Essential Question: What major issues did the Second New Deal address?

Second New Deal Addressed the issue of the “general welfare” by helping the Elderly Poor Workers rights Farmers Unemployed Created public works projects Works Progress Administration (WPA) $5b. For new jobs Worked on highways, rivers, promoted soil, and water conservation Also helped artists

Social Security Act Farmers Pension for retirees Unemployment insurance for those who lost jobs Insured for victims of work related accidents Aid for poverty stricken mothers/children, blind and disabled Flaws Didn’t apply to domestics or farm workers Made many Af. Amns ineligible for SS Widows had smaller benefits than widowers Farmers Rural Electrification Administration Loaned money to electric utilities to build power lines

Labor Unions Find New Energy Roosevelt believes he needed to raise the standard of living for industrial workers in order for the New Deal to work New Deal Labor Legislation National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) AKA: Wagner Act Recognized rights of employees to join labor unions Gave workers the right to use collective bargaining Created the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Fair Labor Standards Act (1938) Gave workers rights Established a minimum wage and maximum work week Outlawed child labor

Workers Use Their Rights Congress of Industrial Organization (CIO) Made up of labor leaders Created United Automobile Workers Union Staged a sit-down strike at a General Motors plant Wanted to be recognized as a union Lasted 44 days Gained better wages and working conditions

Challenges to the New Deal FDR wins 1936 election Supreme Court Schechter Poultry v. US National Industrial Recovery Act is unconstitutional b/c the president does not have the power to regulate commerce Rules part of the Agricultural Adjustment Act was unconstitutional

FDR Dilutes the Supreme Court Proposes to add 6 new justices to the Supreme Court since the Constitution does not give a limit Critics called this “court packing” b/c they would be in favor of the New Deal FDR doesn’t go through with it b/c SC ruled in his favor on minimum wage and Wagner Act

Downturn gives Conservatives Momentum 1935-36 economic conditions improve Unemployment down 10% b/c the economy is doing better, FDR cuts back on federal spending to reduce the rising deficit FDR lowers federal spending while Federal Reserve Board (people who control the money supply) raises interest rates These two put together means it is more difficult for businesses to expand and for consumers to borrow money In response to this, the unemployment rate goes up to 20% and FDR’s power is shaken and therefore does not try to force any more reforms through Congress