The Great Depression & The New Deal
1929-1939
Opponents of The New Deal
- The liberals felt that the Pres. was putting to much effort into businesses and not enough for the unemployed, minorities, elderly, or people that were in poverty.
- They felt as if too much power was being given to the fed. gov't and that their actions were similar to communism and socialism.
- These critics influenced the 30's drastically w/ their approaches to the New Deal; some came up w/ ideas that Roosevelt later used (from Townsend).
- FDR tried to get rid of the Court, because of the obstacles it caused w/ his New Deal Program.
- Many thought he was trying to become a dictator. After that attempt the Courts were a little more considerate to his programs.
Rise of Unions
- All of the unions came together to form the C.I.O and they benefited all workers.
- All of the major industries workers started to strike and have sit-downs demanding rights from large companies.
- The Fair Labor Standards Act is one of the the biggest most known & most needed Acts of the generation, this set standards that companies had to stand by. Including minimum wage, maximum amount of time you can work, and child labor laws.
Last Phase of The New Deal
- The new federal tax had a lot to with the decrease of consumer spending which in return caused the economy go back down and for America to experience another recession.
- Republicans and Conservative Democrats eventually had enough of the President and his New Deal programs and blocked it from further progressing.
Life During the Depression
- More women were looking for work now more than ever to help balance out the family income and to care for their kids and make sure their fed and clothed.
- Because of farmers overgrazing this caused them to go through one of the hardest times that they'd ever experience and caused many to relocate to find work.
- African Americans really had it rougher and tougher and had little support from the programs that were being created for the minorities and poor people, but many were appointed to federal positions which is always a good thing. And eventually FDR stepped in and helped Africans fight equal job opportunities after being threatened.
- John Collier was given the position of commissioner of the BIA and helped gain Native Americans access to the programs that were being created at that time.
- Mexican Americans faced discrimination just as other minorities did at that time and many even went back to Mexico, because of the lack of jobs that were being offered to them here in America.