The last phase of the new deal

Recession Winter of 1937- economy entered into a recessionary period Government policies were partly to blame Social Security tax reduced consumer spending Roosevelt began reducing spending on relief and public works FDR was trying to balance his New Deal efforts with balancing the budget/reducing the national debt

An answer to the Recession John Maynard Keynes was a British economist Argued deficit spending was helpful in difficult times because the government needed to spend well above its tax revenue to initiate economic growth “Primed the pump” to increase investment and create jobs Roosevelt’s economic advisors adopted Keynesian economics in 1938 with positive results Federal spending on public works and relief went back up, and so did employment and production

A Weakened NeW Deal The economy improved, but there was no boom and problems persisted The court-packing bill caused FDR to lose a lot of followers, and allowed more conservative Democrats and Republicans to return to power in 1938 elections Blocked further New Deal legislation By 1938, growing fears over the aggressive acts of Nazi Germany took attention away from domestic problems

Life during the depression: Women To help out with family incomes during the Depression, more women sought work Accused of taking jobs from men, even though they did not get factory jobs and most men didn’t seek the types of jobs available to women Many New Deal programs allowed women to receive lower pay than men, despite First Lady Roosevelt’s efforts

Life During the Depression: Dust Bowl Farmers Severe drought in early 1930s ruined crops in the Great Plain The region became a “dust bowl” Drought and high wind coupled with poor farming practices blew away millions of tons of topsoil Thousands of “Okies” moved westward and North in search of farm or factory work that often couldn’t be found

Life during the depression: Dust Bowl Farmers To prevent another ecological disaster of this scale, the federal govt. created the Soil Conservation Service in 1935 Taught and subsidized plains farmers to rotate crops, terrace fields, use contour plowing, and plant trees to stop soil erosion and conserve water

Life During the Depression: African Americans Racial discrimination continued to devastating effects Last hired, first fired Higher unemployment rate than national average Excluded from many state and local relief programs Hard economic times increased racial tensions Civil rights leaders got little support from FDR Feared the loss of white southern Democratic votes

Life During the Depression: African Americans Some New Deal programs did provide low- paying jobs for African Americans Still jobs were still segregated African Americans received moral support from Eleanor Roosevelt One hundred African Americans were appointed to mid-level positions in federal departments

Life During the Depression: African Americans The Fair Employment Practices Committee was set up in 1941 by executive order Assisted minorities in gaining jobs in the defense industries Roosevelt took up the measure only after the head of a railroad union threatened to march on D.C. to demand equal job opportunities for African Americans

Life During the Depression: American Indians John Collier was appointed commissioner of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in 1933 Established conservation and CCC projects on reservations Gained American Indian involvement in the WPA and other New Deal programs Helped get the Dawes Act of 1887 replaced with the Indian Reorganization Act This new law returned lands to control of tribes and supported preservation of Indian cultures

Life During the Depression: Mexican Americans Also suffered from discrimination in the 1930s Were a principal source of agricultural labor in the 1920s During the depression, unemployment and drought drove many plains and Midwest farmers further west in search of work Discrimination in New Deal programs and increased job competition from Midwest farmers forced many Mexican Americans to return to Mexico

Legacy of the New Deal First historical interpretations of the New Deal praised it as a revival of the Progressive Era Redefined the role of government in American society Provided social-democratic guarantees for many different groups of people Also depicted as a “halfway revolution” that helped some (farmers, labor unions), ignored others (African Americans), and implemented changes that were neither radical nor conservative Criticized as a missed opportunity that didn’t do enough to meet society’s needs; aimed at preserving capitalism at the expense of workers and minorities A pragmatic political response to economic problems and the different needs of special interests as a result Despite its successes, it would take another World War and massive wartime spending to finally pull the U.S. out of the Great Depression

? Why were government policies partly to blame for the 1937-1938 recession? How did Roosevelt’s economic advisors respond to this downturn? Why was the New Deal beginning to “weaken” by 1937-1938? What was the significance of the Soil Conservation Service? What were the effects of racial discrimination on African Americans during the Depression? Despite the successes of the New Deal, what would it take to pull the U.S. out of the Great Depression?