1. The Great Depression, FDR, & the New Deal 26

2. Brother, can you spare me a …

3. The Great Crash 1928--soaring stock prices attract individual, corporate investment 1929--stock market crashes – directly affects 3 million – credit crunch stifles business Businesses lay off workers Demand for consumer goods declines

4. Unemployment, 1929-1942

5. Effects of the Depression Hardship affects all classes The middle class loses belief in ever- increasing prosperity Thousands of young homeless, jobless

6. Fighting the Depression Republican attempts to overcome catastrophe, flounder. Depression gives Democrats opportunity to regain power.

7. Pres. Hoover and Voluntarism Herbert Hoover initially seeks solution through voluntary action, private charity Eventually aids farmers and bankers Resists Democratic efforts to give direct aid to the unemployed – perceived as indifferent to human suffering – programs seen as incompetent

8. Bank Failures, 1929-1933

9. The Emergence of FDR Franklin Delano Roosevelt – born to wealth and privilege – 1921--crippled by polio – 1928--elected governor of New York – talented politician 1932--defeats Hoover with farmer- worker-immigrant-Catholic coalition

12. FDR, The New Deal, 100 days

13. The New deal (1933-36) A series of economic programs implemented in the US & passed by Congress during the first presidential term of FDR (1933-1937). They were responses to the Great Depression, and focused on "3 Rs": R for relief for the unemployed and poor; R for recovery of the economy to normal levels; and R for reform of the financial system to prevent a repeat depression. The New Deal made the Democratic Party the majority (held the White House for 7 out of 9 Presidential terms from 1933 to 1969), with its base in liberal ideas, big city machines, and newly empowered labor unions, ethnic minorities, and the white South. The Republicans were split, either opposing the entire New Deal as an enemy of business and growth, or accepting some of it and promising to make it more efficient. It dominated most American elections into the 1960s.

14. The Hundred Days FDR closed all the banks for 100 days and did not open unless they were trusted by him. Ever since, presidents have been judged against FDR for what they accomplished in their first 100 days. Banking system saved from collapse Fifteen major laws provide relief New Deal aims to reform and restore, not nationalize, the economy

15. The Tennessee Valley Authority A federally owned corporation in the US created by congressional charter in 1933 to provide navigation, flood control, electricity generation, fertilizer manufacturing, and economic development in the Tennessee Valley, a region particularly affected by the Great Depression. TVA's service area covers most of Tennessee, parts of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and small slices of Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia. It was the first large regional planning agency of the federal government and remains the largest. TVA became a model for America's governmental efforts to modernize Third World agrarian societies.

16. The TVA

17. Roosevelt and Recovery National Recovery Administration (NRA) – industries formulate codes to eliminate cut- throat competition, ensure labor peace – codes favor big business, unenforceable – 1935--NRA ruled unconstitutional Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933 – farmers paid to take land out of cultivation – prices increase – sharecroppers, tenant farmers dispossessed

18. NRA UNCONSTITUTIONAL? The Supreme Court found certain government-imposed regulations of the poultry industry, such as price- & wage-fixing, unconstitutional. The "codes of fair competition" would have allowed the President to dictate pricing and other competitive aspects of the agribusiness The National Recovery Administration (NRA) was closed. However, many of NRA policies, such as setting minimum wage and restricting work hours, were successfully reenacted under the National Labor Relations Act (aka Wagner Act) passed in July 1935.

19. Roosevelt and Relief 1933--Aid to unemployed 1933--Civilian Conservation Corps provides employment to young people 1935--Works Progress Administration (WPA) place unemployed on federal payroll Programs never sufficiently funded

20. Social Security 1935--Social Security Act passed Criticisms – too few people would collect pensions – unemployment package inadequate Establishes pattern of government aid to poor, aged, handicapped

21. Labor Legislation 1935--Wagner Act – allows unions to organize – outlaws unfair labor practices 1938--Fair Labor Standard Act – maximum hour – minimum wage

22. Impact of the New Deal Had a broad influence on the quality of life in the U.S. in the 1930s Helps labor unions most

23. Rise of Organized Labor 1932--National Recovery Act spurs union organizers Congress of Industrial Organization (CIO) formed by John L. Lewis CIO unionizes steel, auto industries 1940--CIO membership hits 5 million, 28% of labor force unionized

24. Women at Work Position of women deteriorates in ‘30s – jobs lost at a faster rate than men – hardly any New Deal programs help Progress in government – Frances Perkins, Secretary of Labor, the first woman cabinet member – women appointed to several other posts – Eleanor Roosevelt a model for activism

25. End of the New Deal 1936--New Deal peaks with Roosevelt’s reelection Congress resists programs after 1936

26. The Election of 1936 FDR’s campaign – attacks the rich – promises further reforms – defeats Republicans Democrats win majorities in both houses of Congress FDR coalition: South, cities, labor, ethnic groups, African Americans, poor

28. The New Deal in Decline 1936--cutbacks for relief agencies 1937--severe slump hits economy Roosevelt blamed, resorts to huge government spending 1938--Republican party revives

29. The New Deal and American Life New Deal’s limitations – depression not ended – economic system not fundamentally altered – little done for those without political clout Achievements – Social Security, the Wagner Act – political realignment of the 1930s