1. Criticism and the end of the Great Depression
New Deal
Criticism and the end of the Great Depression

2. Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)
Tennessee Valley population was impoverished:
30% affected by malaria
Average income $639 a year
Deforestation
Intensive farming had ruined the soil
TVA designed to alleviate these social and economic ills by focusing on:
Electricity
Reforestation
Fertilizer to help crop yields
Flood prevention

3. Electricity Government owned utilities
Brought industries to the region  jobs
Made life easier: lights and home appliances

4. Controversy
Local and regional power companies resented the TVA for providing cheaper energy
Supreme Court arguments:
Alabama Power Company argued that the government had exceeded its constitutional power by entering the utility business.
Supreme Court ruled against Alabama  the government had the authority to generate electricity, to sell and distribute the electricity.
“we are willing to be put out of business if it can be done in a plain straightforward business like manner, but we do object to our Government putting us out of business”- National Coal Association

5. Government vs. Private Business
Extreme expansion of the role of government in people’s lives  increase in regulation
Stepped on people’s toes (businessmen, more specifically)

6. Supreme Court
United States vs. Butler (1936): processing taxes as instituted under the Agricultural Adjustment Act were unconstitutional.
Tax placed on the processors of farm products to be paid to farmers who decreased the amount of land/livestock farmed.
Goal: to decrease farm production and increase amount paid to farmers who were “helping” by not farming.
Unconstitutional because the goal of the tax was to control agricultural production a job of the states, not the federal government.

7. Supreme Court A.L.A. Schechter Poultry Cooperation v. U.S. (1935)
A New Deal program gave the President the power to regulation employment (hours, minimum age, and wages).
S.C. said it was not the President’s job to legislate.

8. What’s the difference between these photos?

9. What’s the difference between these photos?
Civilian Conservation Corps
Hitler Youth
Both learned outdoor activities like hiking and camping. Both focused on employment as well as moral and spiritual growth. Hitler Youth membership reached 100,000 by 1933 and 4 million by Both “armies” were gaining membership at similar times. After WWI, Germany was left in horrible economic ruin, and the U.S. had similar struggles during the Great Depression. Our next unit is World War II, remember FDR’s role in revitalizing the economy when we discuss Hitler.