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Chapter 12Section 2
The Second New Deal
Critics of the New Deal
• By 1935, the New Deal was facing criticism from the right and the left.
• The right opposed Roosevelt’s deficit spending. – Borrowing money from the government to finance
programs. • Other challenges came from the left, they felt
FDR was not doing enough to help the people. – Three opponents threatened to draw enough votes
to stop Roosevelt’s reelection in 1936.
Father Coughlin
• Catholic priest from Detroit, Michigan.
• Know as the “Radio Priest”
• Originally supported the New Deal.
• Impatient with FDR’s reforms, he called for the government to nationalize the banking system.
Huey Long
• Senator of Louisiana, known as the “King Fish”.
• Helped the poor in Louisiana.
• 1934, established Share our Wealth Society.
• Wanted to redistribute the wealth from wealth Americans to poorer Americans.
Francis Townsend
• A California doctor• Wanted the government
to pay Americans over the age of 60, a $200 month pension.
• People getting the pension would have to spend their $200.
• His plan would help unemployed American get back to work.
Second New Deal
• Roosevelt soon began a series of programs called the Second New Deal.
• He asked Congress for funds to provide work relief and jobs.
WPA
• One such program created a new federal agency called the Works Progress Administration (WPA).
• Its workers built highways, roads, public buildings, and parks.
• The result of the WPA:– Between 1935 and 1941, the
WPA spent $11 Billion and employed 8.5 million workers.
Federal Program Number One
• A program called Federal Program Number One gave jobs to artists, musicians, and writers.
• They created murals and sculptures and gave concerts.
• Writers recorded oral history and stories.
Supreme Court
• In May 1935, the Supreme Court struck down the National Recovery Administration, finding the NRA codes unconstitutional.
• In Schechter Poultry Company v. United States, the Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution did not allow congress to delegates its powers to the executive branch.
Supreme Court
• The Supreme Court ruling against the NRA also struck down the part of the NIRA that protected the right to form unions.
• The President and Congress knew the labor vote would be important in the 1936 election.
Unions
• They also believed higher union wages gave workers more money to spend to help the economy.
• Opponents argued that high wages meant higher costs and less money to hire workers.
NLRA or Wagner Act
• In July 1935, Congress passed the National Labor Relations Act, or the Wagner Act.
• The Wagner Act guaranteed workers’ rights to form unions and bargain collectively.
• It also set up the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which organized secret ballots to form unions.
Wagner Act
• The Wagner Act provided for binding arbitration. – This meant that both sides to an argument could
be heard by a third party who would decide the issue.
Helping Unions • The Wagner Act stimulated more
union activity.• The United Mine Workers worked
with other unions to organize other industrial workers.
• They formed the Committee for Industrial Organizations (CIO) in 1935.
• The CIO’s purpose was to organize unions that included all workers, whether skilled or unskilled within a particular industry.
• The CIO organized the automotive and steel workers.
Sit-Down Strikes • Union organizers started using
new tactics such as the sitdown strike. – In this strike, workers stopped
work inside the factory and refused to leave.
– Companies could not send in replacement workers.
• The United Auto Workers (UAW) union organized many successful sit-down strikes.
• At a General Motors plant, a strike ended when GM recognized the UAW as its employees’ sole bargaining agent.
Social Security
• Roosevelt and his advisors spent months preparing the Social Security Act.
• They viewed it as an insurance measure.
• The goal of the Social Security Act was to provide some security for older Americans and unemployed workers.
How Social Security Worked
• In the Social Security system, workers pay premiums.
• These premiums are a tax paid to the federal government.
• The government then distributes this money. • Retired workers over the age of 65 could
collect a monthly retirement benefit.
Social Security, who it helped
• Unemployed workers looking for jobs could receive temporary income.
• Poor mothers with children and the disabled could receive welfare payments.
Social Security did not help
• The Social Security Act helped many people, but it left out: – Poor farmers and domestic workers. – About 65 percent of African Americans fell into
those two groups.
Social Security Legacy
• Social Security established the idea that government should take care of those who were unable to work.