How Did America React to the end of World War I

How Did America React to the end of World War I America 1919-1941 In this module you will study: 1. After WWI – isolationism 2. Tariffs and Immigration 3. 1920s: Prosperity and Poverty 4. The ‘Roaring Twenties’ 5. Crash and Depression 6. Effects of the Depression 7. The New Deal – measures 8. The New Deal – evaluation In this module you will learn: , FIVE reasons the America people were isolationist [IMAGE] , TWO principles of the Fordney-McCumber Act , FOUR reasons Americans wanted high tariffs [WAIF] , THREE reasons Americans wanted to stop immigration [PRT] , THREE laws to control immigration , THREE measures to 'Americanize' immigrants , NINE indications of a booming economy in the 1920s [CI SUCCESS] , TEN reasons why industry boomed in the 1920s [PAT GOT CASH] , EIGHT weaknesses of the American economy in the 1920s [FLOP CUTS] , FIVE aspects of the 'Roaring Twenties' [POWER] , SIX examples of racism in 1920s America [HACKLE] , FIVE aspects of the Black renaissance [RHINO] , SIX factors leading to Prohibition [ACRIME] , SIX ways prohibition was a failure [DAMAGE] , THREE ways Prohibition was a success [ALE] , FOUR causes of the Great Crash of 1929 , SEVEN causes of the Great Depression of the 1930s , SEVEN ways the Great Depression was terrible [Some Farmers Were Handling Hardship Very Badly] , THREE ways the Great Depression was not as bad as it is often painted , THREE aspects of the First New Deal [Can Fdr Achieve] , FIVE aspects of the Second New Deal [New Social Standards 'N Fairness] , FIVE successes of the New Deal [5Rs] , THREE failures of the New Deal [3Ds] , FIVE opponents of the New Deal [BRASS] How Did America React to the end of World War I? There is a traditional explanation of this, that America didn't join the League of Nations because it was 'isolationist'. This is the simplistic view that you will find in most textbooks. You can add to this more specific knowledge about the political battle between Wilson and his opponents, which ended in the rejection of the Treaty by the Senate. You also need to know, however, that this is a very old-fashioned view of events, and the modern view of historians say that neither Americans not the Senate were really isolationist AT ALL, and that the Treaty was lost rather by Wilson's stupidity. Source A 1. The Traditional Explanation We are not internationalists, we are The American people had not wanted to go into World War One - American nationalists. America did not join in until 1917 - and when the war ended they Theodore Roosevelt, speaking in 1919 rejected the Treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations. This is Roosevelt was a former President of the called 'isolationism' - the desire to keep out of foreign affairs. US. American people were isolationist because [IMAGE]: Source B Senator Borah's speech a. Isolationism: We have entangled ourselves with all America regarded itself as the 'New World' and did not want anything European concerns … dabbling in their to do with the 'Old World', which they saw as being corrupt, old-affairs. In other words, we have fashioned and full of dangerous ideas like Communism. When surrendered, once and for all, the great Wilson went to the Versailles Conference, he was the first US policy of "no entangling alliances" President EVER to visit Europe. Most Americans liked the Monroe upon which this Republic has been Doctrine of 1823, that America should stay out of Europe's affairs, founded for 150 years. and Europe should stay out of America's. [Acting according to the decisions of a League] is in conflict with the right of b. Money: our people to govern themselves free American businessmen were worried about the COST of the League from all restraint of foreign powers.... - paying taxes to pay for its organisation, and losing trade if it decided A real republic can not commingle to impose sanctions. with the discordant and destructive forces of the Old World. You can not c. American soldiers: yoke a government of liberty to a 100,000 soldiers had died in the First World War, and many government whose first law is that of Americans couldn't see why American soldiers should die keeping force. India, sweltering in ignorance peace elsewhere in the world. and burdened with inhuman taxes after more than one hundred years of d. German immigrants: dominant rule; Egypt, trapped and Many Americans were immigrants from Europe and they still had ties robbed of her birthright; Ireland, with there. So German immigrants HATED the Treaty of Versailles just 700 years of sacrifice for independence as much as the Germans in Germany. (Also, many Irish immigrants – this is the atmosphere in and under HATED Britain so much they didn't want to have anything to do with a which we are to keep alive our belief in League of Nations with the British in it). democracy. Senator Borah (19 November 1919). e. Empires: Borah, a Republican Senator and isolationist, was speaking in the Senate The American colonies had once been part of an empire, but the American revolution was about freedom from empire. The Treaty of debate abut the Treaty. India, Egypt and Versailles hadn't abolished the British Empires (indeed, it had added Ireland were in the British Empire Mandates to them), and many Americans did not want to be part of a Treaty or a League with upheld the British Empire. Extra: Isolationism/ Money/ American soldiers/ German immigrants/ Empire - can you see any of these prejudices influencing Senator Borah's speech in Source B? Source C 2. The Political Battle The stage is set, the destiny ? America was a democracy - Wilson could not sign the peace himself, disclosed. It has come about by no but had to ask Congress to agree to the Treaty of Versailles he had plan of our conceiving, but by the hand negotiated. of God. We cannot turn back. The ? However, in the 1918 Elections the Republican Party had won a light streams on the path ahead, and majority in the Senate, and Wilson was a Democrat. nowhere else. ? The Republican opposition to Wilson was led by Senator Henry Cabot Wilson's speech to Congress (10 July 1919) Lodge - he and Wilson hated each other. ? Wilson set off on a nation-wide tour to drum up support for the Treaty (see his speech at Pueblo in favour of the League, September 1919), Source D but the overwork caused a stroke and he had to stop. Contemptible, narrow, selfish, poor ? He went to Congress - the first American president to do for 130 years little minds that never get anywhere but - but could not read his speech properly. run around in a circle and think they ? The Treaty was defeated in Congress in November 1919. are going somewhere. ? James Cox (Wilson's successor as leader of the Democrats) Woodrow Wilson, speaking in 1919 campaigned for the Treaty in the 1919 election, but his Republican Wilson was describing what he thought opponent Warren Harding fought under the slogan „return to normalcy? about those people who wanted to stay out and won the election. of world affairs. ? The Treaty of Versailles was finally rejected by the Senate in March 1920. 3. The Modern View Modern historians deny that America rejected the Treaty because of isolationism. They point out that: ? Americans were NOT isolationist - opinion polls at the time showed that more than 80% of Americans supported the idea of a league of nations. ? Only a dozen Senators were out-and-out isolationists like Senator Borah. ? Lodge was NOT an isolationist. He believed in a league of nations and he wanted to build up an overseas US empire. What he and the Republicans wanted were 14 changes in the Treaty (the '14 reservations'). ? Many Democrats could have accepted the 14 changes. So why then did the Treaty fail - simply, say modern historians, because of Wilson stupidity. He WOULD not compromise He would not accept ANY change. And in the end - rather than accept the 14 Reservations - Wilson's 23 supporters voted AGAINST the Treaty and destroyed it! How Did the American Government encourage Isolationism? The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the public alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary. HL Mencken (1923) Tariff, noun, 1. a list or table of duties or customs payable on the importation or export of goods. 2. a duty on any particular kind of goods. Hutchinson Educational Encyclopedia Dictionary (2000) The new government of Warren Harding brought in two developments which are often attributed to 'isolationism' (although they had other causes). The first was to increase tariffs on foreign imports to protect American industry. The second was to restrict immigration. Source A 1. The Fordney-McCumber Act, 1922 If ever there was a time when Americans Wilson believed in low tariffs. He had reduced tariffs in 1913, and had anything to fear from foreign refused to increase them. competition, that time has passed. If we wish to have Europe settle her debts, Demand was growing, however, for higher tariffs (Source B). As governmental or commercial, we must be soon as he became President, Warren Harding passed an prepared to buy from her. Emergency Tariff (May 1921) to increase duties on food imports, Woodrow Wilson, speaking in March 1921 and in 1922 Congress passed the Fordney-McCumber Wilson had just vetoed the Emergency Tariff Bill, Tariff. This had two principles: just before he handed over the Presidency to Harding. a. 'Scientific tariff': this linked tariffs to the wages in the country of export. If wages in, say Italy, were very low, then Italian goods were given a proportionately higher tariff. This negated the effect of lower wages in competitor countries. Source B Why Americans wanted high tariffs b. 'American Selling Price': this linked tariffs to the price of American goods, not to the cost of production. A German [WAIF] company might be able to produce, say, a certain chemical for Tariffs stop imports! a. Wartime boom: American business had $60, but if the selling price in America was $80, and the US tariff was 50%, the tariff would be $40. This meant that foreign boomed during the war - possibly because imports were ALWAYS more expensive than American-the countries involved in the war hadn't been able to sell goods to America - and produced goods, however cheaply they had been made. American businessmen wanted this to The Fordney-McCumber Act established the highest tariffs in continue. c. American wages: American wages were history, with some duties up to 400% and an average of 40%. rising, and American businessmen feared that low wages in Europe would allow European firms to undercut them. Thus An anti-tariff American cartoon of the time, linking the tariff to Joseph Fordney claimed that tariffs would isolationism. The French man is protect American workers' jobs. b. Isolationism: American isolationists saying: 'But Monsieur, where does it end'. wanted America to be self-sufficient . d. Farm Bloc: Overproduction was causing a depression in farming. Farmers hoped that protection would help keep prices up. In the long-run, the Fordney-McCumber Act damaged the American economy, because other countries retaliated by putting up their Extra: duties and stopping American exports. However, for the moment, Is the Fordney-McCumber Act an example of America was a huge new country, and there was plenty of demand 'isolationism'? at home. Source C 2. Immigration Quotas America is God's Melting Pot, where all the ALL Americans were immigrant families, of course, but until 1890 races of Europe are melting and most immigrants were 'WASPs' (white Anglo-Saxon Protestants) reforming! Germans, Frenchmen, Irishmen from the wealthier countries of Europe such as Britain, Germany and and Englishmen, Jews and Russians - into Sweden. After 1890, more immigrants started arriving from Eastern the Melting Pot with you all! God is Europe and Asia. making the American. Israel Zangwill, The Melting Pot (1908) Demand was growing, however, to slow down immigration (Source F), and there followed a number of laws to restrict immigration: Source D a. 1917: Immigration Law New arrivals should be limited to our This required all immigrants to prove they could read English, capacity to absorb them into the ranks of banned all immigration from Asia, and charged an immigration good citizenship. America must be kept fee of $8. American ... b. 1921: Emergency Quota Act I am convinced that our present economic This stated that the number of immigrants from 'the eastern and social conditions warrant a limitation of hemisphere' could not be more than 3% of the number already those to be admitted. Those who do not want in America in 1910. It set the maximum number of immigrants to be partakers of the American spirit ought in any year at 357,000. not to settle in America. c. 1924: Reed-Johnson Act President Coolidge, Message to Congress, 1923 Maximum number of immigrants in any year at 154,000. Quota from eastern hemispherereduced to 2% of those already in Source E America in 1890; the South and the East of Europe were thus As soon as they step off the decks of their only allowed to send 20,000 immigrants per year, and non-ships our problem has begun - bolshevism, Europeans only 4,000. red anarchy, black-handers and kidnappers, challenging the authority and integrity of our flag… Thousands come here who never take the oath to support our constitution and to become citizens of the United Sates. They pay allegiance to some other country while they live upon the substance of our own. They fill places that belong to the loyal wage-earning citizens of America… They constitute a menace and a danger to us every day. Speech by an American Senator, 1921 Source F Why stop immigration [PRT] An American cartoon of 1921 Racism and mistrust! a. Prejudice: after 1880, many immigrants At the same time measures were taken to 'Americanize' immigrants: were poor Catholics and Jews from eastern ? The Federal Bureau of Naturalization organised naturalization Europe. This worried the WASPs; one proceedings, and patriotic 'Americanization Day' rallies and Senator in the 1920s said that the American Fourth of July celebrations. pioneers were becoming 'a race of mongrels'. ? The Federal Bureau of Education organised courses on politics b. Red scare: Communism terrified and democracy to prepare immigrants for the 'citizenship exam'. Americans; a number of bombs were planted ? The courts clamped down harshly on political crimes by in 1919-21, one by an immigrant immigrants. (The case you MUST know about is the trial of Italian. Immigrants were suspected of being Sacco and Vanzetti - two immigrants from Italy who were communists and anarchists. anarchists - who in 1920 were found guilty of armed robbery c. Trade Unions: opposed immigration and murder (and executed in 1927), even though the defence because they feared that immigrants would produced 107 witnesses that they were elsewhere at the time, work for lower wages and take their jobs. and in 1925 the actual murderer came forward and gave himself up ... the jury did not believe the defence witnesses because Extra: they were all Italian immigrants). 1. Prejudice/ Red Scare/ Trade Unions - can you see any of these prejudices Not all this was racism and prejudice - many social workers saw it influencing the statements in Sources D and as a way to help immigrants out of the terrible poverty many of them E? lived in. 2. Why do you think the 1924 Act pushed the Census year back from 1910 to 1890 How far did the USA achieve prosperity in the 1920s? A 'how far' question ALWAYS indicates that there are two Source A sides to the argument. So, on the one hand you can cite We are not internationalists, we are American evidence of burgeoning prosperity - on the other hand there is nationalists. evidence that many did not share in the prosperity. Theodore Roosevelt, speaking in 1919 Roosevelt was a former President of the US. 1. The Booming Economy Between 1922 and 1929 the annual Gross National Product Source B of the USA increased by 40%. The average income per Why Industry boomed [PAT GOT CASH] head increased by 27%. a. Population growing rapidly increased demand for consumer goods. Highlights of the boom included [CI SUCCESS]: b. Abundant raw materials – esp. coal, iron and oil – allowed cheap production a. Consumer boom – growth of personal possessions (c.f. c. Tariffs – protected American industry from competition Woolworths, hire purchase, commercial travellers). b. Innovation in production methods, especially in the motor d. Government – the government relaxed regulations and industry (by 1925 Ford were producing a car every 10 reduced taxes (this is called ‘laissez faire’) seconds); this pushed down prices and made goods more e. Opportunities of New Technology (e.g. electrical accessible for ordinary people (the „Tin Lizzie? cost $850 in goods, radio, film, nylon) 1910, only $295 in 1920). f. Techniques of production– Ford’s Assembly line method, and Frederick Taylor’s time and motion g. Cycle of prosperity – increased prosperity increased prosperity. Ford Assembly line c. Synthetics – the invention of bakelite (the first plastic), h. Advertising (e.g. billboards, radio commercials,) cellophane and nylon - and chemicals. i. Sales methods (e.g. commercial travellers, mail order, d. Upsurge in car ownership – esp. the Ford Model T; 15 chain stores such as Woolworths) million had been produced by 1927, and the number of j. Hire Purchase – instalments allowed people to buy now, Americans owning cars rose from 8 to 23 million. pay later. e. Consumer durables/electrical goods – fridges, washing machines, dishwashers, vacuum cleaners, record players. Source C f. Communications revolution – number of telephone 'The business of America is business.' doubled/ number of radios increased from 60,000 to 10 'The man who builds a factory, builds a temple. The million. man who works there, worships there.' President Coolidge g. Entertainment industry – Hollywood, Charlie Chaplin, the „talkies? and cinemas, jazz clubs and speakeasies. h. Stock market – Wall Street boomed (a 'bull' market) with Source D many people buying shares to make a profit. Many new We in America today are nearer to the financial businesses were 'floated' on the stock market. triumph over poverty than ever before in the history i. Skyscrapers, highways and urban development. of our land. The poor man is vanishing from us. Under the Republican system, our industrial output has increased as never before, and our wages have grown steadily in buying power. President Hoover, speaking in 1928 During his election campaign, Republicans promised 'a chicken in every pot and a car in every backyard'. Source E 2. Poverty and Depression In the USA too much wealth had fallen into too few Not every one shared in the prosperity, however, and there hands, with the result that consumers were unable to were glaring weaknesses in the American economy in the buy all the goods produced. The trouble came to a 1920s. head mainly because of the easy credit policies of the However, there is plenty of evidence that all was not well with Federal Reserve Board, which favoured the rich. Its the American economy in the 1920s, and in 1928 the 'boom' effects were so profound and so prolonged because began to slow down. Particular problems included [FLOP the government did not fully understand what was CUTS]: happening or what to do about it. John A. Garraty, The American Nation (1979) a. Farming - machinery and overproduction led to rapidly falling prices (wheat prices fell from $183 a bushel in 1920 to 38 cents in 1929). In 1929 average income in of farmers was only 40% of the national average, and many farmers Source F could not afford their mortgage; in 1924, 600,000 farmers In 1929 it was strictly a gambling casino with loaded went bankrupt. Note also that rural areas did not have dice. I saw shoeshine boys buying 50 000 dollars electricity, so most country-dwellers were excluded from the worth of stock with 500 dollars down payment. A consumer boom. cigar stock at the time was selling for 114 dollars a b. Low wage earners - e.g. unskilled and casual workers, or share. The market collapsed. The 114 dollar stock the 2 million who were unemployed - could not share in the dropped to two dollars, and the company president prosperity. There were inequalities of wealth; the top 5% jumped out of the window of his Wall Street office. earned 33% of the income, while 60% of Americans earned Studs Terkel, Hard Times less than $2000, and that 40% were below the poverty line Studs was talking to an interviewer in 1970 (esp farmers/ Black Americans/ immigrants). c. Old Industries - overproduction of coal (which was being Source G replaced by oil and gas) led to mine closure and falling wages. In 1929 a coal miners wage was barely a third of the national average income. There were also problems in the textiles industry. d. Poor Black Americans - 1 million black farm workers lost their jobs in the 1920s. Black workers in the towns in the north were the lowest paid; the only work was low-paying, menial jobs. New York's black Harlem district was segregated and overcrowded, with 250,000 people crammed into an area 50 blocks long and 8 blocks wide. Many people slept in shifts, going to bed when others went to work. „Rent parties? were common on Saturday nights, to raise money to pay the landlord on Sunday. This photo is from the 1930s, but it sums up the position of A Black bootblack, 1920 Black people in the 1920s - they What mood is the photographer trying to create? can SEE the prosperity, but they don't SHARE in it. e. Cartels, trusts and monopolies - „fixed the market? and Extra: tried to keep prices high and wages low. FLOP CUTS - can you see any of these f. Unemployment – new technology was throwing more and problems and weaknesses reflected in the more people out of work; the number of unemployed stood statements in Sources E, F and G? at 2 million throughout 1920s. g. Trade problems - high tariffs were causing other countries to retaliate, as well as reducing the purchasing power of those countries, which made it hard for American companies to export their products abroad. Farmers, who relied on exporting wheat, were especially hard-hit by this. h. Stock Exchange – the biggest problem; Wall Street was 'over-heating. People were buying shares in imaginary companies. Many bought shares „at the margin? (a person could get a loan of 90% to buy shares) expecting to make enough profit to repay the loan when the shares were resold - brokers? loans trebled 1926-9. All this threatened disaster if share prices ever stopped rising. ‘The Roaring Twenties’. Is this a good description of 1920s America? This huge topic is really five topics, each one a big subject, and - as One way to remember the five aspects of well as a question abut the 'Roaring Twenties' as a whole topic - you life in America in the 1920s would be have to be prepared for for a specific question on just one of the five POWER: topics in the exam. ? Prohibition ? Organised crime One the positive side, there were exciting developments in ? Women's lives entertainment and women's lives. On the negative side, there was ? Entertainment Racism, Prohibition, and Organised Crime. ? Racism 1. Entertainment If the term 'roaring twenties' applies to anything, it applies to entertainment, in which area there were many exciting developments: a. Films: ? movie actors such as Charlie Chaplin, Rudolf Valentino and Mary Pickford became 'stars'. ? 1927,The Jazz Singer starring Al Jolson, was the first 'talkie'. ? a well-known early two-colour film was The Toll of the Sea (1922) and two-colour films were common by the end of the 1920s; after 1932, films were produced in three-colour technicolour. ? Mickey Mouse was created by Walt Disney in 1928 (who released Clara Bow - the 'It' girl, playing self-confident Snow White in colour in 1937). shop-girl Betty Lou Spence, who has ‘it’ and is ? by 1930, 100 million Americans went to the movies every week. ‘it’, flirting with rich businessman Cyrus ? companies like United Artists and MGM produced hundreds of Waltham. films a year. ? films taught people new fashions (e.g. smoking) and new ways to behave - many girls wanted to be like It' girl, Clara Bow. b. Jazz: ? Jazz was first played in New Orleans by black musicians such as Louis Armstrong and Jelly Roll Morton. After 1917, racist violence forced many of them to leave New Orleans, so they went north to play in the night clubs of towns like Chicago and New York. ? The invention of radio and the phonograph (record player) made it available in people's homes. The first jazz record was made in 1917 by the Dixieland Jazz Band. They were called 'race records', because they were recorded by black musicians. ? Because it was often played in speakeasies, by black musicians, it The King & Carter Jazzing Orchestra, 1921. was seen as wild and exciting - which soon made it very popular. ? Jazz music contributed to many of the social developments of the age - baggy trousers and short skirts, wild dancing such as the Black Bottom, and a new kind of convention-free poetry called 'jazz poetry' (poets such as TS Eliot and ee cummings). It was part of the Harlem Renaissance, and the growth of black pride (see below). c. Dances: ? The Charleston was a fast dance developed in Black communities which was adopted by flappers, who danced it alone to challenge the 'drys' who wouldn't go out to clubs. (Both Joan Crawford and Ginger Rodgers began their movie careers by winning Charleston competitions.) ? The 'Black Bottom Stomp' was first recorded by Jelly Roll Morton and named after Black Bottom - a Black neighbourhood in The Charleston Detroit. After 1926 it became the most popular dance. ? The dances scandalised many Americans, who thought they were immoral. 2. Women How significant were the changes in women's lives in the 1920s? Argument 1 - VERY significant: a. Work: Many women had taken over jobs traditionally reserved for men (such as manufacturing), and 1920-29 the number of working women increased by 25%; many went to be teachers and secretaries. b. Vote: In 1920 the 19th Amendment gave women the vote. The former suffrage campaigners formed themselves into the Woman's Joint Congressional Committee, which lobbied successfully for a Maternity and Infancy Protection Act (1921), equal nationality rights for married women (1922), and the Child Labor Amendment (1925). c. Flappers: dumped the old restrictive fashions, corsets etc. in favour of short skirts, short hair, and the flat-chested 'garconne' look. Many of them wore men's clothing. They smoked, drank, used make-up, played tennis, and danced wildly in jazz clubs. Some were openly lesbian, others were sexually active. The 'flapper', wearing trousers and pushing a car along with the men - or is this a posed photograph? Argument 2 - NOT significant: a. Work: most working women were in low-paid jobs, and they were paid less than men for the same job. 10 million women were working in 1930 ... but this was still only a quarter of the females age 15 and over; the rest worked for free in the home and on the farm. b. Vote: Apart from exceptions such as Florence Kelley and Alice Paul, few suffrage campaigners went into politics; they gave up politics and returned to being housewives. Women campaigned in vain after 1920 for an Equal Rights Act. c. Flappers: The flappers scandalised many Americans - the Anti- Flirt Association tried to persuade young Americans to behaved decently. Most girls, especially in rural America, still behaved 'decently', got married and had babies. 3. Race Relations How far were the 1920s a time of racism and discrimination for Black Americans? Argument 1 - A time of racism [HACKLE]: a. Hostility to immigrants: and the Red Scare' (see p.5 above) d. American Government: refused to pass laws banning lynchings or giving Black Americans the vote. c. Jim Crow Laws: the name for laws passed in the southern states which prevented Black Americans from mixing with whites ('segregation'), denied them equality of education and civil rights, and prevented them from voting. b. Ku Klux Klan: an organisation to maintain WASPs supremacy, which had 5 million members by 1925. Many supporters were poor whites, who did not want Blak Americans to be their equals/fear they would take their jobs, but many were racism wealthy white Americans. They wore white sheets and hoods, and marched with burning crosses. They spoke with each other in a secret language which they called 'Klonversations'. They attacked, tortured and killed Black Americans, but also Jews and Catholics and 'immoral' people such as alcoholics. e. Lynchings: mobs of white people often hanged ('lynched') Blacks A lynching (1935) - note the children. Americans whom they suspected of a crime (usually the police turned a blind eye). f. Even in the north: Black Americans ended up with the low-paid menial jobs, such as janitors, bootblacks, cooks, houseboys, Source A baggage handlers, waiters, doormen, dishwashers and washroom In the morning, a Black mother sent her attendants. In 1919, white Americans in Chicago rampaged children to a school for colored children through Black neighbourhoods after a drowning black man clinging only. Going to town, she sat at the back to a log had drifted into a whites-only swimming area. of the bus, in the seats for coloreds. She went to the posy office for coloreds, visited the library for coloreds, and Argument 2 - A time of flowering [RHINO]: walked in a separate park. When she went shopping, she stood in line, so a. Role models: some Black Americans became famous - the White women could go in front of her. sprinter Jesse Owens, the baseball player Jackie Robinson, the Her husband went to work, but he was dancer Josephine Baker. They were an inspiration to other Black not the boss; that was a job for a White Americans. man. He used a separate rest room, and b. Harlem Renaissance: a cultural flowering in the New York Black went to a separate toilet. neighbourhood of Harlem, based on jazz, but also excellent Black John D Clare, The Black Peoples of America architects, novelists, poets and painters. Many of these believed (2001) in 'Artistic Action' - winning equality by proving they were equal. c. Identity: in 1925 Alain Locke wrote The New Negro, who had to smash the old image of 'Uncle Tom' and 'Sambo', and develop a new identity, 'uplift' the race and fight for equality. There were Black newspapers and magazines. This was the time when the phrase was coined: 'Black is Beautiful'. d. NAACP: Set up in 1909, it campaigned for civil rights. e. One-and-a-half million Black Americans migrated from the south to the north. Although many of them ended up in low-paid jobs, some of them formed a new Black middle class, and were educated at university. 4. Prohibition Source B In 1919 - as the result of a long and powerful campaign (see Source B) Why Prohibition [ACRIME] - the 18th Amendment to the Constitution made the manufacture, a. Anti-Saloon League - campaigned that transport or sale of alcoholic drinks illegal. The Volstead Act, passed drink hurt families because men wasted at the same time, declared any drink more than 5% proof 'alcoholic'. money on beer, that it ruined their health and lost them their jobs, and that it led to domestic Argument 1 - A failure [DAMAGE]: violence and neglect. b. Christian organisation – esp. Women's a. Drinking continued: impossible to enforce (not enough police - Christian Temperance Union – supported only 4000 agents, many of whom were sacked for taking bribes). prohibition. (The early 20th century was a b. Available: the liquor trade just 'went time of Christian revival.) underground'. speakeasies (illegal bars), moonshine (illegally-c. Rural America – scandalised by behaviour made alcohol), bootlegging (smuggling alcohol to sell). It is in the towns – supported it. sometimes asserted that there were more speakeasies than d. Isolationism – it was said that money there had been saloons (not true, but there were 200,000 spent on drink ‘flew away to Germany’ speakeasies in 1933). because much of the beer drunk in America a. Made criminals of ordinary people was brewed there. a. Adverse effects: moonshine was poor quality and sometimes e. Madness, crime, poverty and illness were killed people. 'Jackass brandy' caused internal bleeding, 'Soda seen as caused by alcohol - many (including Pop Moon' contained poisonous alcohol. BOTH my grandparents, 'signed the pledge' a. Gangsterism flourished running the illegal trade: It became never to drink.) hugely profitable, and led to a growth of violence, protection f. Easy Street – Charlie Chaplin’s comic film rackets etc. associated with the illegal trade (see 'Organised (1917) showed how drink damaged, and Crime' below). The general flouting brought the rule of law in Christianity nurtured, families' happiness and general into disrepute as police 'turned a blind eye. Corruption prosperity. grew. a. End: in 1933 the 21st Amendment abolished Prohibition (= 'proved' that it failed). Source C Why Prohibition Failed [NCP] Argument 2 - A Success [ALE]: a. Not enough Agents - only 4000 b. Corruption and bribes – one tenth of a. Alcohol destroyed: in 1929, 50 million litres of illegal alcohol Agents sacked for taking bribes were discovered and destroyed. c. Public support – most people did NOT b. Legacy: the actual consumption of alcohol fell, not just during support a ban. prohibition, but for many years after - did not reach pre-1914 levels until 1971. c. Eliot Ness and the Untouchables: became famous as examples of the high standards police SHOULD achieve. 5. Organised Crime Organised crime stepped in to take over from the breweries and spirits manufacturers: a. They ran the speakeasies, and bootlegging. b. They also ran protection rackets, prostitution and drug-running. c. They bribed trade union leaders, police, lawyers, judges and even Senators. d. The most famous gangster was Al Capone, who earned $100,000 a year from beer sales alone, ran a private army of more than 700 mobsters, and is thought to have murdered more than 200 opponents. e. They fought with each other for control of their 'territory' - the most famous incident was the St Valentine's Day Massacre in 1929, when 'torpedoes' from Capone's gang shot dead 7 members of Bugs Moran's gang. Source D Prohibition is a business. All I do is supply a public demand. I do it In 1930, Al Capone made the front page of in the best and least harmful way I can Time magzine Al Capone Why did the USA fall into depression in 1929? This huge topic is really two topics. The first question is the easier question to answer: , Why was there a Great Crash on the American Stock Market in 1929? The second is much harder: , Why was there a Great Depression in the 1930s? Many textbooks just assume that the Great Crash led on to the Great Depression, but this is far from proved, and most economists state that the Great Crash did NOT cause the Great Depression. Background knowledge Companies sell shares as a way of raising money, and they attract buyers by giving them a share (hence the name) of the profit at the end of each year (this is called the 'dividend'). In America in 1929 about 1.5 million people owned shares. If a firm is doing well, the value of its shares rise, and people can sell them for more than they bought them. When there is a 'bull' market (when share prices are generally rising) people buy shares solely hoping to make a profit. These people are called 'speculators' and in 1929 about 600,000 of the 1.5 million shareholders were active speculators. A 'bear market' is one where prices are falling. Speculators fuel a bull market by gambling on future price rises, but they can turn a bear market into a crash by desperately trying to get rid of their shares before they fall any further. Source A 1. Why was there a Great Crash in 1929? The rich man's chauffer drove with his ears Historians are fairly much agreed why the Wall Street Crash of laid back to catch the news of an impending 1929 happened. move in Bethlehem Steel; he held 50 shares 1. Wall Street over-heated: himself. The window-cleaner at the banker's ? Between 1924-29 the value of shares rose 5 times. office paused to watch the ticker, for he was ? Share prices rose way beyond what the firms they were thinking of converting his savings into a few shares were worth; only speculation kept up the over-shares of Simmons ... a broker's valet who inflated prices. made nearly a quarter of a million on the 2. Speculation: market, a trained nurse who cleaned up ? Many people became speculators - 600,000 by 1929. $30,000 following the tips given her by ? Many people were buying shares 'on the margin' (borrowing grateful patients; and the Wyoming cattleman, 90% of the share value to buy the shares, hoping to pay 30 miles from the nearest railroad, who back the loan with the profit they made on the bought or sold 1,000 shares a day. sale). American speculators borrowed $9bn for speculating Frederick Lewis Allen, Only Yesterday (1931) in 1929. Allen gives the impression of a public 'drunk' with ? Some firms which were not sound investments floated share-buying. In fact, this was far from the truth. shares (e.g. one was set up to develop a South American mine which did not exist), but people still bought them, because they expected to make a profit in the bull market. 3. Corruption - the Senate Committee set up to investigate the Great Crash found that there was a corruption and 'insider- trading' between the banks and the brokers. 4. Panic: ? There were losses of confidence in March and September (when the economist Roger Babson forecast a crash), but the banks papered over the cracks by mass-buying of shares to help the market. ? On Thursday 24th October 1929, nearly 13 million shares were sold in a panic, and prices crashed. ? The banks tried to shore up the market again, but on Monday there were heavy selling; the banks realised it was hopeless and stopped buying shares. ? Speculators panicked at the thought of being stuck with huge loans and worthless shares. On Tuesday 29th October the market slumped again, when 16 million shares were sold. 2. Why was there a Great Depression in the 1930s? Many textbooks simply link the Great Crash and the Great Depression together - what caused the Great Crash is assumed to have caused the Great Depression which followed it. Actually there was no reason why a stock market crash need have caused the Depression, so economists have tried to find reasons why the Crash slid into Depression. Their explanations are VERY complicated and theoretical, but some of their main ideas (MUCH simplified) are: 1. Explanations at the time a. Basically, at the time, people hadn?t a clue what had caused the depression. Herbert Hoover argued that it was the European financial collapse of 1931 that turned it into the Depression; (so it was Europe?s fault, not America?s). b. The explanation of British economist John Maynard Keynes in 1936, who wrote General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money, was that the cause was a DROP IN SPENDING, caused by people saving too much. This was certainly what Roosevelt believed, and his answer was simply to pump money into the US economy; increased spending, however, did not cure the Depression. 2. Great Crash a. You will often hear it said that the Great Crash didn?t cause the Great Depression. There were only 1.5 million shareholders, and only 600,000 speculators – so why should their misfortune cause a Depression in a country of 123 million? b. However, you will remember that much of the bull market had been financed by loans – in 1929 brokers? loans amounted to $8.5 billion. Much of this money had been advanced by the banks, and by the big companies (in 1929, 200 companies controlled half of US industry). So when the speculators crashed, many banks went bankrupt, and half of US businesses was damaged, so the whole US economy suffered. 3. The Fed a. („The Fed? was the US Federal Reserve – the American „Bank of England?.) In the 1940s, Milton Friedman came up with a theory about the cause called „monetarism? – he believed that price changes were caused by a reduction of money in the economy. He therefore blamed the US Federal Reserve which in 1931 raised interest rates – which, he claimed, led to a reduction in the money supply. His famous saying was that „the Fed put the Great in the Great Depression?. b. This was made worse, Friedman added, when the banks began to go bankrupt after 1931, and because the amount of money in the economy was linked to the Gold Standard (meaning that the government would only issue as much money as it could redeem in gold). 4. Tariffs a. In 1930, fearing for the US economy, the government passed the Smoot-Hawley Tariff – a new, even heavier tariff law. b. Sixty countries passed retaliatory tariffs in response and world trade slumped. This damaged US industry, especially agriculture. 5. Maldistribution of wealth a. Nowadays, historians think that a major cause of the depression was the inequality of wealth in America. There were some extremely rich people, and huge numbers of extremely poor people – the top 5% owned a third of the wealth, while 40 per cent of the population were living in poverty. b. It wasn?t that there was too little money, but it wasn?t in the hands of the people who would spend it. Consequently, Americans produced too much and bought too little, and prices plummeted. 6. Weaknesses in the economy You will remember that Agriculture, and the Coal, Iron and Textiles industries were all experiencing problems in the 1920s. When the Depression started, they were not strong enough to cope, and collapsed quickly. 7. Cycle of Depression As more banks and companies failed, and people were put out of work, they had less to spend, and so more companies went bankrupt and made their workers unemployed etc. Once the Depression had taken hold, it simply spiralled down worse and worse. What were the effects of the Depression on the American people? ... the most serious economic depression the world had ever seen... Ben Walsh, GCSE Modern World History (2004) commenting on the different theories about why the USA fell into depression. 1. The Depression was terrible These are the 'facts' of the Depression as you will see them presented in most textbooks. (Some Farmers Were Handling Hardship Very Badly) 1. Statistics: ? In 1931, 238 people were admitted to hospital suffering from starvation. ? International trade slumped from $10bn in 1929 to only $3 bn in 1932. ? 5000 banks went bankrupt 1929-1932, including the Bank of America. ? In 1932 a quarter of a million Americans had their homes repossessed, and a fifth of all farmers lost their farms. ? In 1932, 20,000 companies went out of business. ? By 1933: - Industrial production had fallen by 40% - Prices had fallen 50% - Wages had fallen by 60% - Share prices had fallen by 80% - 5000 more banks went bankrupt. - 25% of Americans were unemployed. 2. Farmers: ? The depression was particularly fierce in agriculture, and things were made worse by the „dust bowl? caused by over-farming. Source A ? Many farmers could not afford their mortgage repayments and Last summer, in the hot weather, many „Okies? (from Oklahoma) and „Arkies? (from Arkansas) had to when the smell was sickening and the abandon their farms and go fruit-picking in California (the famous flies were thick, there were 100 novel The Grapes of Wrath is about this). people a day coming to the dumps. A widow, who used to do 3. Welfare and Despair: housework and laundry, but now had no work at all, fed herself and her 14-? America and no Welfare State. Many unemployed Americans year-old son on garbage. before she were reduced to picking over rubbish dumps or begging (cf the picked up the meat she would always song „Buddy, can you spare a dime?). take off her glasses so that she ? SOME towns set up soup kitchens and groups like the Salvation couldn't see the maggots. Army (and even Al Capone) organised charity hand-outs – hence New Republic magazine (1933) the term „on the breadline?. ? In the land of opportunity this was seen as a terrible failure, and 23,000 people committed suicide in 1932 alone. 4. Hobos and Hoovervilles: ? Homeless people went to live in shanty towns called „Hoovervilles? (as an insult to President Hoover). „Hobos? travelled round looking for jobs, usually riding illegally on freight trucks. 5. Hatred of Hoover: ? The government did not know how to stop the Depression, and Hoover believed in „rugged individualism?, and stuck to the idea Source B that it was not the government?s job to interfere with business. There is not an unemployed man in ? In 1930 the Smoot-Hawley Act raised tariffs, in 1931 the Fed raised the country that hasn't contributed to interest rates, and in 1932 the government raised taxes - all three the wealth of every millionaire in simply made the Depression much worse. America. The working classes didn't ? Most Americans came to blame the President for the bring this on, it was the big boys... Depression. Shanty towns were called „Hoovervilles?, but there We've got more wheat, more food, was also „Hoover leather? (cardboard soles for shoes) and „Hoover more cotton, more money in the blankets? (newspapers). „In Hoover we trusted, but now we are banks, more everything in the world busted?. than any other nation that ever lived ever had, yet we are starving to 6. Violence: death. We are the first nation in the ? There were many protest marches and riots. When banks tried to history of the world to go to the re-possess some farms, local farmer banded together and drove poorhouse in an automobile. them off with pitch-forks. Will Rodgers (1931) 7. Bonus Army: ? In 1932, 20,000 unemployed ex-soldiers set up a Hooverville in Washington to ask for their war pension („bonus?) to be paid early; Hoover set the army on them, who drive them away with guns and tear-gas. 2. Or was it? 1. Hoover did not do nothing: ? In 1930 he cut taxes and the Committee for Unemployment Relief was formed. ? In 1931 he gave $4000 million to state governments to set up schemes to provide work (e.g. the Hoover Dam). The Davis- Bacon Act encouraged firms to maintain high wages by requiring "prevailing" (union) wages to be paid on federal construction contracts. ? In 1932 he passed the Emergency Relief Act ($300 million to provide unemployment pay) and the Reconstruction Act (which set up the Reconstruction Finance Corporation to provide $1500 million of loans to help businessmen). The Norris-La Guardia Act protected trade unions and the Glass-Steagall Act helped banks by making it easier for them to borrow from the federal reserve. All this is usually either not mentioned at all, or dismissed as „too little, too late?. In fact, it was exactly what the „New Deal? was later to copy. 2. Not all industries or places suffered: ? The Depression was worst in farming, and in the old industries (80% of steel workers were unemployed in Toledo. 'New' industries (such as films, electronics and airplanes) continued to expand and pay high wages. ? Many people who managed to keep their jobs were BETTER off, because prices were much lower. ? Certain areas of the economy thrived. The Empire State Building was finished in 1931, and the San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge was started in 1932 What did Roosevelt introduce to deal with the Depression? Mr. Roosevelt is the only man we ever had in the White House who would understand that my boss is a sonofabitch. North Carolina mill worker (c. 1935) In the 1928 election, President Hoover had promised Americans „a chicken in every pot and a car in every garage ... but by 1932, America was in depression. In the November 1932 election, therefore, Roosevelt promised „a new deal for the American people? if they elected him. The result was a landslide – Roosevelt won 42 of the 48 states, the biggest US election victory ever. In his Fourth Fireside Chat (June 1934), Roosevelt said that his „New Deal? had three related steps: • Relief (helping the poor and unemployed to survive) • Recovery (getting the economy going again) and • Reform (changing things so a depression could never happen like that again). Roosevelt's New Deal had two parts Can Fdr Achieve ... New Social Standards 'N Fairness First, he set about offering relief and trying to get the economy to recover. After 1935, however, he set about a much more radical agenda of social reform (the „second New Deal?). First, however, he was faced by a crisis. During the four months Roosevelt was waiting to come into office (March 1933), the economy declined further, culminating in a banking crisis. At the beginning of March, millions of people marched into their banks and demanded their money – as they were allowed – in gold. It was impossible; banks in 34 states closed and padlocked their doors. The entire financial system of the USA was in the verge of collapse. The Fireside Chats The First New Deal (NB they are worth reading or listening to – they will Roosevelt persuaded Congress to give him emergency powers give you the best impression of what FDR was about.) from 9 March to 16 June 1933 (the 'Hundred Days'). Although many of Roosevelt's ideas were not new (some just copied Hoover's), 1933 - especially the 100 days - saw a burst of legislation to tackle the Depression like never before. 1. Confidence: Roosevelt undertook a series of measures to keep the American people on his side. a. Abolished Prohibition - He said: „I think this would be a good time for a beer”. This restored faith in the government because it stopped the humiliation of the government?s laws being openly ignored. - (It also increased the government?s revenues.) b. Fireside Chats These chats were brilliant propaganda and - FDR made sure that everyone who sent him a letter got a had three key aspects: reply (he got up to 8,000 letters a day), and that everyone - Homeliness – the chats were who telephoned the White House was never cut off. delivered “like a father discussing public - FDR described his policies in radio broadcasts called affairs with his family in the living room”. „fireside chats?. - Reasonableness – FDR said that he c. Bank holiday was not going to make false promises, - The Emergency Banking Act closed the banks for four and that he would not succeed every time days. The government checked that all were financially - Blame – he spoke of „the 10%? who sound, and when they reopened, they reopened with the wanted the New Deal to fail – the rich. backing of the Federal Reserve. Ordinary people believed that he was - This restored confidence in the banks, and people deposited fighting the rich and selfish in their behalf their money there again. – as a result, even though the gains of the d. Stock Exchange first New Deal were not great, FDR won - The Securities and Exchange Commission introduced rules the 1936 election by another landslide for the Stock Exchange to prevent another Crash like 1929. 2. Finance and Economy: Source A I can assure you that it is safer to keep your Roosevelt believed that he had to make sure that the economy money in a reopened bank than under the was „sound?. mattress. a. Budget 1st Fireside Chat, (March 1933) - He did not run deficit budgets (i.e. it did not spend more than it gathered in taxes). - He CUT the pay of government employees by 15%. (These measures actually made the depression worse.) - The government borrowed huge amounts of money to finance the New Deal, but it spent it on projects that were planned to pay back eventually. b. Bankruptcies - The Farm Loan Act and the Bankruptcy Act prevented banks from foreclosing on solvent businesses until they had had a chance to borrow from the Federal Reserve. - The Home Loan Act and the Home Owners Loan Corporation did the same for ordinary home owners. c. Prices and Wages - The Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) paid farmers to take fields out of production; the idea of this was to stop over- production and to drive up prices. - The NRA (National Recovery Administration) was set up, where businessmen joined a „Roll of Honour? (and were allowed to show a blue eagle symbol) where they promised to cut production and pay good wages – 2.5 million firms, employing 22 million people, joined the scheme. - FDR also abolished Child Labour – this put more adults into work. d. Currency You will read in some books that FDR abolished the gold standard (linking the value of the dollar to a certain weight of gold). This is not true. He did: - stop people owning gold (they had to deposit it in banks) - make the banks give all the gold to the government - increase the price of gold from $20 to ?35 an ounce. This stopped people hoarding/saving their money, and increased the amount of government reserves. Since the dollar was still linked to gold, moreover, many foreign investors bought American dollars for gold, which increased the amount of government reserves. 3. Alphabet Agencies: Source B FDR set up what came to be called the „alphabet agencies? Dear Mr. President: This is just to tell you that because their names were reduced to acronyms. The main everything is all right now. The man you sent ones were:found our house all right, and we went down a. CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps): to the bank with him and the mortgage can go provided paid conservation work to give unemployed young on for a while longer. You remember I wrote men jobs – by 1941, 2.5 million had taken part PLUS you about losing the furniture too. Well, your millions of trees panted/ parks and forest areas developedman got it back for us. I never heard of a President like you. b. FERA (Federal Emergency Relief Administration): provided matched funding to help states organise payments to the Letter to the President from an old man and his unemployed and homeless. wife, (summer, 1933) c. WPA (Works Progress Administration): ran projects which provided work for the unemployed, e.g. building airports, schools, hospitals or bridges – millions earned a small wage and felt valuable. d. TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority): built 21 dams in ten years – stopped flooding, provided cheap electricity and provided work. Source C The Second New Deal But here is the challenge to our democracy: In this nation I see tens of millions of its citizens In 1935, Roosevelt's New Deal was still hugely popular with the - a substantial part of its whole population - people, but it was running into opposition (see next page for who at this very moment are denied the greater detail). greater part of what the very lowest standards The most important elements of this opposition were: of today call the necessities of life... 1. The Supreme Court, which ruled the NRA and the AAA illegal, I see millions denied education, recreation, because they took away the right of states to run their own and the opportunity to better their lot and the affairs. lot of their children. 2. Some businessmen, who attacked and ignored the NRA saying I see one-third of a nation ill-housed, ill-clad, that it was expensive and wasteful. ill-nourished... The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have Therefore, in the run up to the 1936 election and after it, Roosevelt much; it is whether we provide enough for followed a much more radical 'reform' agenda. those who have too little. 2nd Inaugural Address (1937) 1. National Labour Relations Act (1935): ? Also known as the Wagner Act. ? To replace the banned NRA. ? Protected workers' right to join a trade union/ . Source D ? Set up the National Labour Relations Board (NLRB) to prevent employers from victimising workers. 2. Soil Conservation Act (1935): ? To replace the banned AAA. ? Allowed the government to continue subsidising farmers. 3. Social Security Act (1935): ? Provided America's first system of social welfare. ? set up a national system of old-age pensions ? gave help to people with physical disabilities ? gave help to children in need ? set up a national system of unemployment insurance. 4. National Housing Act (1937): ? Provided loans to buy houses This 1934 mural sees Roosevelt as the protector and ? Reduced excessive rents. friend of the working man. 5. Fair Labour Standards Act (1938): ? Set hours and conditions of work ? Fixed a minimum wage. How successful was the New Deal? Successes 1. Relief Source A Millions of people received relief, help with their mortgage, jobs etc. from the Whether the New Deal was a alphabet agencies. success or failure is not easy 2. Roads and buildings to judge. The PWA and the TVA provided valuable economic and social infrastructures, Individual programmes were a such as roads, airports, schools, theatres, dams etc. success, such as T.V.A. 3. Reform Others, such as A.A.A. Roosevelt's new laws about social security/ minimum wage/ labour relations succeeded in getting food and trade unions survived and protected ordinary people?s rights and prices to rise, which was good conditions. Democracy survived in America (unlike Italy and Germany) for the farmers, but did not 4. Roosevelt help the millions who were became the people's hero - he was elected four times. out of work and hungry. The New Deal did not solve 5. Repercussions the problem of unemployment, Democracy survived in America (unlike Italy and Germany). The New Deal but merely made the situation became a model of how a democratic government ought to behave - arguably not as bad as it might have influenced the British Welfare State of 1948. And in 1998, when the Labour been’ Government of Britain was trying to introduce new laws to help poor people, it Pupil's GCSE essay for OCR called it: a New Deal. (2003) Weaknesses and Failings 1. Did not end the Depression - indeed, Roosevelt's insistence on a balanced budget, healthy interest rates and „sound money? may have helped to continue it. Roosevelt had no new ideas how to end the depression – just Hoover?s schemes only bigger. By 1935 he had failed to end unemployment (which was only down to 10.6 million), and – although unemployment fell to 7.7 million in 1937 – when Roosevelt tried to cut back government expenditure in 1938, it rose again to 10.4 million. It is not really fair to criticise Roosevelt for this - no one at that time knew how to end the Depression - but the Depression did not end until the Second World War got production going again. 2. Damaged Blacks and immigrants – in fact, many were laid off as a direct result of the New Deal?s attempts to This cartoon shows New Deal give workers rights. legislation throwing Black workers out of a job. Other people accused 3. Determined Opposition (BRASS) the AAA of driving farm labourers a Businessmen hated the New Deal because it interfered with their from the land by making farmers cut businesses and supported workers? rights. Rich people accused back production. Roosevelt of betraying his class. Henry Ford hired thugs to attack his trade union workers. b Republicans hated the expenditure, which they said was wasteful („boondoggling? – jobs for the sake of jobs). CWA had to be abolished in 1935, though immediately replaced by the PWA. After 1938, Republicans took over the Senate, and Roosevelt was unable to get any more New Deal legislation through. c Activists like Huey Long (Senator for Louisiana who started a Share the Wealth? campaign to confiscate fortunes over $3m) and Francis Townsend (who campaigned for a pension of $200 a month) said it did not go far enough. d State governments opposed the New Deal, saying that the Federal Some people claimed that by trying government was taking their powers. to 'pack' the Supreme Court, e The Supreme Court ruled that the NRA codes of employers? conduct, and Roosevelt was trying to make the AAA programme, were illegal because they took away the States? himself a dictator. powers. Because of this, in 1937, Roosevelt threatened to force old Supreme Court judges to retire and to create new ones; the crisis was averted when the Supreme Court reversed its decisions.