Date
Do Now: Answer the
following question:
What do many famous athletes,
actors/actresses and other
celebrities have in common?
AIM
The Great Depression:
The Critics of the New Deal
The problems with the New Deal
HOMEWORK: USING THE ARTICLE, ANSWER QUESTIONS 1-5.
1. Describe how the New Deal discriminated against women.
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2. Why did African Americans struggle during the Great Depression under the New Deal?
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3. Why did some members of the government dislike FDR’s New Deal?
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4. How come big business leaders didn’t like or support FDR?
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5. Who was Huey Long and why was he so dangerous?
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The Court Packing Scheme:
The End of the Great Depression
What was it?
Did FDR and the New Deal end the Great Depression?
Why was this such a big deal?
What event is credited with the end of the Depression?
What was the effect of this?
What were the lasting impacts left by the Depression?
The Critics of the New Deal
Everything we have learned about FDR so far has been extremely positive. He came into office and gave
America a “New Deal” on how to solve the Depression. With the 3 R’s, Roosevelt not only increased the power of the
President, but provided direct aid to the American citizens. Within his first 100 days, his Alphabet Soup programs
set up some programs that would not only shape the people of the Depression, but future generations of Americans
for years after the Depression. Yet for all of his actions, FDR was unable to solve the Great Depression during his
first year in office from 1933 to 1934. Not only was the New Deal unable to solve the Depression during the early
years of Roosevelt’s Presidency, but it also had a negative impact on many Americans living throughout the United
States.
Women were one group that didn’t experience great advancements during the New Deal years of the Great
Depression. We have learned that the government used deficit spending to create huge public work projects to
create temporary jobs for Americans. However, most of these jobs went to young men, or married men who had to
support their families. The “head of the family” was usually given a job by the government, which meant that many
women were shut out of job opportunities. Although many more women were forced to work outside of the home at
this time, they were not treated as equals to men. Furthermore, many of the New Deal programs allowed the
government to pay women less than men who were working the same jobs. It wasn’t really until World War II that
economic opportunities for women would increase in America.
Another group that struggled during the Great Depression were African Americans. While there was a great
deal of African Americans who supported FDR, there were many who were hurt by his New Deal policies. Some
programs allowed African American workers to paid less than white workers, as well as to given lower level jobs. This
helped reinforce the racial segregation that had been present down South since the Plessy v Ferguson decision of
1896. FDR’s government also failed to address the rise in violence against African Americans, as the number of
lynchings of African Americans increased dramatically during the Great Depression. This violence and lack of job
opportunities made the Great Depression even harder for African Americans.
There were also political leaders who began to question’s Roosevelt’s tactics. Some members of Congress felt
that Roosevelt’s programs were too radical and were on the borderline of communism. By giving workers more rights,
Roosevelt had angered many Big Business leaders, who would never support him. There were also attacks from
Louisiana Senator Huey Long, who built a political machine based on the idea of the “distribution of wealth.” This
meant that the government would limit how much money someone could make, and take the rest by taxing and
redistribute to the rest of America. Called the “most dangerous man in America” by FDR himself, Long gained
followers due the severity of the Great Depression. However, he was never able to challenge FDR for the Presidency,
as he was assassinated in 1935.
While FDR is generally considered one of the greatest Presidents, he also made mistakes during the
Depression. Using a system of trial and errors, FDR came up with many Alphabet Soup programs. He was able to get
many of these passed because he had the support of the Congress. The Supreme Court, however, ruled some of
these programs, unconstitutional. Irritated with the with the lack of vision of these “9 old men,” FDR came up with a
bill that would increase the number of Supreme Court Justices from 9 to 15, adding 6 justices. Called the “Court
Packing Scheme,” it was obvious that FDR was just trying to add 6 more justices who would agree with his New Deal
legislature and help sway the opinion of the court. This would have been a clear violation of the constitutional
principle of Checks and Balances. The Supreme Court, Congress, and the American public all sided against FDR on this
court packing scheme, and the bill was easily defeated. This event took away some of the “greatness” of FDR’s
Presidency.
Even with all of his New Deal programs, FDR was never able to successfully stop the Great Depression in the
United States. While he was extremely popular and re-elected to four terms, the New Deal DID NOT stop the
Depression. The event that is most commonly associated with ending the Great Depression is the start of World War
II (1939-1941). Even though the United States would not get involved in the war until 1941, we started to transform
our economy into a military one-producing massive amounts of weapons, supplies and munitions. With all this
production, many jobs were created, leading to more Americans being able to put their lives back together.