Chapter 21

Give Me Liberty!An American History

Second EditionVolume 2

Norton Media Library

byEric Foner

I. First New Deal (the “Hundred Days”)A. Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) and the

election of 19321. Roosevelt background2. “New Deal” promise

a) Vaguenessb) Popular reception

3. Outcomea) FDR landslide victory over Hooverb) Strong Democratic Congressional gains

I. First New Day (the “Hundred Days”)B.Initial approach to economic crisis

1. New Deal as alternative to socialist, Nazi, and Laissez-faire solutions

2. Lack of initial blueprint3. Circle of advisors

a) Leading figuresb) Outlooks

1) Roots in Progressive reform2) Dominant preference for regulated “bigness”

I. First New Day (the “Hundred Days”) C.FDR inauguralD.Financial program

1. Initiativesa) “Bank holiday”b) Emergency Banking Actc) Glass-Steagall Actd) Removal of United States from gold standard

2. Aim: reversal of banking crisis3. Outcome: rescue of financial system

I. First New Day (the “Hundred Days”)E.National Recovery Administration (NRA)

1. Elementsa) Business-government cooperationb) Industry codes for output, prices, working

conditionsc) Recognition of labor’s right to organized) Blue Eagle campaign

2. Aimsa) Restoration of economic vitality, stabilityb) Labor-management peace

I. First New Day (the “Hundred Days”)E.National Recovery Administration (NRA)

3.Outcomesa) Ebbing of public enthusiasm; growth of controversyb) Corporate dominationc) Weak enforcementd) Minimal effectiveness

F. Relief and jobs programs1.Initiatives

a) Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA)b) Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)c) Public Works Administration (PWA)d) Civil Works Administration (CWA)e) Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)

I. First New Day (the “Hundred Days”)F. Relief and jobs programs

2.Aims a) Direct relief for needy (FERA)b) Public employment (CCC, PWA, CWA, TVA)c) Improvement of nation’s infrastructure (CCC. PWA,

CWA, TVA)

3.Outcomesa) Mass participationb) Widespread reliefc) Emerging oppositiond) Long-term effects

I. First New Day (the “Hundred Days”) G.Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA)

1. Elementsa) Production quotasb) Subsidies for removal of land from cultivationc) Destruction of crops, livestock

2. Aims: revival of farm prices and income3. Outcomes

a) Revival of farm prices and incomeb) Uneven impact on farmers

1) Gains for landowning farmers2) Exclusion and displacement of tenants,

sharecroppers

I. First New Day (the “Hundred Days”) G.Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA)

4.Worsening of rural hardshipa) Dust Bowl and mass displacement of farmersb) John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath

H.Housing program1.Initiatives

a) Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC)b) Federal Housing Administration (FHA)c) Federal construction of low-rent housing

2.Aimsa) Protection of homeowners from foreclosureb) Expanded access to home ownershipc) Inexpensive rental housingd) New construction

I. First New Day (the “Hundred Days”) H.Housing program

3.Outcomesa) Preservation or attainment of home ownership for

millionsb) Affirmation of “security of the home” as a fundamental

right

I. Further initiatives1.Repeal of Prohibition2.Federal Communications Commission3.Securities and Exchange Commission

J. Overall impact1.Transformation of role of federal government2.Scale of relief, public projects3.Failure to end Depression

I. First New Day (the “Hundred Days”)K.Gathering Supreme Court assault

1. Invalidation of NRA; Schecter Poultry case2. Invalidation of AAA; United States v. Butler

II. Grassroots revoltA. Reawakening of American labor movement

1. Preconditionsa) Encouraging signals from federal government

1) Election of FDR2) Section 7a of National Industrial Recovery Act3) Wagner Acts

b) Receding of ethnic differencesc) Militant leadership

2. Aspirationsa) Better Wagesb) Check on employer powerc) Labor rightsd) Union recognition

III. Second New DealA. Triggering factors

1. Persistence of Depression2. Popular unrest3. Democratic gains of 1934

B. Underlying aims1. Economic security2. Redistribution of income; broadening of

purchasing powerC. Central initiatives

1. Tax on wealth, corporate profits2. Rural Electrification Agency

a) Electric power to farmersb) Soil conservationc) Minimal benefits for non-landholders

III. Second New Deal (cont’d)C.Central initiatives

3.Works Projects Administration (WPA)a) Mass participationb) Impact on national life

1) Infrastructure2) The arts

4.Wagner Act (National Labor Relations Act)a) Provisions

1) Rights to organize, union representation, collective bargaining

2) Federal enforcement; National Labor Relations Boardb) Democratization of the workplace; “Labor’s Magna

Carta”

III. Second New Deal (cont’d)C.Central initiatives

5.Social Security Acta) Provisions

1) Unemployment insurance2) Old-age pension3) Aid to disabled, elderly poor, and families with

dependent childrenb) Key features

1) System of taxes on employees and workers2) Mix of national and local funding, control, and

eligibility standardsc) Significance: launching of American welfare systemd) In comparison with European versions

IV. Reckoning with libertyA. Contested meanings of freedom

1. New Deal versiona) Expanded power of national stateb) Social and industrial freedom c) Economic security of liberty of contractd) FDR and modern liberalism

2. Anti-New Deal versiona) Freedom from government regulation, fiscal

responsibilityb) Individual freedomc) American Liberty Leagued) Hoover’s The Challenge to Liberty

IV. Reckoning with liberty (cont’d)B.Election of 1936

1. FDR vs. Republican Alf Landon2. Sharp divisions between classes, conceptions of

freedom3. Outcome: Roosevelt landslide4. Significance

a) Seeds of anti-government conservatism b) “New Deal coalition”

5. FDR’s second inauguralC.FDR’s court-packing plan

1. Motivations2. Widespread alarm over3. Ultimate success

IV. Reckoning with liberty (cont’d)C.FDR’s court-packing plan

3.Ultimate successa) New receptiveness of Supreme Court to New Deal

regulationb) Chief justice Charles Evans Hughes conversion

D.Winding down of Second New Deal1.Last major New Deal Measures

a) United States Housing Actb) Fair Labor Standards Act

2.1937 economic downturn3.Shift in New Deal approach to economic crisis

a) Adoption of Keynesian, public spending toolb) Discontinuation of economic planning, redistribution

VI. New conception of AmericaA. Absorption of new immigrants into public

mainstream1. Prominence among framers and supporters of

New Deal2. “Little New Deals”: Fiorello LaGuardia3. Cultural assimilation4. Americanization via labor and political activism

B. Ascendancy of American left1. Elements

a) Communistsb) Socialistsc) Labor radicals, CIOd) New Deal liberals

VI. New conception of AmericaB.Ascendancy of American left

2.Growtha) In numbersb) In impact on political culture, conceptions of

freedom

3.Activities and appeal of Communist Partya) Range of causes

1) The unemployed2) Industrial unionism; CIO3) Civil rights; Scottsboro case4) Civil liberties

VI. New conception of America

B.Ascendancy of American left3.Activities and appeal of Communist Party

b) Popular Front vision1) Coalition with wider left2) Broadening and energizing of New Deal liberalism3) Promotion of social and economic radicalism, ethnic

and racial diversity, unionism and social citizenshipc) Growing size, respectability

4.Breadth of Popular Front visiona) FDR and the “common man”b) Manifestations in the artsc) Militant, inclusive unionism of CIOd) Spreading condemnations of racial, ethnic, religious

intolerance