Opposition to FDR and the New Deal

Dr. Francis Townshend

Father Charles Coughlin

Huey Long

Tenant Farmers

• AAA paid landowners to let their land lie unused

• Landlords were supposed to share their check with their tenant farmers, but they didn’t

• Instead, they reduced the number of acres planted by evicting their tenant farmers – leaving them jobless and homeless

• Southern Tenant Farmers’ Union (STFU)

Business Owners

• NIRA permitted workers to– Join union of their choice– Collectively bargain– Go on strike to force employers to meet demands

• Business owners tried to prevent workers from unionizing

• Although it was illegal, many employers fired or intimidated workers who tried to start unions

The Supreme Court

• Overturned AAA and NIRA

• AAA – deemed taxation was an improper method of regulating agricultural production

• NIRA – Gave the executive branch too much power and said the federal government could not regulate commerce between states – not within states

Documents