The End of the New Deal

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The End of the New Deal
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End of the New Deal
The 1936 election saw the birth of a new
Democratic coalition that would last for 30
years South, West, urban, labor, ethnic groups,
blacks, the poor

• New Deal reached its high point when FDR was
  re-elected in 1936
• FDRs experienced more setbacks in his 2nd term
  than is 1st term but he still remained a popular
  leader

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Packing the Supreme Court
U.S. v. Butler (1936)
Schechter v. U.S. (1935)

• The Supreme Court was FDRs last obstacle to
  overcome
• The Court ruled the NRA AAA were
  unconstitutional
• FDRs solution was to ask Congress to appt 1 new
  justice for each justice over 70 yrs old
• This controversial court packing plan would add
  6 new justices

All 9 justices were old, white men Only 3 were
sympathetic to the New Deal 2 were
unpredictable 4 wanted to block New Deal
Justice Willis Van Devanter planned to retire in
1932, but stayed on because he felt FDR was
unfitted unsafe for the presidency
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Packing the Supreme Court

• The court-packing scheme was legal but set a
  scary precedent
• The Senate strongly resisted FDR the Court
  defended itself against ageism attacks
• The crisis ended when the Court declared the
  Wagner Act Social Security constitutional
  Judge Van Devanter resigned

FDR eventually appointed 5 justices to the
Supreme Court in his 4 terms
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The End of the New Deal

• 1938 saw the end of the New Deal
• Other than the Fair Labor Standards Act, FDRs
  2nd term saw no new New Deal programs
• FDRs court-packing plan hurt his relationship
  with Congress
• The Roosevelt Recession of 1937 was the result
  of FDRs attempt to reduce govt spending
  balance the budget

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Unemployment, 1929-1942
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The Impact of the New Deal
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The Impact on Organized Labor
Used strikes sit-ins to unionize Ford,
Chrysler, GM

• Unions were weak in the 1920s
• Only 3 million people were union members Most
  joined the AFL which barred unskilled laborers
• In 1938, John Lewis formed the Congress of
  Industrial Organizations (CIO) used the Wagner
  Act to bring collective bargaining to more workers

Unionized the textile, rubber, electrical, metal
industries
Peacefully unionized U.S. Steel
By 1940, the CIO had more union members than the
AFL (10m total)
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CIO President John Lewis
AFL-CIO merged in 1955
With AFL president Gompers way back in 1922
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Republic Steel Strike in 1937
10 strikers died
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The Impact on Organized Labor

• For the 1st time, unskilled skilled laborers
  were unionized
• Women African-Americans benefited because they
  made up a large of unskilled labors
• While the New Deals Wagner Act helped make
  unions stronger, major steps to unionize were
  initiated by the unions themselves, not the
  federal govt

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The Impact on Women

• The New Deal brought few economic benefits to
  women
• The New Deal allowed for unequal wages Social
  Security, the NRA, minimum wage laws offered
  little help for women
• But, women did see gains in govt
• The 1st female cabinet member, Senator,
  ambassadors, judges were appointed under FDR

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The 1st female cabinet member Francis Perkins
(Dept of Labor)
The 1st female Senator Hattie Caraway
(D-Arkansas)
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The Impact on African-Americans

• The New Deal did little for blacks
• Racism segregation remained strong during the
  Depression
• The NRA allowed lower wage scales for black
  workers The AAA allowed for the eviction of
  sharecroppers tenant farmers
• Minimum wage SS did not apply to farmers
  domestic servants (65 were black)

The NRA stands for Negroes Robbed Again
Social Security looks like a sieve with the
holes just large enough for the majority of
Negroes to fall through NAACP
Blacks were the last hired first fired
Blacks experienced 50 unemployment rate
AAA is a continuation of the same old raw deal
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The Impact on African-Americans

• Despite the inequalities of the New Deal, blacks
  supported FDR
• FDR hired African-Americans to key govt
  positions
• Eleanor Roosevelt spoke out against racial
  discrimination
• The RFC brought assistance to 40 of unemployed
  blacks through the WPA

While relief WPA are not ideal, they are
better than the Hoover bread lines theyll have
to do until the real thing comes along
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Eleanor Roosevelt with singer Marian Anderson
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The Impact on Mexican-Americans

• Mexican-Americans fared even less than
  African-Americans
• The Dust Bowl led to a flood of whites into the
  agricultural fields in the southwest
• Congress created immigration restrictions
  allowed for the deportation of illegal residents
  to reduce state welfare payments
• Received few New Deal benefits

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The Impact on Native Americans

• Native-Americans remained the poorest of all U.S.
  residents but did benefit from the New Deal
• The Indian Reorganization Act shifted U.S. Indian
  policy from Indians as yeoman farmers to unified
  autonomous tribes
• Many gained employment in the Indian Bureau

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The Impact on the South West

• The South West benefited the most from the New
  Deal
• The AAA helped end Southern dependence on
  sharecropping in favor of a wage labor system
• The West received more work relief welfare than
  any region
• Hydroelectric power irrigation programs helped
  residents

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ConclusionThe New Deal American Life
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The New Deal and American Life
First Hundred Days
Second Hundred Days

• The New Deal lasted only 5 years (1933-1938) The
  majority of laws came in 2 bursts in 1933 1935
• The New Deal was not very successful
  economically
• Helped relieve suffering but did not end the
  Depression
• American wealth remained unequally distributed

10 million were still unemployed in 1939
12 million were unemployed when FDR took office
in 1933
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The New Deal American Life

• The New Deal was more successful socially
• Social Security, Wagner Act, the Fair Labor
  Standards Act helped elderly disabled
  citizens, labor unions, workers
• The New Deal did not help women, minorities,
  domestic workers, or small farmers

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The New Deal and American Life

• The New Deal was most successful politically
• FDRs leadership unified a new Democratic
  voting bloc
• FDR used his leadership optimism to provide a
  vital psychological lift to help citizens endure
  the Great Depression