SSUSH 18 Evaluate Franklin D Roosevelts New Deal

SSUSH 18 Evaluate Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal as a response to the Great Depression and compare how governmental programs aided those in need. a. Describe Roosevelt’s attempts at relief, recovery, and reform reflected in various New Deal programs. b. Explain the passage of the Social Security Act as a part of the second New Deal. c. Analyze political challenges to Roosevelt’s leadership and New Deal programs. d. Examine how Eleanor Roosevelt changed the role of the First Lady including development of New Deal programs to aid those in need.

Introduction • As the Depression set in after the stock market crash of 1929, many people blamed the president, Herbert Hoover, and the Republican Party for not taking strong enough measures to stimulate the economy, or at the least, to help alleviate the widespread unemployment and suffering. • As a result, the election of 1932, held at one the very lowest points in the Depression, was a landslide victory for the Democratic Party candidate, Franklin D. Roosevelt. • In his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention, Roosevelt promised to initiate a “New Deal” for the American people. • After taking office in March 1933, Roosevelt immediately began passing legislation to prevent a further deterioration of the economy, stabilizing the banking system and other key economic sectors, such as agriculture. Additionally, Roosevelt created numerous government agencies designed to relieve unemployment by getting people back to work. The jobs created by agencies such as the PWA (Public Works Administration) , the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps), provided temporary relief to millions of unemployed men across the country.

a. Describe Roosevelt’s attempts at relief, recovery, and reform reflected in various New Deal programs. • Historians often use the term “Three R’s” to describe the scope and purpose of FDR’s many New Deal programs. • “Relief” agencies were intended to provide immediate help to the millions of Americans who were suffering during the worst years of the Depression. Although there were some limited experiments with welfare programs that provided direct government assistance to citizens, most relief programs attempted to address unemployment by providing government jobs. Among many examples, one of the most effective was the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) which sought to provide employment to a specific group- young men aged 18 -25. The men of the CCC worked in national forests and built state parks, among other civic projects.

a. Describe Roosevelt’s attempts at relief, recovery, and reform reflected in various New Deal programs. • The second “R” was “recovery. ” These agencies and programs were attempts to stimulate the economy and put the nation on the road toward overall economic recovery. Two good examples are the AAA (Agricultural Adjustment Administration) and the NRA (National Recovery Administration). Both sought to set production levels, prices and wages to realign the disparity between supply and demand that was a major cause of the Depression. Both were also later found to be unconstituional.

a. Describe Roosevelt’s attempts at relief, recovery, and reform reflected in various New Deal programs. • The third “R” was “reform. ” These policies and agencies attempted to address longer term issues that FDR and the administration felt had exacerbated the Depression or could help to prevent future economic depressions. Banking reforms like the Glass-Steagall Act and labor reforms like the National Labor Relations Act are typically categorized as this type of reform. The Social Security Act also meets the criteria to be considered a long-term reform associated with the New Deal.

a. Describe Roosevelt’s attempts at relief, recovery, and reform reflected in various New Deal programs. • Among the numerous “alphabet agencies” created in the New Deal, some tried to cover all three “R’s. A good example was the TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority). Through the 1930 s and 1940 s, the TVA built over two dozen dams and hydroelectric power plants along the rivers of the Tennessee Valley watershed. • The goal of TVA was three-fold: 1) Provide work relief in one of the hardest hit areas of the nation, 2) prevent the frequent flooding that periodically wreaked havoc along these rivers, and 3) along with the REA (Rural Electrification Administration) provide inexpensive electricity to the mostly rural regions through the Tennessee River Valley. • The TVA is often considered one of the most successful of Roosevelt’s New Deal agencies, but at the time it was one of the most controversial New Deal programs because some saw it too near to socialism.

a. Describe Roosevelt’s attempts at relief, recovery, and reform reflected in various New Deal programs. • • • As the Depression took hold, unemployment soared, banks and businesses failed, and many who were able to keep jobs faced falling wages and markedly decreased spending power. Labor unrest was reaching critical mass, and many pushed for industrial unionism as the answer. Unlike trade unionism, which promoted the interest of skilled labor, industrial unions sought to represent the interests of entire industries- auto makers or steelworkers for example. Most industries had strongly resisted this type of unionism as a detriment to sound business, but as labor grew more unsettled, it became a political liability that demanded Roosevelt’s attention as the election of 1936 approached. FDR’s answer was the National Labor Relations Act, also known as the Wagner Act, which guaranteed all workers the right to unionize and collectively bargain with employers for wages and working conditions. The act also established the National Labor Relations Board, which mediated disputes between labor and business. The Wagner Act inspired a flurry of unionism in the years to follow. The Committee for Industrial Organization was formed in 1935 to coordinate broad based efforts to unionize un-organized industries. Many workers conducted sit-down strikes and other tactics to force companies to concede. Union membership soared through the late 1930 s-1950 s, and FDR cemented the broad support of labor interests for the Democrat Party.

18. b- Explain the passage of the Social Security Act as a part of the second New Deal • One of the most important of Roosevelt’s Depression-era reforms was the Social Security Act. Passed in 1935, the law established the Social Security Administration, whose goal was to provide a safety net for the retired and unemployed. • Essentially a nationwide insurance program, all workers and employers, through payroll taxes, contributed to the system. Benefits were to be paid at retirement, or in the event of unavoidable unemployment. Benefits were also paid to the indigent, disabled, or otherwise impoverished individuals who could not work through no fault of their own. The quasisocialist philosophy behind Social Security marked a major shift in American political and legislative history and continues to be a controversial point of debate. • Both the Social Security Act and the Wagner Act were part of another flurry of legislation called the Second New Deal. Some of Roosevelt’s legislation, like the National Recovery Act , had been struck down by the courts. FDR wanted new and more focused reforms to shore up his Democratic coalition leading up to the election of 1936, which turned out to be a much closer race than in 1932.

c. Analyze political challenges to Roosevelt’s leadership and New Deal programs • • . Through FDR’s first two administrations he faced some serious political challenges, both to his Democratic coalition, and to specific policies. One of the most serious political threats came from the populist senator, and former governor of Louisiana, Huey Long argued that FDR had not gone far enough in his reforms, and he built a substantial nationwide “Share Our Wealth” movement that blamed the greed of the wealthy for the continued suffering of the working poor. Some historians speculate that had he not been assassinated, he may have been able to credibly challenge FDR in the 1936 election. Although Long hurt FDR’s political coalition, perhaps the most politically damaging episode during the FDR years was his scheme to change the rules for Supreme Court service. FDR was bitter that the “Nine Old Men” of the Court had struck down some of his New Deal agencies, and he urged Congress to change the rules, which would allow him to appoint more justices and force the retirement of others. The plan was received with near universal scorn- many saw it as a power grab for the executive branch that offended the most basic premise of our constitutional system- separation of powers. Finally, on the international front, FDR faced challenges from isolationists who were determined to keep the U. S. out of world affairs. As the 1930 s progressed and as militant fascist regimes arose in Germany, Italy, and Spain- many saw war looming on the horizon. To prevent the U. S from getting involved, Congress passed a series of laws, beginning with the Neutrality Act of 1935, that prevented the U. S. from selling arms to any country at war. The Neutrality Act was renewed and expanded in 1937 adding a cash-and-carry provision to even non-military supplies.

Huey Long

d. Examine how Eleanor Roosevelt changed the role of the First Lady including development of New Deal programs to aid those in need. • FDR’s wife, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt took a very active role in promoting her husband’s policies, as well as pursuing her own issues and agenda of social progress. More than any First Lady preceding her, Eleanor Roosevelt was a visible and vocal activist for a variety of issues. • Some of the issues she advocated, such as racial inequalities and unionization of coal miners, would have been a political liability for FDR to address directly. Eleanor, however, could raise awareness of these issues without too much political repercussion for her husband. • For example, when the DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution refused to have a black singer (Marion Anderson) perform at their conference, Mrs. Roosevelt arranged for Anderson to perform at the Lincoln Memorial. This and other efforts on her part to address racial inequalities, helped to solidify Black support of the Democrat Party.