” defeated

END OF NEW DEAL (2)

• 1937: a sharp downturn in economy

• 1938: Fair Labor Standards Act: minimum wage established; restrictions on child labor; shorter work week (48 hours)

• By 1939 war in Europe appeared certain

IMPORTANCE OF THE NEW DEAL

• Created a broader sense of social justice

• Government accepted responsibility for economic management

– Labor unions became legitimate

– Elderly insured against loss of all income

– Demonstrated positive uses of government in preserving land, rivers, and creating jobs

THE NEW DEAL: A SUMMING-UP\

• Roosevelt said in 1936:

– “The immortal Dante tells us that divine justice weighs the sins of the cold-blooded and the sins of the warmhearted in different scales. Better the occasional faults of a government that lives in a spirit of charity than the constant omissions of a government frozen in the idea of its own indifference.”