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.