IB History Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal Notes

Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal: Relief, recovery, reform, and the expansion of federal responsibility

Roosevelt offered experimentation and national leadership

1. Franklin D. Roosevelt won the 1932 election amid economic emergency. He promised a New Deal without presenting one fixed programme.
2. Roosevelt treated experimentation as a political strength. Policies could be tried, revised, or replaced when conditions changed.
3. His Democratic coalition joined urban workers, white southern voters, immigrants, farmers, and many African American voters. Its breadth supported reform but also limited action on racial inequality.
4. The first hundred days created urgency and momentum. Congress passed major banking, relief, agricultural, and industrial laws between March and June 1933.

The banking crisis demanded immediate action

1. Roosevelt declared a national bank holiday on 6 March 1933. Banks closed while federal officials assessed whether they could reopen safely.
2. The Emergency Banking Act gave the executive broad authority. Sound banks reopened with federal support while insolvent institutions remained closed.
3. Roosevelt's first fireside chat explained the policy in plain language. Deposits returned as public confidence improved.
4. The Glass-Steagall Act separated commercial and investment banking. It also created federal deposit insurance through the FDIC.
5. Banking reform stopped panic more effectively than it restored lending. Weak demand and cautious institutions continued to restrict investment.

Federal relief became a national responsibility

1. The Federal Emergency Relief Administration distributed federal grants to states. Harry Hopkins pressed officials to deliver aid rapidly.
2. Relief recognized that local charities could not carry mass unemployment alone. It expanded federal involvement without creating one permanent national welfare system.
3. The Civilian Conservation Corps employed young men in conservation work. Participants planted trees, improved parks, and sent much of their pay home.
4. The Civil Works Administration provided short-term winter employment. Its rapid growth alarmed critics concerned about cost and permanence.
5. Relief remained unequal. Race, gender, residence, and local administration affected access and payment.

Work relief linked assistance to employment

1. The Works Progress Administration began in 1935. It employed millions in construction, education, arts, and public services.
2. WPA workers built roads, schools, hospitals, airports, and public buildings. These projects improved infrastructure as well as household income.
3. Federal arts, theatre, music, and writers projects widened the meaning of useful work. They also documented regional cultures and former enslaved people's testimony.
4. Work relief protected dignity for many recipients. But jobs were temporary and wages were kept below prevailing private rates.
5. Unemployment fell but remained high throughout the decade. The Second World War, not the New Deal alone, produced full employment.

Agricultural policy sought higher farm prices

1. The Agricultural Adjustment Administration paid farmers to reduce production. Lower supply was intended to raise crop prices and farm income.
2. Production controls benefited many landowners. Tenant farmers and sharecroppers could be displaced when acreage was withdrawn.
3. The policy appeared wasteful while people were hungry. Crops were destroyed and livestock slaughtered during severe deprivation.
4. The Supreme Court invalidated the first AAA in 1936. Congress then redesigned agricultural support through conservation and later legislation.
5. Federal farm policy stabilized parts of commercial agriculture. It did not remove rural poverty or unequal land ownership.

Industrial recovery combined planning and regulation

1. The National Industrial Recovery Act encouraged industry codes. Businesses, labour, and government were expected to coordinate prices, production, wages, and hours.
2. Section 7(a) recognized workers' right to organize. Employers often resisted, and enforcement remained inconsistent.
3. The National Recovery Administration displayed the Blue Eagle symbol. Its thousands of codes became complex and sometimes protected large firms from competition.
4. The Supreme Court invalidated the NIRA in Schechter Poultry v United States in 1935. The ruling limited the first New Deal's experiment in industrial planning.
5. The failure of the NRA pushed reform toward clearer labour and regulatory law. The second New Deal relied less on voluntary corporate codes.

Public works promoted recovery and regional development

1. The Public Works Administration funded large construction projects. It emphasized durable infrastructure rather than immediate mass employment.
2. The Tennessee Valley Authority built dams and generated electricity. It also supported flood control, navigation, soil conservation, and regional planning.
3. TVA demonstrated the capacity of public enterprise. Private utility companies attacked it as unfair government competition.
4. Rural electrification improved living standards and farm productivity. Federal loans helped cooperatives extend power beyond profitable urban markets.
5. Public investment modernized regions but recovery effects were gradual. Projects could not quickly absorb all unemployed workers.

The second New Deal strengthened labour rights

1. The Wagner Act of 1935 protected collective bargaining. It created the National Labor Relations Board to supervise elections and address unfair practices.
2. Union membership rose rapidly after 1935. The Congress of Industrial Organizations organized mass-production workers.
3. Sit-down strikes challenged corporate authority. The 1936 to 1937 Flint strike helped secure recognition from General Motors.
4. The Fair Labor Standards Act established a federal minimum wage, maximum hours, and child-labour restrictions. Agricultural and domestic workers were excluded.
5. Labour reform shifted bargaining power without ending employer resistance. Its exclusions disproportionately affected African American and Latino workers.

Social Security created a lasting welfare framework

1. The Social Security Act of 1935 established old-age pensions and unemployment insurance. It also funded assistance for some dependent families and disabled people.
2. The programme used payroll contributions. This design encouraged the idea that benefits were earned rather than charitable.
3. Coverage excluded many agricultural and domestic workers. Political compromise with southern Democrats preserved racial inequality.
4. Benefits began gradually and offered little immediate stimulus. The act mattered most as a durable institutional change.
5. Social Security transformed expectations of federal responsibility. It created national protection while leaving major gaps.

Financial regulation aimed to prevent another crash

1. The Securities Act required fuller disclosure in new securities sales. Investors gained access to standardized financial information.
2. The Securities Exchange Act created the Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC regulated stock exchanges and sought to curb manipulation.
3. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation protected small depositors. Insurance reduced incentives for bank runs.
4. The Home Owners' Loan Corporation refinanced mortgages. It saved many owners while discriminatory appraisal maps reinforced racial segregation.
5. Regulation restored confidence more clearly than it generated rapid recovery. Its strongest legacy was institutional stability.

Roosevelt confronted the Supreme Court

1. The Supreme Court invalidated key first New Deal measures. Roosevelt feared that further social and labour legislation would also be struck down.
2. In 1937 he proposed adding judges for older justices who did not retire. Critics described the plan as court packing.
3. Congress rejected the proposal despite Democratic majorities. Many supporters believed it threatened judicial independence.
4. The Court soon became more accepting of economic regulation. Retirements also allowed Roosevelt to appoint new justices.
5. The conflict revealed limits on presidential power. Political capital declined even though constitutional doctrine shifted.

The New Deal produced opposition from right and left

1. Business conservatives attacked regulation, taxation, unions, and deficit spending. The American Liberty League portrayed reform as a threat to individual freedom.
2. Huey Long argued that wealth remained too concentrated. His Share Our Wealth programme demanded stronger redistribution.
3. Francis Townsend proposed generous old-age pensions. His movement increased pressure for federal social insurance.
4. Father Charles Coughlin mixed attacks on finance with increasingly intolerant and authoritarian rhetoric. His radio audience showed the political reach of populist anger.
5. Roosevelt absorbed some left-wing demands while rejecting their organizations. The second New Deal broadened reform without overturning capitalism.

Race and gender exposed the limits of reform

1. African Americans gained some relief jobs and administrative representation. Mary McLeod Bethune advised the administration and organized a group of Black federal officials.
2. Roosevelt refused to support a federal anti-lynching law. He feared losing southern Democratic votes in Congress.
3. Local agencies often segregated programmes or discriminated in allocation. Agricultural policies displaced many Black tenants and sharecroppers.
4. Women held visible roles, including Frances Perkins as labour secretary. Yet programmes often treated men as primary breadwinners.
5. The New Deal altered political loyalties without delivering equal citizenship. Many African American voters moved toward the Democratic Party despite continuing discrimination.

Recovery remained incomplete and recession returned

1. Federal spending supported demand but Roosevelt remained cautious about sustained deficits. New Deal budgets were expansionary without reaching the scale later associated with wartime mobilization.
2. In 1937 the administration reduced spending and monetary conditions tightened. Industrial production fell and unemployment rose sharply.
3. The recession of 1937 to 1938 weakened claims of secure recovery. Roosevelt responded with renewed spending.
4. Private investment remained below pre-crisis expectations. Business uncertainty, weak demand, and financial caution all contributed.
5. By 1939 the economy was stronger but still depressed. War production ultimately completed the transition to full employment.

The New Deal reshaped American government and politics

1. Federal agencies entered banking, labour relations, agriculture, housing, welfare, and regional planning. National government became more visible in everyday economic life.
2. Presidential communication expanded through fireside chats and press conferences. Roosevelt connected policy explanation to public confidence.
3. The Democratic Party built a durable New Deal coalition. Its internal contradictions later emerged over race, labour, and regional interests.
4. The New Deal preserved private ownership and markets. It regulated capitalism and constructed a limited welfare state rather than replacing the economic system.
5. Its effectiveness depends on the criterion used. It relieved suffering, reformed institutions, and improved confidence, but did not end mass unemployment.

Historians disagree over achievement and limitation

1. Arthur Schlesinger Jr emphasized pragmatic reform and democratic renewal. He presented the New Deal as an adaptive response that protected liberal capitalism.
2. William Leuchtenburg stressed the transformation of federal responsibility. He also described the settlement as a half-way revolution with major exclusions.
3. New Left historians emphasized limited redistribution and the preservation of corporate power. They argue that reform stabilized rather than fundamentally changed capitalism.
4. Ira Katznelson highlights the influence of southern segregationists in Congress. Their power shaped exclusions from labour and welfare protection.
5. A balanced judgement separates relief, recovery, and reform. The New Deal performed most strongly in relief and institutional reform, but less decisively in achieving complete recovery.