PP Notes FDR New Deal

Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal
Redefined Democracy:
Political Rights  Economic Security  Social Justice
Causes of the Great Depression
Agricultural overproduction
Industrial overproduction
Unequal distribution of wealth
Over-extension of credit
International economic situation
How Herbert Hoover Dealt with the Crisis
He played the game of confidence economics and just kept saying: “Prosperity is right around the corner.”
Voluntary Measures
Hoover eventually established two privately-funded organizations:
The National Credit Association provided $1/2 billion to businesses for emergency loans, but it was too under-funded to do much good.
The Organization for Unemployment Relief was a clearing house for relief agencies. However, state and local governments were already in too much debt to benefit from it.

Limited Government Intervention
In the end, Hoover resorted to government intervention:
The Reconstruction Finance Corp gave $1-1/2 billion in federal loans to banks, insurance companies, and industry to prevent bankruptcies, but it was too little, too late.
The Home Loan Bank Act provided federal loans to homeowners to prevent foreclosures, but got bogged down in red tape.
Reasons for Ineffectiveness
Hoover thought business should be self-regulating.
He had a mania for a balanced budget.
He lacked political finesse.
Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Appeal
In 1932 presidential election, FDR was perceived as a man of action.
Hoover was viewed as a “do-nothing president.”
Norman Thomas, the Socialist candidate, was viewed as a radical.
Results: a landslide for Democrats and a mandate to use government as an agency for human welfare.

Situation When FDR Entered Office
In March 1933, the country was virtually leaderless and the banking system had collapsed.
FDR Restored Confidence
In his inaugural address, he said “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself….”
He promised vigorous leadership and bold action, called for discipline and cooperation, expressed his faith in democracy, and asked for divine protection and guidance.
FDR’s Personal Qualities
He was a practical politician who practiced the art of the possible.
He was a charismatic person who exhibited a warmth and understanding of people.
He knew how to handle press by focusing attention on Washington.
He provided dynamic leadership in a time of crisis.
He was willing to experiment
Purposes of the New Deal
Relief: to provide jobs for the unemployed and to protect farmers from foreclosure
Recovery: to get the economy back into high gear, “priming the pump”
Reform: To regulate banks, to abolish child labor, and to conserve farm lands
Overall objective: to save capitalism
Sources of New Deal Ideas
Brains Trust: specialists and experts, mostly college professors, idea men
New Economists: government spending, deficit spending and public works, government should prime economic pump
Roosevelt Cabinet: included conservatives, liberals, Democrats, Republicans, inflationists, anti-inflationists -- often conflicting, compromising, blending ideas
First New Deal (1933-1934)
Emphasis: reform
Political Position: conservative
Primary aim: economic recovery
Philosophy: economic nationalism and economic scarcity (i.e., raise prices by creating the illusion of scarcity)
Objectives: higher prices for agriculture and business
Beneficiaries: big business and agricultural business
National Recovery Act (NRA)
Purpose: recovery of industry
Created a partnership of business, labor, and government to attack the depression with such measures as price controls, high wages, and codes of fair competition
First Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA)
Purpose: the recovery of agriculture
Paid farmers who agreed to reduce production of basic crops such as cotton, wheat, tobacco, hogs, and corn
Money came from a tax on processors such as flour millers and meat packers who passed the cost on to the consumer

Federal Emergency Relief Admin (FERA)
Purpose: relief
Gave money to states and municipalities so they could distribute money, clothing, and food to the unemployed
Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC)
Purpose: relief
Gave outdoor work to unemployed men between the ages of 17 and 29
They received $30 per month, but $22 went back to the family


Second New Deal (1934-1941)
Emphasis: reform
Political Position: liberal
Primary aim: permanent reform
Philosophy: international economic cooperation and economic abundance
Objectives: increased purchasing power and social security for public
Beneficiaries: small farmers and labor

Social Security Act
Purpose: reform
Gave money to states for aid to dependent children, established unemployment insurance through payroll deduction, set up old-age pensions for retirees.

National Labor Relations Act
Purpose: reform
Put restraints on employers and set up a National Labor Relations Board to protect the rights of organized labor to bargain collectively with employers.
Second Agricultural Adjustment Act
Purpose: recovery for agriculture
Paid farmers for conservation practices, but only if they restricted production of staple crops.

U.S. Housing Authority
Purpose: recovery and reform
Used federal funds to tear down slums and construct better housing.

The New Deal on Trial
By 1935, political disunity was evident. There were critics on the right and the left.

Criticisms of Conservative Opponents
Conservative opponents said the New Deal went too far:
It was socialism (killed individualism)
It added to the national debt ($35 billion)
It wasted money on relief and encouraged idleness
It violated the constitution & states rights
It increased the power of the Presidency (FDR was reaching toward dictatorship, Congress a rubber stamp, independence of judiciary threatened, separation of powers shattered)
Anti-New Deal Organization
Conservative opponents to the New Deal had an organization called the American Liberty League. They had money but were small in numbers, so FDR was not worried.

Criticisms of Radical Opponents
Radical opponents said the New Deal did not go far enough. They were demagogues (rabble-rousers) and had popular followings, so FDR was concerned.

Senator Huey Long (LA)
Senator Huey Long said New Deal relief measures were mere crumbs and advocated a share the wealth plan (i.e., a guaranteed annual income of at least $5,000 for every American, financed by confiscating wealth of people who made over $5 million per year).

Father Charles E. Coughlin
Father Charles Coughlin was a rabble-rousing radio priest from Detroit. His broadcasts were called the “Golden Hour of the Little Flower.” He claimed there was an international bankers conspiracy and Jews were responsible. He advocated nationalization of banking and currency and national resources and demanded a “living wage.”
Dr. Francis E. Townsend
Dr. Francis E. Townsend was an elderly physician from CA. He had a plan for the federal government to pay $200 per month to unemployed people over 60. The program would be financed by a 2% national sales tax and each pensioner would be required to spend the money in 30 days. This would stimulate the economy.

Moderate Legislation
FDR sponsored moderate legislation to silence radical opposition:
Revenue Act of 1935 – Response to Huey Long. Increased taxes on large incomes and corporations.
Banking Act of 1935 – Response to Coughlin. Extended federal control over private banking practices.
Social Security Act of 1935 Response to Townsend. Included provisions for unemployables (dependent children, the disabled, blind), unemployment insurance, and old-age pensions.
The Election of 1936
The Election of 1936:
Made the Democratic party the majority party
Created a new Democratic coalition composed of both traditional elements and new elements
Showed that the American people rejected radical solutions to depression


The Election of 1936
The Roosevelt Coalition
While Republicans were still relying on their traditional base of political support (big business, big farmers, and conservatives), Democrats broadened their constituency by appealing to small farmers in the Midwest, urban political bosses, ethnic blue collar workers, Jews, intellectuals, and African Americans.
Protection of New Deal Accomplishments
Steps FDR took to protect New Deal accomplishments (both failed):
Court-Packing Plan (proposed increasing Supreme Court from 9 to 15 members, caused in revolt in Dem. Party)
Purge of the Democratic Party in the Election of 1938 (came out strongly in favor of liberal Dem. Candidates, evidence that he interfered in a state campaign, Republicans gained strength in both houses of Congress)

Decline of New Deal Reform after 1937
Reasons for decline of New Deal reform after 1937:
Court-packing plan made Congress irritable.
Recession of 1937-38 weakened confidence in New Deal measures. Republicans gained strength in both houses.
Attempted purge of Democratic party failed.
Conservative Democrats were elected to office. Resentful of attempted party purge, they joined ranks with Republicans to block New Deal legislation.
Increasing focus on foreign affairs.

The Significance of the New Deal
Physical Rehabilitation of Country
Attacked soil erosion
Built dams and planted trees to prevent floods
Reclaimed the grasslands of the Great Plains
Developed water power resources
Encouraged regional reconstruction projects like the TVA and Columbia River project

Human Rehabilitation
Established the principle that government has responsibility for the health, welfare, and security, as well as the protection and education of its citizens
Embraced social security, public health, housing
Entered the domain of agriculture and labor
Revitalization of Politics
Strengthened executive branch
Reasserted presidential leadership
Revitalized political party as a vehicle for the popular will and as an instrument for effective action.

Extension of Democracy
Redefined the concept of democracy so that it included not only political rights but economic security and social justice as well.


Maintenance of a Democratic System
The New Deal maintained a democratic system of government and society in a world threatened by totalitarianism.
Increased size and scope of government to meet needs of the depression
Provided the leadership that enabled Congress to put through the necessary relief, recovery, and reform measures.
Sponsored moderate legislation to neutralize the popularity of radical opponents




Government Expenditures
The total cost of the current bailout now exceeds $4.6 trillion dollars. It has cost more than all of these government expenditures combined. Figures in parentheses have been adjusted for inflation:
Marshall Plan: Cost: $12.7 billion ($115.3 billion)
Louisiana Purchase: Cost: $15 million ($217 billion)
Race to the Moon: Cost: $36.4 billion ($237 billion)
S&L Crisis: Cost: $153 billion ($256 billion)
Korean War: Cost: $54 billion ($454 billion)
The New Deal: Cost: $32 billion est.($500 billion est.)
Invasion of Iraq: Cost: $551billion ($597 billion)
Vietnam War: Cost: $111 billion ($698 billion)
NASA: Cost: $416.7 billion ($851.2 billion)
TOTAL: $3.92 trillion

PP Notes the 1920s

The Roaring 20’s
America After WWI
“A Return to Normalcy”
This became Warren G. Harding’s campaign slogan when he accidentally messed up the word, “Normality”
Americans loved it and elected him
Fighting the Recession
After WWI, 2 million soldiers were looking for work
Factories were closing because they were no longer getting orders for wartime goods from European nations
Republicans Rule the 1920s
“HARD”-”COOL”-”HOOV”
All the presidents of the 1920s were Republican
The names of the 3 presidents are Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover
Warren G. Harding died in office, probably due to shock
President Harding’s Corrupt Cabinet
Secretary of the Treasury: Andrew Mellon, a wealthy financier
Secretary of Commerce: Herbert Hoover, famous for his food raising efforts during WWI
“Ohio Gang”: Harding’s old friends from Ohio who were corrupt and stole money from the government
Charles Forbes
One of Harding’s old buddies
Head of the Veteran’s Bureau
Stole millions of dollars from the bureau

“I can take care of my enemies all right, but my…friends, they’re the ones that keep me walking the floors at night!” –Hoover

Herbert Hoover was very hard-working and honest, but his friends were not
After a bunch of betrayals, Harding died of a heart attack in August, 1923
The Teapot Dome Scandal
Secretary of the Interior, Albert Fall accepted a bribe to lease government land to oil executives
One of these areas was called “Teapot Dome” in Wyoming
Fall was sent to prison
Vice President Calvin Coolidge Becomes President
“Silent Cal” spoke and spent little (Harding loved to throw parties and give long speeches)

He forced corrupt officials to resign

He was re-elected in 1924 with the slogan “Keep Cool With Coolidge”
From War Goods to Consumer Goods
Coolidge cut regulations on businesses
Americans’ incomes rose
People began to buy refrigerators, radios, vacuums, and other appliances
Businesses began to advertise their products
“Coolidge Prosperity”
“The business of America is business. The man who builds a factory builds a temple. The man who works there worships there.
Calvin Coolidge

What does President Calvin Coolidge believe American Prosperity rests on?
Buying on Credit
Installment Buying= Buying on Credit (Buy now, pay later)
Demands for goods jumped, but so did Americans’ debt
“If we want anything, all we have to do is go and buy it on credit. So that leaves us without any economic problems whatsoever, except that perhaps some day to have to pay for them.”
–Comedian Will Rogers
Soaring Stock Market
By the late 1920s, more people were investing in the stock market
People became rich overnight
Bull Market: Period of rapidly increasing stock prices
Prices of stocks rose more quickly than the value of the companies themselves
American Foreign Policy in the 1920s
Most all Americans (including Harding and Coolidge) wanted to remain “isolationist”
HOWEVER:
1. The U.S. still needed to protect economic interests in Mexico
2. The U.S. gave $10 million in aid to Russia during a famine
3. The U.S. still signed the “Kellogg-Briand Pact” with 61 other nations (which outlawed war)

Women Gain the Right to Vote
19th Amendment in 1920 gave women the right to vote
Carrie Chapman Catt set up the League of Women Voters
This group tried to educate voters and ensure the right of women to serve on juries
Ana Roque de Duprey
Fought for the right to vote for women in Puerto Rico
Puerto Rican women got the right to vote in 1929
Life Changes for Women
Women were told to go back home when the men came home to the factories after WWI
Many women stayed in the workforce as typists, cleaners, cooks, servants, seamstresses, teachers, secretaries, and store clerks
Many women bought ready-made clothing instead of making their own
Many women bought appliances to help them with housework after working a full day outside of the home
Impact of the Automobile
Car sales grew rapidly in the 1920s because Henry Ford’s assembly line made them so cheap
General Motors also became a popular seller of cars

Changing Lifestyles Due to the Automobile
Millions of jobs were created through factories, oil refineries, roads, highways, truck stops, gas stations, restaurants and tourist stops
Many Americans began to move to the suburbs to escape crowded conditions in cities
Mass Culture
Radio

Movies

The Jazz Age
Fashion Fads, flappers
Marathon Dancing
More Fads
Flagpole sitting: Where young people would sit for hours and even days on top of a flagpole. (The record: 21 days!)
The Dance Craze
The Charleston
Has a quick beat
Dancers kick out their feet
Popular dance for Flappers: Women who wore short skirts (to the knees), bright red lipstick, hair cut short, smoked and drank in public, and drove fast cars
New Music
Jazz: Born in New Orleans, created by African Americans, combination of West African rhythms, African American songs and spirituals, European harmonies

Listen to the song “Heebie Jeebies- What different rhythms can you recognize?
Famous jazz musicians: Louis Armstrong, Bessie Smith, “Jelly Roll” Morton
A New Generation of American Writers
Depressed about their awful experiences in World War I
Criticized Americans for being obsessed with money and fun
Many became expatriates (people who leave their own country to live in a foreign land) and moved to Europe
Ernest Hemingway
Wrote about experiences of Americans during WWI and in Europe
Wrote A Farewell to Arms, The Sun Also Rises, The Old Man in the Sea
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Wrote about wealthy young people who go to constant parties but cannot find happiness
He wrote The Great Gatsby
His characters had flappers, bootleggers, and movie makers
Sinclair Lewis
Grew up in a small town in Minnesota and moved to New York City
He wrote books about rural people from a city person’s perspective (making them look stupid)
Wrote Main Street and Babbitt
The Harlem Renaissance
In the 1920s, many African American artists settled in Harlem, New York City
Black artists, musicians, and writers celebrated their African and American heritage

Harlem Renaissance Poets
Claude McKay: From Jamaica, wrote the poem, “If We Must Die” that condemned lynchings

Countee Cullen: Taught high school in Harlem, wrote of the experiences of African Americans
Zora Neale Hurston
Write novels, short essays, short stories
Traveled throughout the South in a battered car collecting folk tales, songs, and prayers of black southerners
Published these in her book, “Mules and Men”
Langston Hughes
Most well-known of the Harlem Renaissance poets
Also wrote plays, short stories, and essays
First poem, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”
Encouraged African Americans to be proud of their heritage
Protested racism and acts of violence against blacks

Heroes of the 1920s
Athletes:
Bobby Jones: Won nearly every golfing championship
Jack Dempsey: Heavyweight boxing champion for 7 years
Bill Tilden and Helen Willis: Tennis champions
Gertrude Ederle: 1st woman to swim the English Channel
Babe Ruth
Grew up in an orphanage
Often in trouble as a boy
Hit 60 homeruns in one season, and 714 overall
Called the “Sultan of Swat”
Charles Lindbergh
The greatest hero of the 1920s
The first person to fly an airplane across the Atlantic Ocean alone
Flew from New York to Paris
Called “Lucky Lindy” because he had to fly for 33 ½ hours and didn’t carry a parachute, a radio, or a map
“The Noble Experiment”
Prohibition

How did Prohibition help lead to organized Crime????

PP Notes Flappers

Roaring 20s and the Sisters


Jumba was derivative (from South – African influence)
Done in speakeasies by flappers
Seen as lewd or improper
Can be dances as a solo or with a partner
Mimics those in supportive of prohibition

20s Started off with the ratification of women’s suffrage
Extend through the Jazz age
1921 Margaret Sanger founds American Birth Control League
1923 Edna St. Vincent Millay receives Pulitzer Prize for poetry (1st woman)
1923 Equal Rights Ammendment sponsored by Alice Paul introduced to Congress


1925 Nellie Taylor Ross becomes governor of WY (1st female governor of a state)
1925 The World’s Exposition of Women’s Progress opens in Chicago (first women’s fair)
1927 Supreme Court upholds Buck vs. Bell – eugenic sterilization law (forced sterilization for the ‘health of the state’ with people i.e. mentally retarded)
1928 Women earn 35% of the college degrees
1928 Olympics – Women compete in field sports for the first time
1929 Gerty and Carl Cori develop theory of “Cori Cycle” (how energy moves in body) and would win Nobel Prize for this in 1947
1929 Mildred Wirt writes her first Nancy Drew novels

Gretta Garbo


THE FLAPPER
Short dresses, short hair, stockings rolled down, and powdered knees
Not confined to just home and family
Socially aware and seen as a little ‘fast’
Accessories and fashion changed: hat, long beads, handbags, bright colors
Bras are introduced (no corset)




Cotton Club was a famous restaurant and night club in NYC
Played live Jazz and had dancing
Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald and many famous musicians played there
1920 - Jack Johnson opened it (heavy weight champion) on 142nd St in Harlem.
A gangster would later take over the club by 1923 during prohibition

PP Notes Lenin to Stalin

Lenin

Born Vladimir Llich Ulyanov in 1870
Expelled from University for radical thinking
Finished law degree 1891
Became “Lenin” in 1901
Exiled to Siberia, went to Europe for 15 years
Became leader of the Bolsheviks



Stalin

Born in Georgia in 1879
Learned Russian at school
Attended a seminary
Became a professional revolutionary and would spend years in Siberia
In 1924 was promoted after Lenin’s death
Dictatorship: strengthened military, poor conditions for the masses, Great Terror of 1930s, Gulags


Negotiated agreements with Germany during WWII
Supply lines went directly into Germany
Secretly cultivated an understanding with the West
Hitler’s attack in June 1941


Soviet Union

Eisenhower and Khrushchev

1970 elected to the USSR Supreme Soviet
Change foreign policy regarding nuclear arms
Negotiated nuclear free zone (s) with President Ronald Reagan of the U.S.
Feb 7, 1990 ended 72 years of communist rule
1990-91 President of the USSR
1991 Fall of Communism and the Soviet State

The Fall of Communism
Economy deteriorated
Poor living conditions, frustrated population
Government control of church
High rates of alcoholism and crime
Women lacked equality
Ethnic strife, poor medical care, rigid education
Pressure from hard-line communists, free market supporters, nationalists and secessionists

Influenza: After WWI economic challenges and structural desturction were only the beginning (MUST COMMENT)

World War I (Aerial Footage )

PP Notes Capitalism

Robber Barons “…the three foremost exponents of business enterprise: Morgan, Carnegie and Rockefeller. The first because he had created a virtual monopoly in banking, a “money Trust”; the second because of his death-grip on the key industry of the country; the third, Rockefeller, because of his amassing of industrial profit continued at such a high rate that an immense reservoir of cash was accumulated, which sought outlet through investment-banking operations of a size exceeding even those of Pierpont Morgan.” -Josephson p 388 Cornelius Vanderbilt 1794-1877 Born to poor Dutch peasants in Staten Island Left school at 11 to help his father Self educated At 16, borrowed $100 from his parents, bought a small boat and started a ferry service to NYC 1818 sold his ships and became a steam ferry captain, eventually managing the fleet 1829 established a line of steamboats 1846 moved to NYC During the CA gold rush, devised a plan to sail people to Nicaragua, where he then built a RR that could take them up the coast to CA The “Commodore” was involved in nautical interests (shipping, etc.), and then RRs 1857 invested in NY & Harlem RR 1875 owned most of the RR systems in coming into NY and in the Midwest/East coast area Considered one of the greatest Railroad Barons Never too concerned with philanthropy, but gave $1 million to Central Univ. in Nashville, which thus became Vanderbilt Univ. When he died he was the richest man in NYC and left his fortune to William, one of his thirteen children Andrew Carnegie 1835-1919 Born in Dunfermline, Scotland and emigrated in 1848 At 14, worked as a bobbin boy in a textile factory, loved “progress” Optimistic, by 17 he was a telegrapher ($800 a year) Always looking for a way to get ahead, never let opportunity pass him by – even if meant breaking some rules The Gospel of Wealth: the rich should help enrich society, not ‘waste’ it on those who don’t have wealth (social Darwinist) Made his largest fortunes in steel, mass producing for rail lines Also owned other businesses (Pittsburgh Locomotive, Car Works) 1901 sold his steel holdings to JP Morgan for $250 million (negotiated in secret by Charles Schwab) By the time he died, he’d given away $350,695,653 and the last $30,000,000 at his death was also given to various interests “Rags to Riches” J.P. Morgan 1837-1913 Educated in Boston and Germany, later did banking for his father and then became a partner in Drexel, Morgan and Co. Collected antiquity art, books and was a philanthropist Very secretive, avoided too many public appearances, was embarrassed by a deformed nose Head of JP Morgan (1895) and member of Cromwell’s banking house Arranged merger of two major electric companies, creating General Electric Cromwell helped Morgan create the largest company in the world: United Steel Owned over 5000 miles of American Railroads In this he also became in Panama and funded the purchase of the French Canal Company Also lent the money for Panama’s independence, and later administered the country’s treasury Had incredible financial prowess with connections in the U.S. and Europe 1904 Northern Securities Corp. dissolved by Supreme Court (violated the Sherman Anti-Trust Act) Sat on numerous boards and influenced most of the nations’ major corporations; influenced politics, regulatory and financial laws, industry, etc. Upon his death his art collection (very extensive) was donated to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NY John D. Rockefeller 1839-1937 By 16 he worked as book keeper 1859 partner in a small produce business Within 4 years, he entered the oil refinery business 1870 organized Standard Oil Came to dominate the oil refinery business (mergers, eliminating competition, gaining large capital, agreements with competitors, crushing small businessmen) 1882 all of his diversified holdings were placed together under the Standard Oil Trust Also an accomplished financer Also an accomplished financer One of the directors of the 1901 U.S. Steel Corp. Had massive holdings in petroleum Several times the government forced Rockefeller to dissolve his interests Also avoided public attention Deep religious faith Donated to the Baptist Church, YMCA, etc. 1892 founded the University of Chicago Would start numerous foundations for public health, medical research, child welfare, etc.