T HE S ECOND N EW D EAL 22.2

O BJECTIVES Discuss the programs of social and economic reform in the second New Deal Explain how New Deal legislation affected the growth of organized labor. Describe the impact of Roosevelt’s court packing plan on the course of the New Deal

K EY P ARTS Extending Social and Economic Reform Labor Unions Find a New Energy Challenges to the New Deal

I NTRODUCTION Read Section 22.2 Answer Critical thinking question 4&5.

E XTENDING S OCIAL AND E CONOMIC R EFORM In FDR’s fireside chats, press conferences, and major addresses, Roosevelt explained the challenges facing the nation. FDR’s Second New Deal addressed the problems of the elderly, poor, and unemployed. In the spring of 1935 congress appropriated $5 billion for new jobs and created Works Progress Administration (WPA) to administer the program.

C ONT. The WPA built or improved a good portion of our nation’s highways, dredged rivers and harbors. The WPA even provided programs in the arts for displaced artists. By 1943, the WPA had employed more than 8 million people and spent about 11 billion dollars.

C ONT.. Its workers built more than 650,000 miles of highways and 125,000 public buildings. Two of the most famous projects done by the WPA was the San Antonio River Walk and the Appalachian Trail. The only problem with FDR’s plans was the growing National Debt. It went from 461 million to 4.4 billion in four years.

C ONT … John Maynard Keynes explained how the deficit spending will eventually turn around due to the economic stimulation. This theory was called pump priming. In 1935 President Roosevelt unveiled his plans for Social Security Act and the pension for the elderly. Initially the plan had many flaws but later was corrected.

C ONT …. The Second New Deal also helped farmers gain electricity. Before the New Deal only 10 percent of farmers had electricity but by percent did. Many of the New Deal public works water projects had an enormous impact on the development of the West. The Bonneville Dam and the complex systems of irrigation provided jobs and needed water for farming.

L ABOR U NIONS F IND N EW E NERGY Labor Unions during the Great Depression went through an upsurge of millions of workers joining them. Roosevelt believed that the success of the New Deal depended on raising the standard of living for American Industrial workers. The National Labor Relations Act was an important piece of the New Deal labor legislation.

C ONT. It was called the Wagner Act, it recognized the right of employees to be a part of unions and collective bargaining. The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 provided workers with a minimum wage of.25 per hour and a maximum work week of 44 hours. This led to strikes eventually, giving workers the power to effect big business.

C ONT.. Different organization began to emerge to pull for more money and less work and more rights. A few were; American Federation of Labor (AFL), Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO), and the United Automobile Workers Union (UAW). They were the first to stage the sit-down strike, refusing to do work or leave their work positions until a settlement was met. This example happened to General Motors.

C HALLENGES TO THE N EW D EAL During FDR’s presidency he had support from the vast majority, except in many cases the Supreme Court. They would not pass a lot of FDR’s very important legislation that was key to the New Deal’s success to eliminate debt. The Supreme Court felt the government was getting too much power.

C ONT. To counter this FDR added six new Justices into the Supreme court to the nine that already exist in Of course the six he entered were all pro FDR, so many called this “court packing” This ended up working for him but at the cost of some of his supporters. This decision hurt him politically and shook the foundation of his support.

C ONT.. FDR had taken unemployment down 10% and reduced federal spending and the economy was on the rise. However he made one miscalculation that caused the economy to drop again. When he reduced federal spending he did not know that the Federal Reserve Board raised interest rates, making it more difficult for businesses to expand and for consumers to borrow to buy new goods.