The Second New Deal
By: Katie Paxton and Lauren Hamilton
Revenue Act
The revenue act was passed in October 3, 1917. The act was put in to increase taxes, so that they could have more money for the war. World War 1 really created a need for more money. They government raised the revenue tax from 1 to 2 percent. People who had an income of around a million dollars had to pay an income of 15%. “U.S. tax revenue increased from $809 million in 1917 to a whopping $3.6 billion the following year” (http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/war-revenue-act-passed-in-us). By the time WW1 was over, the taxes had payed for a little less than half of the war.
WPA:
The WPA was created in April by Congress. WPA stands for Works Progress Administration. The WPA offered work to people who were unemployed. Millions of people were in the WPA. Roosevelt created this program. Out of all of the programs created, this is considered the most famous among people. They got paid around 40$ a month. WPA workers built airports, buildings, bridges, and roads.Opponents of the Second New Deal
Father Charles Coughlin was a Catholic Priest from Detroit. He originally supported the Second New Deal, but then had a change in opinion and ended up going against it. He was considered one of the most influential religious leaders during this time in the United States. His radio program, "The Golden Hour of the Shrine of the Little Flower,” had an audience of 16 million on a weekly basis. Coughlin blamed the Depression on greedy bankers and tried to force Roosevelt into fixing it by Nationalizing the banks and inflating the currency. Coughlin had what Richard Hofstadter called the "paranoid style." He believed that Jews and Communists, in league with bankers and capitalists, were out to get the working man. Huey Long was a Louisiana Senator and was said to be very ambitious and fiery, but was also a very firm believer in southern tradition. He supported Roosevelt in 1912, but then had a change in heart and quickly abandoned the president and became a conservative, opposing the new deal. Francis Townsend was a retired California Physician and was considered Roosevelts least likely critic. At the age of 67 Francis Townsend found himself unemployed with only 100 dollars in savings. When he realized that there were many other people facing situations similar to his, he came up with a plan that required a 200 dollar monthly pension for every citizen over the age of 60. In return, they would have to retire and spend all of the 200 dollars within the United States every month.
Social Security Act:
Unemployment Insurance:
Unemployment Insurance is a payment for people who have lost their jobs. Every state has their own Unemployment Insurance. An example of how you can join the unemployment insurance if you were laid off. They give you a job if the reason you don’t have a job is not your fault.
Labor Movement:
A sit down strike is when people refuse to work until they get what is fair. This made the congress change the labor movement. The Wagner Act allowed people who worked their basic rights and also they could take strikes when needed/wanted. The Wagner Act was also known as the National Labor Relations Act. The Fair Labor Standards Act required the employers to pay the employees the amount they are supposed to pay them.Packing the Supreme Court:
President Roosevelt proposed a plan that stated that there could be up to 15 judges in the Supreme Court because he wanted to make sure it was as efficient as possible. The reason why he tried to pack the Supreme Court was because his new deal plans would not pass since they thought that what he wanted to do with the government was unconstitutional, The plan to add additional justices did not pass but in the end, his New Deal plans did get voted in by the Supreme Court.
Roosevelt's Second Term:
During the 1938 congressional election he campaigned against Democratic opponents, but most were elected anyways. Between that and the recession that occurred halfway through his second term, it became the low point of Roosevelt's presidential career. In 1939, world war two broke out and he began to build up our armed forces as well as make American aid available to Britain, France, and China.
Pension:
Roosevelt’s Recession
Our economy relapsed during the Roosevelt Recession. Roosevelt felt encouraged by the amount of success he saw coming from the New Deal programs and he felt the economy had turned so he cut spending. When he cut the spending, companies started to fail, unemployment increased and the stock market fell. Because of this, President Roosevelt started a new spending program and the economy returned to normal.
The End of The New Deal
By 1937 the new deal started to come to an end. The economy had returned to normal, and Roosevelt significantly reduced the government's spending. This caused the 1937 recession and by the end of 1938 the whole thing had passed. During the 1938 primaries when Roosevelt tried to defeat several of his components, they pressed charges against him, claiming that he was a dictator and he was trying to conduct a “purge”.