Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the New Deal attempted to address the economic crisis of the Great Depression through extensive government intervention in the economy. FDR immediately took action through public relief programs and bank reforms upon taking office. The initial New Deal programs focused on money and work relief but failed to fully revive the economy. This led to more radical labor movements developing in 1934. In response, the Second New Deal pursued more liberal policies like Social Security, the Wagner Act supporting unions, and the Fair Labor Standards Act. While helping many, the New Deal still had limitations and sometimes excluded groups like women, racial minorities, and agricultural workers. By World War II, the economy began reviving though unemployment remained an issue until wartime production.

1. FDR and the New Deal
Dr. John Holmes
U.S. History After 1877
Diablo Valley College San Ramon,
Summer 2013

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. Strikers surging up Market
Street
San Francisco General
Strike of 1934

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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