2. New Deal and Labor Roosevelt wanted to help workers through social legislation like Social Security and work with business with things like NRA NRA was ruled unconstitutional and so he passed the Wagner Act to help labor unions Eventually realized that labor unions was best way to combat power of big businesses Pro-labor aspects of New Deal helped union membership grow at this time Lots of strikes during New Deal followed growth of union membership Unions demanded collective bargaining Used sit down strikes where they stayed in the workplace but refused to work

4. Women and African Americans African Americans Not well organized in the 1930s and benefited less from the New Deal FDR didn’t do a lot for civil rights because he didn’t want to lose support of Southern Democrats who he needed to get New Deal legislation passed Did not do anything to stop poll tax or pass anti-lynching law Eleanor Roosevelt did give support to African Americans Up to 50 were given high up jobs in New Deal agencies Women Women also not organized Suffered less unemployment because worked in low paying jobs New Deal programs would often not hire women because they viewed them as wives and mothers who should be home New Deal did help women in government

5. 1936 Election Mandate During first term many Americans supported Roosevelt because they felt the New Deal offered something to everyone Built up a New Deal Coalition voting bloc of the Democratic South, new immigrant workers, big cities, African Americans who had voted Republican, organized labor, elderly, and farmers who were usually Republican Roosevelt won by a landslide which delivered a mandate or endorsement from the population

6. FDR’s Strategies Roosevelt was a pragmatist who was willing to try whatever would help solve the Depression He was influenced by Populist and Progressive philosophies of using government to solve social and economic problems Passed relief measures that involved the federal government much more in the economy Used commerce and elastic clauses of Constitution Lowered taxes and increased government spending to stimulate the economy and lower unemployment Protected people against risks he felt they couldn’t handle on their own Increased federal government regulation of banks, businesses, and stock exchanges Used deficit spending to revive economy Economist John Maynard Keynes said government must spend a lot to encourage production and increase purchasing power

7. Supreme Court and the New Deal During the New Deal the Supreme Court struck down lots of FDR’s programs by narrowly interpreting the interstate commerce clause NRA – Court said the law illegally gave Congress power to regulated interstate commerce and violated separation of power between executive and legislative AAA – struck it down by saying agriculture was a local, not interstate matter

8. FDR and Court Packing The Court consistently vetoed FDR’s New Deal legislation Because of this FDR asked Congress to pass a law that said the President could increase the number of justices from 9 to 15 if they would retire at age 70 Called the Judicial Reorganization Bill or “court packing” plan and was intended to get New Deal programs passed Never passed because it violated separation of powers

9. Political Opposition Most opposition to FDR and New Deal came from big business Conservative Democrats and Republican business owners and politicians formed the American Liberty League and claimed Roosevelt was exercising too much power as president Financing New Deal through Deficit Spending Ruining free-enterprise system Radical groups like Communist party also opposed the New Deal but didn’t get much popular support Socialist party got some support and ran candidates like Eugene Debs who wanted to use democratic means to make economic changes

10. Individual Opponents to the New Deal People began criticizing the New Deal and offering simplistic solutions to problems facing the country Called “homegrown demagogues” because their philosophies were from America and appealed to emotions and prejudice Francis E Townsend created a financially impossible plan of pensions for the elderly Father Charles E. Coughlin was a Catholic priest who blamed business owners, especially Jewish ones, for problems Huey Long, senator from Louisiana, proposed that income and inheritance taxes on the wealthy be used to give everyone a $2,500 income, a car, and a college education