Chapter 16: The New Deal

1. Chapter 16: The New Deal Section 1: Forging a New Deal Section 2: The New Deal’s Critics Section 3: The Last Days of the New Deal

2. TRIVIA! • The Constitution said that presidential elections are to be held in November. • Inaugurations in March. • WHY???? • In the old days it took time to get ballots to the counters. • It took time for the new president to get to Washington.

3. “Lame Duck” Amendment • That left the outgoing president in office for four months. • No power – like a lame duck. • Congress passed the “Lame Duck” Amendment the 20th Amendment in 1933 – moving the Inauguration to January. • Franklin Roosevelt was the last president sworn in in March and the first one to be sworn into office in January.

4. Who was Franklin Roosevelt • 1882 – 1945 • Rich and spoiled by his mother. • Interest in politics came from his distant cousin, Theodore Roosevelt. • Smart, well-educated, and ambitious

5. Franklin Roosevelt • Married his distant cousin, Eleanor Roosevelt in 1905 • Six children, five survived to adulthood.

6. Franklin Roosevelt • Lawyer, politician, in New York and in government work. • 1921 – contracted polio • Never regained the use of his legs

7. Franklin Roosevelt • Fight for his life from polio • Fight for his life between his mother and wife

8. Franklin Roosevelt • Campaigned for a “New Deal” • Meant to recall his cousin TR’s “Square Deal” for voters

9. Eleanor Roosevelt • 1884 – 1962 • Shy daughter of dysfunctional family. • Raised mostly by her uncle TR. • “Traditional” wife and mother until Franklin’s polio. • Became his eyes and ears with the public.

10. FDR: Restoring the Nation’s Hope • Building public confidence in the future was essential to calm panic and create support.

11. FDR: Restoring the Nation’s Hope • “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.” • FDR first inaugural

12. FDR: Restoring a Nation’s Hope • The Fireside Chats • First Sunday of every month in the evenings. • Spoke to the nation as if they were conversing in their living room. • Explained what he was trying to do.

13. Eleanor Roosevelt • MY DAY columns and radio broadcasts

14. FDR: Restoring a Nation’s Hope • Eleanor: The Secret Weapon!

15. The New Deal • Recalling his cousin President Theodore Roosevelt’s “Square Deal” for Americans. • Progressive belief that government can help people with their problems that TR had started in 1900.

16. The First Hundred Days: The New Deal • Roosevelt pushed program after program through Congress to provide relief, create jobs, and stimulate economic recovery.

17. What would you do? • With everything that was wrong in the country, what would you do – if you were president – to get people working and prosperous again?

18. Roosevelt: The First Hundred Days • Stabilize financial Institutions • Provide relief and create jobs • Regulate the economy • Assist homeowners and farmers • The TVA

19. Stabilizing Financial Institutions • People needed to be able to trust their banks. • Closed ALL banks for ten days. BANKING HOLIDAY. • Federal officials went to all banks and went through their records to check their financial health. • 2/3 of banks passed the test and reopened.

20. Stabilizing Financial Institutions • Americans regained confidence in the banking system. • Began to put money in the bank. • Established FDIC • Govt. regulators check bank books to make sure good loans are being given. • Guarantee depositor’s money. • Give money to banks to give out as loans to help a local economy.

21. Stabilizing Financial Institutions • Regulate the Stock Market. • 1933: All companies had to provide information on their finances before they can offer stock for sale. • Govt. regulation of buying on margin. • Stockwatch and the SEC to monitor stock sales and business.

22. FDR: The New Deal’s First Hundred Days • Regulated the value of American money to get more exports of American farm goods and factory goods.

23. FDR: Providing Relief and Creating Jobs • Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) • Put money into PUBLIC WORKS PROGRAMS – building government facilities.

24. FDR: Providing Relief and Creating Jobs • CWA: Civil Works Administration – put the unemployed to work building or improving roads, parks, airports and other facilities. • Four million employed.

25. FDR: Providing Relief and Creating Jobs • CCC: Civilian Conservation Corps • 2.5 million unmarried young men put to work creating and maintaining forests, beaches and parks. • $30 a month • Free housing, food and medical care.

26. FDR: Regulating the Economy • NIRA: National Industrial Recovery Act – June 1933. • NRA: National Recovery Act • Create fair business practices in the country. • Regulate fair wages / minimum wage • Encouraged unions • Controlled working conditions.

27. FDR: First Hundred Days • PWA: Public Works Administration • Built Grand Coulee Dam in Washington • New York City’s Triborough Bridge • The causeway that connects Key West to the Florida mainland.

28. FDR: Assisting Homeowners and Farmers • Most middle-income homeowners were behind in their mortgages. • HOLC – Home Owners’ Loan Corporation – refinanced mortgages. • Made payments more manageable . • 1 million loans – but for many it still wasn’t enough to help keep houses.

29. FDR: Assisting Homeowners and Farmers • FHA: Federal Housing Administration – improves housing standards and conditions, insures mortgages, stabilizes mortgage market.

30. FDR: Help for Farmers • AAA: Agricultural Adjustment Administration, offered subsidies to farmers. • If corn was only 50-cents and a farmer needed $1 to stay in business – the government guarantees the other 50-cents.

31. AAA • Also encouraged farmers in what to plant and what not to plant.

32. TVA: Tennessee Valley Authority • May 1933: Helped farmers and created jobs in one of the least developed regions. • Create cheap electric power and recreational opportunities in the entire Tennessee River valley.

33. REA: Rural Electrification Agency • 1930s: 90% of Americans in urban areas had electricity. • Only 10% of rural areas had electricity. • REA changed that! • Brought power over 15 years to 98% of farms.

34. Key Players of the New Deal • Roosevelt’s “Brain Trust” • Informal group of intellectuals who helped draft policies.

35. Key Players of the New Deal: Appointments • Frances Perkins: Secretary of Labor • Mary McLeod Bethune: Director of the Division of Negro Affairs of the National Youth Administration

36. Key Players in the New Deal Don’t forget Mrs. Roosevelt! Traveled widely for her husband. Advocated for causes. Took stands against Jim Crow laws.

37. The Second New Deal: Second 100 Days • More social welfare benefits • Stricter controls over business • Strong support for unions • Higher taxes on the rich.

38. Social Security System • 1935 Old Age Pensions and Survivors Benefits • Unemployment benefits • Aid to dependent children, blind and disabled • Did NOT include farmers or domestic servants until 1954

39. Roosevelt’s Popularity in 1936 • Ran against Republican Alfred M. Landon. • Electoral Vote: 528-8.

40. Limitations of the New Deal • Women • African Americans

41. Limitations of the New Deal: Women • Codes in Work Projects allowed for women to be paid less than men. • Men and boys were to receive preference for jobs.

42. Limitations of the New Deal: African Americans • Federal Work Projects in the South reinforced segregation. • Not allowed to apply for management jobs or jobs on the TVA. • Received lower wages than whites for the work they did get.

43. Limitations of the New Deal: African Americans • Because most African Americans were farmers or domestic servants – Social Security did not cover 2/3 of African Americans!

44. African Americans in the New Deal • Roosevelt would not push for an anti-lynching law. • Too many Southern senators would have blocked every Roosevelt law if he tried to push through to retaliate.

45. African Americans in the New Deal • Segregated Northern neighborhoods often had stores owned by whites and employed only white workers. • Boycotts “Don’t show where you can’t work”

46. Political Critics of the New Deal • It didn’t go far enough! • There was still poverty in America. • Government needed to own and operate factories and farms.

47. Political Critics of the New Deal • It goes too far!!! • Republicans didn’t like it. • Too much govt. in peoples’ lives. • Wealthy people considered paying extra income tax unfair. • Roosevelt was a traitor to the rich class.

48. Political Critics of the New Deal • Social Security penalized successful rich people by making them pay into the system. • Social Security numbers was the first step to making ours a militaristic society. • Dog tags with our SS numbers.

49. Other Critics of the New Deal: Demagogues • Leaders who manipulate people with half-truths, deceptive promises and scare tactics. • Father Coughlin • Huey Long

50. Demagogue: Father Coughlin • Radio Priest who sermonized to 10 million people. • At first liked the New Deal, then turned against it. • Openly anti-Semitic (hated and blamed Jews for problems in the country) • Praised Hitler. • Catholic Church shut him up in 1942.