The Opposition To The New Deal Flashcards
1
Q
Supreme Court Opposition to New Deal
A
- Had the most power to stop New Deal laws, 9 judges with different political views to Roosevelt ( selected by Republicans and served for life)
- Schechter Poultry Corp: signed up for NRA, broke rules about wages and animal treating, appealed = known as ‘Sick Chicken Case’ and ruling meant NRA was effectively shut down
- 1936, cotton processor challenged AAA, claiming it didn’t have power to tax his business and Supreme Court ruled in favour
- Roosevelt created a plan to in 1937, asking Congress for the power to appoint new judges over 70 (average age was 71, so around 6 judges), both Congress and Supreme court disapproved, his plan was defeated but the judges got the message and their rulings from then on reflected the public mood instead
2
Q
Republicans Opposition to New Deal
A
- Main Opponent to Democratic Party, they opposed the size and power of Alphabet agencies and the huge spending of the government and the plan to raise taxes under the Revenue Act of 1935
- Alfred Landon ran against Roosevelt in 1936 but his anti-New Deal promises did not appeal to the public, and FDR got a second term, however loosing support after the 1937 recession and Supreme Court plan
- In 1938, the Republican party gained more seats in Congress and formed a coalition with conservative Democrats from southern states who disliked Roosevelt. Now they had enough votes to defeat new measures but not remove New Deal legislation completely. For example, they cut spending on relief programs causing numbers to full rapidly after 1938, investigated alphabet agencies like the WPA and the NLRB, blocked new measures like a housing plan and request for more public work projects in 1939
-In effect, the 1938 elections to Congress had bought the new deal to a stop. The Fair Labour Standards Act, past the summer before, would be its last piece of legislation 
3
Q
Businesses Opposition to New Deal
A
Businesses at first benefited from the new deal, but after 1933 turned against it out of dislike for: NRA codes such as minimum wage and restricted working hours, trade unions supported by NIRA and the Wagner act, and dislike of huge spending a federal taxes for things like WPA and Social Security
- The American Liberty league was founded in 1934. Democrat Al Smith and Republican James Wadsworth joined with business leaders to oppose the New Deal. Helped the US Chamber of Commerce publicly criticise legislation like the Wagner act in 1935 and sponsored legal challenges for appeals, e.g. Iron an dSteel Institute paid for the Schechter brothers’ appeal against the NRA
-The American Liberty league spent over $1 million but their success was limited because it struggled to recruit (only 150,000 people), it was unpopular, and after 1937 the Supreme Court started supporting the New Deal laws. Closed in 1940.
4
Q
Huey Long and ‘Share the Wealth’
A
- Governor of Louisiana, heavily taxed rich people and big businesses and provided social service with it. Adult reading and writing program and free textbooks to school children meant he was able to win election to Congress as a senator. Inject objections included: the NRA was controlled by big business, the AAA left poor tenant farmers homeless and the Social Security Act did not reduce the gap between rich and poor
- Share our wealth was set up in 1934, taking away all annual income over $1.8 million and giving it to ordinary Americans who are supposed to get a minimum income of $2500 a year. However there were not enough rich people to fund it but long was very popular and 8 million Americans join the wealth clubs.
He was shot in September 1935.
5
Q
Father Coughlin’s social justice campaign
A
- Roman Catholic priest who had a large radio network show called the golden hour of the little flower, starting in 1930 with around 30 million listeners.
- At first, he supported the new deal and millions voted for Roosevelt, however he later viewed it as ineffective and even thought Communists were responsible for some of its policies so set up the National Union for Social Justice in November 1934,Calling for currency and banking reforms, nationalisation of parts of the economy and the federal taxation policy
- Formed a team with Gerald Smith from Share Our Wealth and Frances Townsend from Old Age Revolving Pensions, Ltd and form the National union party and promoted William Lemke as a candidate for president in 1936, getting 828,000 votes vs Roosevelt’s 27.8 million
- This failure was largely as a result of the second new deal when Roosevelt put in some of the reforms that long and Coughlin had campaigned for, and also his anti-Semitic views

6
Q
(Other) Radical Critics of the New Deal
A
- Dr Francis Townsend in 1933 started the Old Age Revolving Pensions, Ltd,Proposing that everyone over the age of 60 should get $200 a month to spend within 30 days. It would be funded by 2% sales tax but the elderly would spend the money on this wouldn’t and help me economy to grow. 500,000 people joined Townsend clubs and 20 million signed a petition however in reality the numbers didn’t make sense.
- Upton Sinclair was another list that tried to run for governor in California in 1934, using the slogan ‘End Poverty In California’ (EPIC),Arguing that empty land and shut down factory should be open up for the unemployed to use - wasn’t elected as seen as too radical
-None of them were real challenges however The Social Security Act, the National Labour Relations Act and the Revenue Act were all in response to Long, Coughlin and Townsend
7
Q
New Deal Overall Achievements (Recovery, Relief & Reform)
A
- Farm income had risen from $2.6 billion to 4.6 billion $, farmers had received $4 billion of direct help.
- The RFC 6000 banks to reopen, unemployment fell from 12,800,000 to 9,000,000 in six years
- The WPA employed 8 million people, and work relief projects create a new parks and roads and schools.
- 35% of population receives relief from the government and the Social Security act provided unemployment insurance for the first time.
8
Q
New Deal Overall Shortcomings (Recovery, Relief & Reform)
A
- Farming income didn’t reach 1929 levels are in the 1930s and tenant farmers were thrown off the land, recovery relied on regular government payments.
- Many businessmen ignored NRA codes and old industries remained unprofitable, there was a reception in 1937 to 38.
- 106 banks that received extra funds are forced to close despite the RFC.
- Projects relied heavily on government spending, And only provided work for about 40% of need. Relief vary from state to state, not enough money was invested in the pool needed social housing.
- When in 1937 Roosevelt tried to cut spending, unemployment rose about 5% so we had asked for $3 billion to spend on work release again until the second world war.
- The Social Security system left out large groups, payments are relatively small and it did little to reduce the gap between rich and poor.
9
Q
New Deal Achievements with Disadvantaged groups
A
- Women: More influence in politics due to the work of Eleanor Roosevelt, given specific help by Woman’s and Professional Division in the WPA and grants provided for women with dependent children due to the Social Security Act
- Black People: The black cabinet gave black people more political power and 30% of families received a relief, plus the early signs of end of segregation has some CCC camps were integrated.
- Native Americans: The Indian reorganisation act of 1934 restored 7.4 mill acres of land to tribes, they were given a chance to vote and Gavin and a new law recognise the right of native American women to vote
10
Q
New Deal Shortcomings with Disadvantaged groups
A
- Women: Paid around 50% less than men,Number and professional jobs fell from 14.2% to 12.3%, alphabet agencies provided more help for men (CCC created 2.5 mill jobs for men vs women’s camps offered only 5000 places a year)
- Black People: The AA force black tenants of farmland and NRA caused many black people to lose their jobs, relief came into often lower and most had no access to social security.
- Native Americans: Many remained very poor and the reliance on these agencies like the WPA left them without help when they closed down
11
Q
WW2 and The New Deal
A
- Jobs were created when World War 2 started, the Lend-Lease Act send war supplies to stop Nazi attack even before they entered the war (1941), creating jobs so unemployment fell from 9.5 million in 1939 to 5.5 million in 1942
- Overall income on US farms rose by around 50% between 1939-41, in the first three years of the wall, US exports grew by over 70% and the number of work relief fell from 3,300,000 to 2.2 mill
