HST 102 1nd Edition Lecture 13 Outline of Last Lecture II America Depressed III Elusive Recovery IV Part 1 Family Life V Part 2 Farmer s Depression VI Part 3 Hunger Politics Outline of Current Lecture VII Turmoil VIII Part 1 Voices of Protest IX Part 2 The Second New Deal X Part 3 Critics and Coalitions XI Part 4 End of the Line XII What does it all mean Current Lecture Lecture 2 26 25 Bigger Steps The Second New Deal Turmoil o Economic catastrophe motivates First New Deal reforms o Social catastrophe and enduring hardship leads to continued unrest and disruption o Americans are increasingly challenging the shape of the New Deal by the end of 1934 Part 1 Voices of Protest o Senator Huey P Long Democratic Governor and then Senator from Louisiana These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor s lecture GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes not as a substitute Embraces Populist and Progressive traditions but rules with corruption and dictatorial power Breaks with FDR in 1933 Founds the Share Our Wealthy Society 1934 with a large following Taxation and confiscation of significant wealth and income Redistribution to guarantee minimum family wages and wealth levels Most extreme of the potential reform programs Every family in America would receive a 5 000 grant and guaranteed a job w minimum income of 25 000 a year Increasingly popular and powerful Every man a king o Father Charles Coughlin Catholic Priest from suburban Detroit with a national weekly radio program with a massive audience The Radio Priest Attacks Wall Street and big bankers and demands a nationalized banking industry Breaks with FDR in 1934 Believes the president supports the banking industry Founds the National Union for Social Justice 1935 By the late 1930s has become primarily an advocate of anti Semitism and fascism o Dr Francis Townsend California based physician Creates the Townsend Old Age Revolving Pension Plan 1933 Americans over 60 years old receive 200 month upon retirement Must spend the full amount each month Gains nearly 5 million followers within two years Spurs FDR back into action helps shift policy focus and makes the administration policy proposals seem moderate They expand the political window by proposing radical solutions They help shape the 2nd new deal Part 2 The 2nd New Deal o A second new deal After the initial rush of legislation in 1933 34 FDR beings a new wave of reforms in 1935 Responding in part to popular discontent and popular demands for greater action Reforms are more extensive and far reaching Embrace some redistributive policies o WPA FDR now supports even larger programs for direct federal employment Approves establishment of the Works Progress Administration Built and renovate public buildings and roads funds orchestras and ballets writes plays for public enjoyment creates a new form of entertainment Employs more than 2 million people per year in an array of blue and white collar jobs o Social Security Social Security Act of 1935 Established a national pension system funded by taxes on workers and employers Provides immediate payments to the destitute 15 others are eligible after 1942 10 85 month Puts a tax on employers for those who are laid off receive a loan Creates unemployment insurance and aid for the disabled o A New Deal for Unions The National Labor Relations Act The option for workers to unionize and bargain collectively become a federally protected right Spawns a new wave of union organizing membership doubles from 1930 to 1940 The Committee for Industrial Organization CIO breaks from the AFL and adopts more confrontational tactics Like sit down strikes where employees would go into work sit down and refuse to work o When Affirmative Action Was White Many of these New Deal programs are racially discriminatory Social security and labor protections exclude agricultural and domestic workers 2 3 of all black laborers Labor unions are permitted to segregate by race Expands racial wealth gaps pushes African Americans into less stable and more stigmatized forms of relief Part 3 Critics and Coalitions o New Deal Opposition By late 1934 strong conservative objections to the New Deal emerge Found the American Liberty League Accusations of reckless spending Excessive governmental power and regulation Significant anti Roosevelt sentiment in the press and in the business community o Order in the Court The Supreme Court looks like the single biggest threat to FDR s New Deal Had invalidated the NRA and AAA in 1935 36 Concerns that they will quickly strike down the more expansive reforms of the Second New Deal Challenges to the Social Security Act and NLRA are looming o The Elections of 1936 Despite opposition FDR is reelected in a landslide Economy showed real signs of life by the summer of 1936 An even larger margin of victory than 1932 Biggest in American history Larger than beating Hoover beat Al Landon of Kansas Democrats further increase their popularity o The New Deal Coalition Realignment of the electorate is complete FDR winds with the support of a varied constituency Organized labor The segregationist South African American voters in the North Western farmers Part IV End of the Line o Court Packing To protect the New Deal from the Supreme Court FDR proposes an overhaul of the federal court system A provision to add up to six new Justices to the Supreme Court Does lasting damage to the administration s reputation and popular support But the following month the balance of the Supreme Court shifts in favor of the New Deal West Coast Hotel v Parrish The Court soon becomes supportive of federal intervention in economic affairs o Relapse The economy hits a sharp recession in the summer of 1937 Four million workers lose their jobs in less than a year industrial production drops by 1 3 Called the Roosevelt Recession by his opponents Many in the administration believe it is caused by steep cuts to federal spending o Midterms In the 1938 midterm elections FDR tries to push out some powerful conservation Democrats and replace them with allies Loses each contest badly Further damages his administration s political power and reputation o The end of the New Deal New Deal legislation ends by the 1938 Several causes Weakening political power Legislative fatigue Improving economy Prospect of international war What does it all mean o So what did the New Deal ultimately do Changed the role of federal power in the economy Laissez Faire is dead Made gov t an