1. Why was there opposition to the New Deal?

2. Learning objective – to examine the reasons why there was opposition to the New Deal. I can describe some of the reasons why there was opposition to the New Deal. Grade D I can explain why and how effective opposition to the New Deal. Grade B I can explain and analyse the effectiveness of opposition to the New Deal. Grade A/A*

3. Starter – Based on what you know about the New Deal, how would a businessman and a Republican criticise the New Deal?

4. Why did Roosevelt face opposition to the New Deal? The Federal government is doing too much! The President is taking too much power and the New Deal is not ‘the American way’! The New Deal is spending too much money! The Federal government is doing too little!

5. Why did the rich oppose the New Deal? Roosevelt raised taxes for the rich to help pay for the New Deal. This was extremely unpopular with the wealthy. The rich resented the way that they money was spent, particularly those agencies that created boondoggle jobs and public works projects that were too slow. The rich said that Roosevelt was wasting money.

6. Why did businessmen oppose the New Deal? Many businessmen resented the way the New Deal ‘interfered’ with business and gave more rights to workers. In particular, businessmen disliked the changes the NRA introduced with greater worker representation and better working conditions – mainly because they had to pay for them all! Some businessmen felt that laissez faire was still the policy to follow as all the support the New Deal gave made Americans ‘lazy’ and ‘soft’.

7. What political opposition did the New Deal face? A significant number of people still supported the Republicans and believed in ‘rugged individualism’. They were horrified at the way the New Deal was dominating peoples’ lives. An influential criticism was the way Federal government and Roosevelt was taking too much power away from State government. It was argued that the rise of Federal government made making emergency laws much more easily and step towards a communist government. This meant that, according to his critics, Roosevelt was acting like a dictator and blurring the separation of powers between the Presidential executive and the legislative arm of government.

8. What radical opposition did the New Deal tend to face? Most radical opposition argued that the New Deal did not do enough to help those in need. They tended to want laws against big business and introduce social reforms. Huey Long, Governor and Senator for Louisiana, was a former supporter of Roosevelt but announced an alternative – Share the Wealth - to the New Deal did not do enough. He launched a Share the Wealth campaign which aimed to raise support for raising taxes to pay for social reforms, such as improving housing provision. He was assassinated in 1935 by a doctor he had ruined.

9. What radical opposition did the New Deal tend to face? Father Coughlin, a Catholic Priest with a hugely popular radio show, made frequent speeches calling for a fairer society. Anti capitalist and anti communist, he became more openly critical of the New Deal and formed the National Union for Social Justice to campaign for a fairer society. Francis Townsend, a retired doctor, campaigned for pensions for all over 60 years of age and presented a plan of action of how this could happen. However, his campaign fell apart when his business partner was caught stealing from the campaign funds.

10. Why did the Supreme Court block parts of the New Deal? The role of the Supreme Court is as the final legislative body in America. It also ensures that laws adhere to the strict United States Constitution ensuring that the separation of powers between Federal and State governments is upheld. With this in mind, several groups decided to take the Alphabet Agencies to the Supreme Court to test whether the work of the New Deal was within the constitution. The most famous was the ‘sick chickens case’ in 1934, where the NRA had accused the Schechter Poultry Company of selling sick chickens to keep their prices low. The Schechter brothers argued that this was a state case NOT a federal case as they were selling sick chickens in only one state. The Schechter brothers won. This was just the start as between 1935 and 1937, the Supreme Court threw out a number of the Alphabet Agencies, including the NRA and the AAA, declaring them unconstitutional because it was the duty of the state not the Federal government to provide such support.

11. Task This comic strip helps you gain an overview of the different types of opposition to the New Deal. Stick a copy of this comic strip into your books and annotate it with different opponents of the New Deal.

12. Main task – complete the cartoon annotation sheet. What message can this source gives about the criticisms of the New Deal?

13. Homework This visual hexagon activity helps you make links between the different opposition to the New Deal. In pairs, make links between each hexagon and write two sentences for each link explaining them fully.