Aim: What were the problems of the New Deal?

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Aim What were the problems of the New Deal?
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4. Problems of the New Deal

• Not everyone was in favor of the New Deal when it
  was announced in 1933.
• Some Americans liked the fact that the programs
  were working and were doing a lot of good for
  needy Americans.
• Other Americans did not like the fact that the
  New Deal went against many traditional American
  principles.
• Over time, the constitutionality of the New Deal
  would be argued in the courts and in some cases,
  programs in the New Deal would be overturned.

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Question 1

• Why was there controversy over the New Deal?

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4.1 The New Deal and Civil Rights

• Although the New Deal made gains in civil rights
  for Blacks and Indians, neither group was
  satisfied.
• This was because these groups believed that FDRs
  New Deal programs did not go far enough to grant
  full civil rights to these groups.
• Nevertheless, these groups continued to back the
  New Deal and FDR.

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• Until 1933, many Blacks supported the Republican
  Party.
• When the Depression occurred, many Blacks turned
  to the Democratic Party because they hoped the
  New Deal would bring them jobs.
• FDR and his First Lady, Eleanor, met with many
  Black leaders. Many New Deal programs had clauses
  which dealt with discrimination.

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• Under many New Deal programs, race was a major
  issue.
• (1) CCC camps were segregated
• (2) WPA programs did not give jobs to Blacks
• (3) AAA favored farmers who owned many acres of
  the land
• (4) Many Blacks not covered under Social Security

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Mary McCleod Bethune
An influential Black leader of the Depression,
she was able to gain the support of FDR and his
wife Eleanor. She was a famous educator who
would be remembered because a college in
Florida Bethune-Cookman University is named in
her honor.
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The Truth About Blacks and the New Deal
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• The American Indian was also disappointed by the
  New Deal.
• 1934 The US Congress passes the Indian
  Reorganization Act. This allowed Indians the
  chance to form land-owning corporations. The
  government had money to loan Indians from the
  Dawes Act.
• Native Americans did not feel that they should
  not have to buy back land that was theirs in the
  first place.
• Many Indians were able to own land, but many
  Indians did not improve under the New Deal.

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• The Indian Reorganization Act also allowed
  Indians to govern.
• By doing this the US Government believed that the
  Indians would return to their traditional way of
  life.
• However, the way we established the law was not
  welcomed by the Indians.
• Many Indians wanted to choose their leaders
  through traditional measures and not elections.
• As a result, many Indians did not vote.
• If they did, the US Bureau of Indian Affairs
  would have the final say.

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Indian Reorganization Act
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Question 2

• Why were Indians and Blacks disappointed with the
  New Deal?

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4.2 Critics of the New Deal

• One of the strongest critics of the New Deal was
  Senator Huey Long of Louisiana.
• Long wanted every family to have 5,000 minimum
  income provided to them by the government. He
  called this the Share Our Wealth Program.

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Huey Long
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• Another critic was Father Charles Coughlin.
• When FDR was elected, Coughlin urged the
  government to take over private industry.
• When FDR did not do this Coughlin used the radio
  to attack FDR. He reached 10,000,000 people.

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Charles Coughlin
A major critic of FDR, Coughlin
attacked Roosevelt using his radio program.
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Rush Limbaugh
He is the modern day Charles Coughlin. Rush
Limbaugh uses the radio to spread the word of the
Republican Party and criticize the policies
of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Currently
he is supporting Mike Huckabee in the Republican
Party. He does not want to see a Democrat
win the Presidency.
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• However, business leaders really did not like
  FDR. Many of them belonged to the American
  Liberty League.
• The members of this group believed the federal
  government should take a less active role in the
  lives of Americans.
• The members were really against the TVA because
  now the government was involved in
  free-enterprise and that small companies could
  not compete against the government who had a lot
  of resources.

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Logo of the American Liberty League
Formed by American business owners during the
Great Depression. Many leaders in this
organization DID NOT want the US Government
to take over private industry. The main goal of
the league was to get rid of the Tennessee Valley
Authority.
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Question 3

• What were some of the proposals made by critics
  of the New Deal?

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Question 4

• Who posed the strongest opposition to the New
  Deal? Why did they oppose the New Deal?

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4.3 The Courts and the New Deal

• Before long, many critics of the New Deal had
  their day in courtThe US Supreme Court.
• Schechter v. US ruled that the NIRA (National
  Industrial Recovery Act) was unconstitutional
  because it gave too much power to the President.
• In US v. Butler the US Supreme Court ruled that a
  tax of the AAA was unconstitutional.
• The decisions angered Roosevelt because he
  thought the courts would overturn the New Deal.
• FDR tried to change the strategy.

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• FDR tried to propose laws that would increase the
  size of the US Supreme Court.
• By doing this, he would be able to keep the New
  Deal legal.
• He tries doing this when he wins re-election in
  1936.
• However, the US Congress prevents this because
  they believed that what he was doing would
  violate the system of checks and balances.

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FDR Cartoons
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FDR Cartoons