The Geat Depression & The New Deal
1929-1933
Opponents of the New Deal!
- Socialists and extreme liberals charged that the president failed to address the problems of ethnic minorities, women, and the elderly.
- Conservative Democrats, including former presidential candidates Alfred E. Smith and John W. Davis joined with leading Republicans to form an anti-new deal.
- Several critics played upon the American peoples desperate need for immediate solutions to their problems.
- Since FDR didn't get to appoint any justices to the supreme court during his first term he hoped to remove the court as an obstacle to the new deal by proposing a judicial - reorganization bill in 1937.
American History - Part 179 - FDR - Supreme Court Battle - Slapped by voters
Last Phase of the New Deal
- The social security tax reduced consumer spending at the same time that Roosevelt was curtailing expenditure for relief and public works.
- After the court-packing fight of 1937, the people no longer followed fdr and the 1938 elections.
Rise of Unions
- In 1935, the industrial unions, as that were called, joined together as the Committee of Industrial Organizations (C.I.O.) .
- At the general motors plant in flint, Michigan workers went on a sit down strike, finally the company yielded to striker demands by recognizing the united auto workers union (U.A.W.)
- In 1938 congress enacted he Fair Labor Standards Act, Which provided a host of regulations on businesses !
The Labor Movement: The Rise of Unions
Life During the Depression
- To supplement the family income, more women sought work.
- A severe drought in the early 1930's ruined crops in the great plains.
- Racial discrimination continued in the 1930's with devastating effects on African Americans , who were the last hired and the first fired.
- John Collier established conservation and CCC projects on reservations and gained Native American involvement in the WPA.
- Mexican Americans also suffered from discriminatory practices in the 1930's.
Sara Lerner: Growing up during the Great Depression