FDR and the New DealDr. John Holmes

U.S. History After 1877

Diablo Valley College San Ramon,

Summer 2013

Franklin Delano Roosevelt� Document 24-1� Franklin, Teddy and Progressivism� The Roosevelts: New York

equivalent of European aristocracy� Parallel with Democratic Southern

aristocrats like Jefferson� Politics more important than

principles� Force of will: the polio secret

Immediate responses to the Depression� “Nothing to fear except fear itself”

� Rubber-stamping of legislation� The bank holiday� The key measure: public relief on

first day in office� Break from American tradition� Company unions-the groundwork?� Right wing backlash-Doc. 24-5

� FDR as America’s therapist� Fireside chats� Letters to FDR: Doc. 24-2

The First New Deal� From money to work relief: the

alphabet soup� Peak: one-third of all employment� Keynesian “pump priming”

� The NRA� Logical conclusion of Progressivism: All business under government regulation

� Eliminate overproduction by... reducing production!

� Ruled unconstitutional� Remnant in farming

The Crisis of 1934� Slow recovery; failure of NRA� Radical movements develop:

� Huey Long; doc. 24-3� Upton Sinclair in California

� Socialist candidate in 1920s� EPIC: radical version of New Deal� No support from FDR

1934: Labor Revolts� Peak year for labor militancy� Three general strikes: Minneapolis,

Toledo, San Francisco� All led by revolutionary socialists� Only in San Francisco led by the

Communist Party

The Second New Deal� Response to radical outbursts� From Progressivism to Liberalism

� “Economic royalism”: FDR speech, Foner p. 815

� Pillars of Second New Deal� Social Security Act

• Unemployment insurance; welfare

� Wagner act: “Labor’s Magna Carta”� Fair Labor Standards Act: 40 hour

week and minimum wages

� Budget cuts reverse recovery� Only WWII ends depression

The Great Labor Upheaval of the Late 1930s� The CIO and the AFL� Why the auto industry was key� Sitdown strikes and unemployment� Left out of the movie clip: the role

of the radicals� The Reuther brothers� Socialists and Communists in the

UAW

Labor Revolt in California� First outbreak: Central Valley

� Communist-led 1933 cotton strike: largest farm strike in US history

� Role of Mexican immigrants� Steinbeck’s In Dubious Battle� Collapse after 1933

� Most successful rebellion: SF General Strike of 1934� David Selvin, A Terrible Anger

� Strike victory makes the ILWU the backbone of the California labor movement

Strikers surging up Market Street

San Francisco General Strike of 1934

Grapes of Wrath and the “Okies”� Set in the late 1930s� “Okies” driven off the land by:

� The Dust Bowl� Mechanization� New Deal favoritism for

landowners over tenants� Temporarily displace Mexicans

Racial Minorities and the New Deal� Move to Democratic Party due to

relief for poor, not reform� Symbolic pro-black gestures� New Deal and racial discrimination

� FLSA , farmworkers and domestics� Dust Bowl and FDR farm policies

� Breaking of 1933 California farm strike a blow to Chicanos

� Steinbeck and Grapes of Wrath� Doc. 24-4 on Mexican farmworkers

� Communist Party and Scottsboro

Women and the New Deal� First administration with women in

high places� Eleanor Roosevelt the model

� FDR’s “liberal conscience”� But New Deal programs often

exclude women� Domestic servants excluded from

FLSA� WPA wages scales lower for

women

Next Monday� World War II

� Readings: Foner Chapter 22, Johnson Chapter 25

� Quiz on Chapter 22� Discussion Exercise on WWII and

race to be posted this weekend� Midterm Study Guide also to be

posted� Tuesday: Graded debate on

Hiroshima; extra readings will be posted