Topic 6, Lesson 4: How successful was the Second New Deal?

Topic 6, Lesson 4: How successful was the Second New Deal?

Reasons for the Second New Deal (1935 - 1937)

• Roosevelt was increasingly frustrated with the wealthy and with the forces of big business who were opposing him more and more

• Roosevelt was becoming more radical in response to the Supreme Court’s opposition to the first New Deal

Opposition to the First New Deal: https://knowt.com/flashcards/2f6574e9-3b76-4cde-bed0-77b19561c15c

Topic 6, Lesson 4: How successful was the Second New Deal?

Works Progress Administration (WPA)

Issue it aimed to tackle: Unemployment

How it would tackle this issue: Creating long-term jobs for the unemployed

Actions taken:

• Recruited people for public works projects

• Made jobs for office workers, actors, artists and photographers

• Had a $4 billion budget

Successes:

• The Works Progress Administration ended up employing 1/5th of America’s workforce

• Wages were approximately $52 per month which was higher than any relief scheme

• Thousands of hospitals, schools and roads were built by the WPA

• WPA was responsible for building Fort Knox in Kentucky

Failures:

• Wages were approximately $52 per month which was lower than the going rate (standard wage) in industry

Topic 6, Lesson 4: How successful was the Second New Deal?

The Wagner Act (July 1935)

Issue it aimed to tackle: Better rights for workers

How it would tackle this issue: Allowed and supported trade unions,

Actions taken:

• Made it illegal for a worker to be sacked for being part of a union

• Employers were forbidden to resort to unfair practices such as discrimination against workers

• Allowed trade unions to negotiate with employers for better pay and working conditions

Successes:

• It was the first act that effectively gave unions rights in law

• In the long-term, the act committed federal governments to an important labour relations role

Failures:

• Business remained immensely powerful and companies such as Ford controlled local police forces so that they could attack unions

Topic 6, Lesson 4: How successful was the Second New Deal?

The Social Security Act (August 1935)

Issue it aimed to tackle: Poverty within the old, widowed sick and disabled

Actions taken:

• State pensions were given to the elderly or widowed (between $10 and $85 a month)

• Unemployment insurance was set up. This involved the employer and employee setting aside a bit of money each month so that if the worker became unemployed then they could still receive a small benefit until they found work

Successes:

• Helped vulnerable individuals

• Unemployment was now regarded as a federal responsibility not just a state one

Failures:

• Unemployment insurance was a maximum of $18 per week for only 16 weeks

• Roosevelt refused to allow general taxes to subsidise the system. It had to be self financed by the worker and their employer

• Unemployment benefits were low and paid for a very limited period

• The act was not completely comprehensive as it excluded those who needed it most such as farmers and the self-employed

Topic 6, Lesson 4: How successful was the Second New Deal?

The Banking Act (August 1935)

• Intended to give the federal government control of banking in the US

• Sought to repeal the 1913 Federal Reserve Act

• Control of banking was removed from private banks to central government

• The centre of financial management shifted from New York to Washington

Topic 6, Lesson 4: How successful was the Second New Deal?

The 1936 Election

Franklin D Roosevelt

• Democrat

• 523 electoral college votes

• 60.8% of votes

Alf Landon

• Republican

• 8 electoral college votes

• 35.5% of votes

The New Deal policies Roosevelt had already enacted had proven to be highly popular with most Americans.

The Republican candidate, Alf Landon, a political moderate, accepted much of the New Deal but criticised it for waste and inefficiency.

Roosevelt won the highest share of the popular vote since the 1820 presidential election in which James Monroe emerged victorious.