APUSH Chapter 21
Dust Bowl
-1930 was period of unusually dry weather only worsening the depression -mechanized agriculture pulverized topsoil and wind blew soil away -affected OK,TX,KS,CO -displaced over 1 mill farmers -Grapes of Wrath depicts struggle of dust bowl
Lunden Bill
-Sen Ernest Lunden of MN introduced bill establishing welfare benefits for all workers -blacks organization like the Urban League and NAACP strongly supported and lobbied for Lunden Bill -Social Security bill not Lunden bill passed -Pittsburg Courier complained that bill not passed bc of those in south who feared bill would disrupt souths racially divided labor system
New Deal Legislature
-Social Security Act- offered aid to unemployed and elderly -Fair Labor Standards Act established national min wage
Stigma of Welfare
-Social Security act gave states right to determine those who were in need of aid and met qualifications of "miral behaviour" -this led to discrimination towards blacks in south -blacks had to instead rely on humiliating stigma of govt handouts known as welfare -1942 National Resources Board determines that blacks were disproportionately reliant on welfare -blacks therefore stigmatized as recipients of unearned welfare
Southern Veto
-Southern politics made welfare into a white entitlement -Democratic had a monopoly on politics in south bc of disenfranchisement of blacks -Southern Democrats controlled Congress so they pushed FDRs Social Security law to exclude agricultural and domestic worker bc most blacks worked in those fields
Courts and Civil Liberties
-Sup Court began to expnd authority over civil liberties -civil liberties replaced liberty of contract as judicial foundation of freedom -free thought and exprression were essential to all other forms of liberty -overturned conviction of communist Angelo Herndon jailed for "inciting insurrection"
Court and the First New Deal
-Supreme Court of conservative Rep started to repeal new deal laws -NRA declared unconstiutional in May in Schechtner Poultry Company of Brooklyn case bc it violated chicken industry code -NRA unlawful bc its codes delegated legislative power to the president and regulated small businesses -AAA declared unconstiutional in USA vs Butler bc it was unconstiutional exercise of congressional power over the economy -justices ruled against minimum wage for women and children in NYC -First New Deal came to a judicial halt and pressures for more radical change to end depression called for
Strikes During the Labor Upheaval
-Toledo OH over 10k auto workers went on strike at the Electric Auto Lite Factory; led to 7 hr fight w/ employers bc employer hired strikebreakers to take jobs -In Mineapolis the Citizens Alliance of business controlled the govt leading to a 4 month strike by truck drivers -San Fran had first strike since 1919 w/ dock workers led by communist Harry Bridges demanding recognition of International Longshore Assoc Union -40k textile workers on east coast went on strike for recognition of United Textile Workers; strike failed
Unions of other industries
-US Steel finally in 1937 agreed to recognize the Steel Workers Organizing Committee in fear of no longer getting aid from fed govt -1937 police fired on Memorial Day on striking workers of Republic Steel -Union membership reached high of 9 mil by 1940 -NY transit workers said union allowed for employees to "talk to our bosses like men instead of slaves"
Criticism to Popular Front
-Un American Activities Committee formed by House of Rep to investiagte disloyalty -unamerican= communists, labor radical, left wing -Smith Act made it a crime to "teach advoacte or encourage" the overthrow of govt -Rapp Coudert Committee of NY legislature led to arrest of 60 faculty members of public schools
Banking Crisis
-banking suspended in most states by March 1933 -FDR declares "bank holiday" halting all bank operations -March 9 Emergency Banking Act provided funds to threatened instutitions -Glass Steagall Act prevented banks from the involvment of buying and selling stocks -Federal Deposit Insurance Corp insured the accounts of indv depositers -FDR took US off the gold standard which allowed issuance of more money and simualtion of business -5k banks failed from 1929 to 1933 but not a single one did in 1936
Women and Govt
-brought more women into govt eg Sec of Labor Frances Perkins -Eleanor Roosevelt transformed role of First Lady into a base for political action by traveling and giving speeches -Eleanor wrote her own newspaper column that often disagreed w/ her husbands policies
Scottsboro Case
-case brought to internationl attention by communists -9 blacks teenagers accused of raping 2 white girls -convicted 3 times despite weak evidence and recanting of one accuser -Supreme Court overruled first two convictions and declared that all people have a right to effective legal representation, and that states cannot exclude blacks systematically from juries -Supreme court upheld 3rd conviction which sentenced 5 of the boys -1937 defense attorney worked plea deal which released all the boys on parole
Social Security Act
-centerpiece of 2nd new deal; nat govt had a duty to ensure well being of citizens -created system of unemployment insurance, old pension and aid to disabled, poor -ideas based off 1912 Progressive Platform and European country eco plans -SSA launched american welfare state= sytem of income assistance, health coverage, and social service for all citizens -bill originally envisioned free health care but was shot down by American Medical Assoc
Voices of Protest
-1930s movement questioned eco justice on political agenda -Upton Sinclair won Dem nom for governor of CA in 1934 as part of End Poverty in CA movement -Sinclair bc of negative ad campaign which said he was endorsed by communist party -"radio priest" Father Charles Coughlin attracted millions of listeners w/ weekly talks denouncing Wall Street bankers and calling for govt ownership of property; originally supported FDR but became a critic of FDR bc of failure of New Deal -Dr Francis Townshend CA physician won support for plan to give $200 a month to older americans who would spend money immeadietly; 2 mil followers -these complainments helped bring about Second New Deal
Civilian Conservation Corps
-1933 Economy Act reduced federal spending but soon spending relief became unavoidable -Federal Emergency Relief made grants to local agencies to aid impoverished -CCC combated unemployment while improving nat parks and public works projects -over 3 mil passed through CCC during depression
End of Second New Deal
-1937 US Housing Act provided homes for the homeless -Fair Labor Standards Bill in 1938 banned goods produced by child labor, set 40 cent per hour min wage, and required overtime wage for over 40 hrs/wk work -1937 witnessed eco downturn bc govt reduced funding for WPA; unemployment went up to 20%
Factories in the Field
-1938 novel by Carey McWilliams which exposed the harsh conditions and low wage that migrant workers on the farm had to deal w/ and the new deal did not fix
Other FDR First New Deal Measures
-21st amend repeals prohibition -Federal Communication Commission oversaw nations broadcast airwaves -Securities and Exchange Commission regulated stocks and bonds -10 mil americans still unemployed by 1934
New Deal and Mexican Americans
-400k mexicans migrated back to mexico by strong urge of US govt officials -those that remained worked on CA vegetable farms where SSA and Wagner Act did not apply to agricultural workers -tried to form own union but were suppressed -tried to claim to be white so they would not seem be discriminated as blacks but also sought support from mexican govt and promoted sense of mexican pride w/ la raza heritage
Agricultural Adjustment Act
-Agricultural Adjustment Act sought to raise farm prices by creating a qouta for crops and paying farming to not overproduce -AAA only benefited property owning farmings while ignoring farmers who worked on owned land -many sharecroppers evicted and forced to most West
Challenging the Color Line
-American Jewish Committee and the National Conference of Christians defined pluralism as the "American way" -Communist party was only white society fighting racism as a top priority -Communist International Labor Defense mobilized support for black victims convicted of racist crimes -CIO allowed black members and promoted anti lycnching; organized many blacks into unions -blacks joined unions with enthusiasm; as said by CIO organizer Ed McRea
Promoting Diversity
-CIO embraced cultural pluralism -"we are the only americans who take them into our organization as equals"-labor organizer Rose Pesotta -Martha Graham wrote an American Document which glorified american past but also mentioned "the things we are ashamed of" -Earl Robinson's song "Ballad for Americans" celebrated religious, ethnic, racial diversity of american society
Labor and Politics
-CIO unlike AFL put forward a plan which favored govt intervention to shield Americans from eco insecurity w/ public housing, universal health care -CIO said Union were meant to cooperate w/ govt to "create a consumers demands" by raising wages and redistributing wealth -1937 agreement btw GM and UAW spoke of a "rate of pay commsumerate w/ an American standard of living" -many New Dealers adopted "underconsumptionist" explanation for depression which explained depression as lack of consumer demand bc of mal-distribution of wealth
Indian New Deal
-Com of Indian Affairs John Collier ended forced indian assimilation and allowed cultural autonomy -Collier replaced american boarding schools w/ reservation schools and increased spending on indian health -Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 ended policy of turning tribal land into small farm plots for indian families -Navajos refused to cooperate to protest against soil conservation program which limited amount of livestock -Grand Coule Dam flooded acres of indian land and did not make irigation available to indians
Reckoning w/ Liberty
-Depression caused change in Americans view of liberty -Archibald MacLeish took photos of impoverished and questioned reality of freedom in desperate times in his volume Land of the Free -1935 survey by Fortune showed that 90% of americans believed govt should provide job for everyman that wants work -National Catholic Welfare Society said "social justice" reqiures continous employment
A New Deal for Blacks
-FDR appointed black educator Mary Bethune and other blacks as special adviser on minority affairs -Elanor and Sec of Int Harold Ickes brought to national attention injustices toward blacks eg lynchings -Eleanor left Daughters of American Rev Group when they refused black singer Marian Andersen to sing -Bethune proclaimed new deal was a "new day" for blacks to achieve "the promised land of liberty -blacks of north and west abandonned rep party to support new deal and democrats -New Deal unfortunately did not bring change -FDR did not care for blacks rights; CCC had segregated work camps -SSA left uncovered 60% of blacks
FDR and Freedom
-FDR gave "fire sides chats" on the radio to americans -FDR changed liberalism to mean a socially active, conscious state -freedom= "greater security for the average man" instead of liberty of contract for the "privileged few"
Coming of the New Deal
-FDR proposed it as an alternative to socialism on left, Nazism on right, and unregulated capitalism -British economist John Keynes told FDR that FDR was trustee for which other countries would soon follow; if he failed only remaining choice were "orthodoxy" or "rev" -
Court Fight
-FDR proposed that pres be able to pick new justice for each one passed age 70 -he did this bc he wanted to change balance of power in court so they did not invlaidate social security and Wagner act -Congress rejected it bc it seemed like dictator power -still success bc in 1937 court suddenly started supporting eco intervention by govt -upheld minimum wage in Washington -Chief Justice Charles Hughes said "freedom of contract" not in constiution; liberty requires protection from evils of unemployment, eco insecurity
FDR Advisors
-FDR relied on advice of intellectuals and social workers; not unified in views -Sec of Labor Frances Perkins, veteran of Hull House and NY Consumer League -Harry Hopkins who headed emergency relief efforts in NYC when FDR was governor -Sec of Interior Harold Ickes who was veteran of Theodore Roosevelt campaign -Louis Brandeis who gave political advice; believed big corps caused depression bc of excessive power and keeping prices high and wages low; businesses should be broken up not regulated
FDR 1933
-FDR spent most of his time in 1933 reassuring the nation that everything would be ok -Walter Lippman said "the nation was in such a state of confused desperation that it would have followed any leader almost anywhere" -1932 FDR says "the only thing we have to fear itself" in his inaugural address
Second New Deal
-First was focused on eco recovery -Second was focused on eco security- guarentee americans to be protected against unemployment and poverty -New Dealers wanted to fix eco inequality -Congress levied tax on crop profits and fortunes -Rural Electrification Agency Built to establish electricity in homes that lacked it -REA success; 90% of farmers got electricity -2nd ND promoted soil conversation and family farming bc of belief that nation cannot prosper w/ poor farmers -farmers received federal assistance; 2nd ND arrested trend towards large farm w/ fewer farmers
The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money
-John Keynes challenged traditional belief in keeping balanced budget -large govt spending needed to sustain purchasing power and stimulate eco activity -FDR adopted this idea of Keynesian eco when he asked congress for billions more for farm aid -public spending would become new govt focus to combat unemployment as Second New Deal ended
Labor Upheaval
-NRA and Wagner Act granted workers the right to reform -reduction of immigration severed ethnic indifference btw workers -American born children dominated labor -FDR hoped to rekindle hope into the "slaves of the depression" as called by Sec of Labor Frances Perkins -slew of poignant letters came to FDR to decribe the "terrible and inhumane" conditions of labor -1934 over 2k strikes
NRA
-National Industrial Recovery Act was most important legisalture which built on govt business partership -established the National Recovery Administration which worked w/ business leaders to establish industry codes and standards to end cutthroat competition -FDR repudiated freedom as unregulated economy -section 7a allowed workers to form unions by law -Hugh S Johnson headed NRA w/ Blue Eagle symbol became controversial -Clarence Darrow 1934 investigation discovered that businesses used NRA to raise prices, limit production, lay off workers, divide market -NRA failed to create peace btw worker and employer and govt failed to regualte all 750 codes of NRA
Labor and Civil Liberties
-Popular Front fought for right to unionize -publicity about wave of violence against Southern Tenant Farmers Union brought unoinization to national attention -civil liberties became associated w/ freedom of speech and assembly -Att Gen Frank Murphy established the Civil Liberties Unit in Dept of Justice
Public Works Projects
-Public Works Administration given 3.3 billion in funds -directed by sec of int Harold Icknes and built new roads,schools hospitals, bridges like NY Triborough Bridge -Civil Works administration employed over 4 mil in construction of highways, courthouses, airports -CWA dissolved after complaint of creation of class dependent on govt jobs -TN Valley Authority built dams to prevent flooding, deforestation and provide cheap electricity -TVA created competition for the first time to sell elctricity bc of all the new dams
Attacks on Unions
-Robert LaFollete exposed methods used by employeers such as spying to attack unions -workers had "no liberties at all"-GM employee -extensive violence toward CA striker made US seem like a european dicatorship
End of the New Deal
-era of social reform coming to end bc Southern Democrats became more at wits w/ channges -"Report on Eco Condition in the South" showed that south lagged behind in industry and investment in public edu and health -1938 Southern Radicals founded the Southern Conference to work public welfare, unionizatoin, racial equality -many southerners began to feel that new deal would upset racial relations in the south -1938 FDR tried to replace southern conservative in congress w/ liberals but was rebuked -Congress of southern conservatives and northern rep controlled congress and began to undo reform -Federal Theater Project abolished bc of high number of homosexuals on payroll -congress repealed tax on corporate profit -new deal failed to bring prosperity bc 15% of workforce reamined unemployed
Housing Discrimination
-federal housing policy built separate homes for whites and blacks -TX built homes for whites, blacks, and mexicans -Federal Housing Administration gave refused to give money to build integrated neighborhoods -FHA refused to give mortgages to blacks as well
Feminism and the New Deal
-feminism disappeared as a political movement -women kicked out of labor market to make room for unemployed men -however portion of workforce that were women went up bc depression hit industrial labor the hardest were no women worked -Economy of Act of 1932 prohibited both members of a marriage from having govt job -women whose husbands earned a "living wage" were not hired -CIO adhered to idea that men should support women -many women left uncovered by benefits bc they did not work outside of the home; benefits only for wage workers -benefits excluded over 3 mil female domestic workers
Brains Trust
-group of intellectuals from mostly Columbia professors who saw bigness as inevitable in modern economy -competitive market no longer existed - govt needed to regulate and direct business which would become first new deal
Wagner Act
-hailed as "Labors Magna Carta" -empowered Nat Labor Relations Boards to supervise election in which employees voted on union rep -prohibited unfair labor practices like firing or black listing union organizers -Sen Robert Wagner said workers collective bargaining was "next step in evo of american freedom" -unionization + higher wages= more spending power for avg citizen
Works Progress Administration (WPA)
-hired 3 mil americans a year to work on public works -hired many unemployed white collar workers and professional even doctors and dentists -WPA greatly enhanced art in America w/ artists hired to paint murals on buildings -Federal Theater Project put on plays like Macbeth -Federal Music Project established orchestras and choral groups -Federal Dance Project sponsored ballet and modern dance programs
New Deal Housing
-home was badge of respectability and eco security -250k homes foreclosed in 1932 bc failure of bank loans -1931 Hoover had Conference on Home Building and called home owning a "birthright" -FDR New Deal caused govt intervention for homes -Home Owners Corp and Federal Housing Administration insured millions of long term mortgages by private banks -fed govt itself built low rent homes
Jews Catholics immigrants and the New Deal
-jews and catholics absorbed into the social mainstream by the new deal -FDR had prominent members who were catholic or jew -Fiorella LaGuardia elected as mayor of NYC as an Italian immigrant -LaGuardia established "little New Deals" in the city to employ immigrants -cultural assimilation in ethnic communities shown by growth of movie, chain stores -labor and political activism became means of Americanization w/o surrendering identity
HeyDay of American Communism
-left (socialists, communists,labor radicals) enjoyed an increase in influence in politics -CIO and Communist party became a focal point for broad social and intellectual impulse -communist membership exceeded 100k -depression= bankruptcy of capitalism -Popular Front was a time in 30s when communist party aligned themselves w/ sociaists and New Dealers to gain respectability -leader of party Earl Browder even appeared on Times magazine
Social Security System
-many diff views on how system should work -Sec Labor Francis Perkins felt that reliefs should be in hands of state -FDR felt relief should come out of tax money so citizens had a "legal, moral, and political right" to pension -Old pensions administered nationally but paid for by taxes of employers and employees; taxes also helped pay for relief for unemployed -states paid for direct relief through Aid to Dependent Children program;each state decided how much it would spend -benefits excluded americans including agricultural workers, unmarried women, non whites -debate now rested on how govt should intervene not whether it should -"Laissez faire is dead"-Walter Lippman
The Hundred Days
-name for the flurry of legislation passed by FDR in his first 3 months creating new agencies like AAA,NRA,CCC
Job Discrimination
-of the 150k blacks holding federal jobs, only 2% had jobs that werent clerk or custodian -south refused to hire blacks for public works projects -tens of thousands of sharecroppers driven off land b/c of modernization of agriculture in the south and AAA policy of raising crop prices by paying for owners to reduce acreage -Theodore Bilbo was a racist MS senator who was loyal new deal backer and opposed anti lynching legislation and attempts to give blacks social security
1936 Election
-politics reflected class division -ideas of freedom freedom clashed; "freedom for private enterprise" vs "socialized liberty" -Dem platform established "democratic oppurtunity for all"; FDR launched attack on "economic royalists" -Rep Candidate was KS gov Alfred Landon -Landon denounced Social Security and ND -FDR won in sweeping victory which was exceptional bc newspapers and businesses supported Rep party -victory bc unions were able to unite north and south voters
Redefining American People
-popular front showed that radicalism represented true Americanism -ethnic diversity was glory of america -films celebrated those who challenged govt and corruption eg Mr Smith Goes to Washington -Dorothea Lange took photos of everyday tasks by migrant workers to celebrate the common man
Critics of New Deal
-principal critique was that New Deal was "reckless spending" undermined fiscal responsibility -American Liberty League formed to oppose FDR -Robert Taft of OH said FDR was sacrificing "indv freedom" to "improve conditions of the poor" -US Chamber of Commerce charged FDR w/ trying to Sovietize the US -Hoover wrote Challenge to Liberty in 1934 which called ND "most stupendous invasion of spirit of liberty"
1832 election and FDR
-raised in NYC estate yet became champion of ordinary man -elected bc of his ability to throw off "dogmas of the past" like Lincoln and approach depression w/ wilingness -FDR wanted a "new deal" for americans, balanced federal budget and repeal of Prohibition
Huey Long
-rise of Long showed dissatisfaction w/ slow eco recovery -Long represented LA Populists and Socialists and undemocratic politics of the state -won gov in 1928 and senate in 1930 -helped improve LA roads, schools, and raise tax burden oil companies -colorful character; refered to as "Kingfish" by supporters -1934 he launched Share Our Wealth Movement w/ slogan "Every Man a King" -called for confiscation of wealth of richest amerans to raise $5k grant and guarentee jobs and an annual income to all citizens; claimed 5 mil followers -was going to run for pres but assassinated in 1935 by son of political rival
Last Hired First Fired
-slogan for blacks during depression -unemployment of blacks double that of whites and blacks benefited disproportionately from social security -Harlem blacks demanded jobs; protested "Dont Buy Where You Cant Work" -Du Bois abadonned goal of black integration and must organize as a "nation w/in a nation" -called for blacks to organize eco survival by creating own independent, cooperative economy and schools
Twentieth Amendment
-the most important amendment ever bc it moved back the inauguration day from March 4 to Jan 20 so new pres could act quicker
Grand Coulee Dam
-unemployed Woody Guthrie hired by govt to create a song a month to promote the govt -made song "Roll on, Columbia" to show the benefits of the Grand Coulee Dam on the Columbia river -Dam was largest manmade structure at time and produced 40% of nations hydro electricity -dam also killed all salmon in region but that was of little concern bc of all the jobs created by the dam -represented a "works revolution" -Democratic Party transformed into a coalition of farmers, industrial workers, middle class reformer, Black, and white supremacists who all believed fed govt should provide protection against dislocations caused by Capitalism bc of FDR -New Deal introduced economic security to americans
Congress of Industrial Corporations (CIO)
-upheaval challenged AFL tradition of laborers striking by craft instead of by industry -30 AFL leaders called for creation of unions of industrial workers but were denied by AFL -head of Miners Union John Lewis led a walkout creating the CIO to create unions in major bastion of US economy
United Auto Workers (UAW) Strike
-workers unveiled the sit down strike method used by the IWW where workers remained in factory but stopped production and sat down -7k GM workers seized Fisher Body Plant in Cleveland -in Flint MI workers fought off police and Demo mayor Frank Murphy refused to use force to stop strike -workers showed unity as they cooked meals and kept the plants clean -GM signed contract w/ union and UAW claimed 4k members
