Chapter 23 Section 3

The Last days of the New Deal

Recession

• A period of slow business activity

• The U.S. entered a recession in 1937 when the economy collapsed again

Why did the U.S. slide back into a recession in 1937?

• Social security taxes meant workers had less money to spend and bought fewer goods

• Consumers had less money because programs such as the WPA had been reduced in size

National Debt

• The total amount of money the federal government borrows, and has to pay back

• The government has to borrow whenever the amount of money it brings in is less than the amount it spends

• The New Deal increased the national debt by $22billion

Why did FDR become concerned about the national debt?

• New Deal programs had required borrowing massive amounts of money, causing the national debt to rise dramatically

Revenue

• Income• Due to the New Deal,

American spending surpassed its revenue

From reading section 3, explain why unemployment rose during 1937?

• New Deal jobs programs provided initial relief, but only for certain segments of society.

• Critics charged that government spending on jobs programs and public works projects wasted resources, interfered with free market economics, and expanded government bureaucracy

Coalition

• An alliance of groups with similar goals– The CIO (Congress of

Industrial Organizations) was a coalition of la or unions representing unskilled labor

– The aim of this coalition was to challenge conditions in industry

Sit-down strike

• A strike in which laborers stop working but refuse to leave the building.

• Supporters outside would set up a picket line

• Together, sit-down strikers and picket line protesters would prevent companies from bringing in replacement workers

What made sit-down strikes effective to some extent?

What gains and setbacks did unions experience during the New Deal Era?

• Wagner Act protections and activism by union leaders allowed unions to grow dramatically.

• Strikes were used as a tool, sometimes successfully. But sometimes leading to violent opposition

• Eventually sit-down strikes were outlawed by the Supreme Court

What impact did the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) have on union strategies?

• The CIO helped to unite and organize the nation’s unskilled workers in mass-production industries, using the strike as the main tool in the quest for better wages and working conditions

Why did the federal government fund new arts programs during the Depression?

• FDR believed that the arts were necessities, not luxuries.

• Art and theater could create awareness of social problems, while employing many and fostering hope.

What did critics dislike about the Social Security System?

• The payments were low• Women were

discriminated against• It took from the

paychecks of some, that had worked for it, in order to give to others