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Summary on FDR's New Deal: Successes and Oppositions
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Helpful, clear-cut summary of the New Deal in America instigated by FDR and its successes and oppositions
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Oppositions to the New DealSupreme Court
Who were they?
- 9 apolitical judges (predominantly selected by Republicans – see below)
- Majority served for life and believed they had a duty to defend the
constitution
What made them want to challenge the New Deal?
- Wanted to stop president and federal government (system of dividing
power between national and state governments, creating the
constitution) from taking too much power
- Wanted to protect individual freedom
- Wanted to protect state’s power
- Wanted to protect the constitution
Slick Chicken Case
- The Supreme Court had to wait for a business to appeal against a law
- Once they had done so, a review to see whether it is constitutional
(judicial) is conducted
- The Schechter Brothers (owners of a poultry corporation) broke rules
about the birds’ conditions
- They said the federal government had no power over trade in a state; the
Supreme Court agreed
- The message was that the Congress had given too much power to the
NRA
FDR, Congress and Supreme Court’s Response
- FDR created a new plan to appoint new judges who favoured the New
Deal
- In 1937, he asked Congress to replace every judge over 70 (this was
known as ‘court-packing’)
- Congress thought FDR was acting like a dictator of Europe, and rejected
this plan
- Thereon, the Supreme Court’s decisions started reflecting more of the
public’s opinion
- This meant the New Deal was now safe from legal challenge
- Also, as more judges retired and died, FDR could appoint his own judges
Republicans
- More of a right-wing party, they were opposed to FDR’s democratic views
- They also disliked FDR as he made the federal government too powerful
- They opposed the size of the Alphabet Agencies and supported the
Supreme Court’s anti-ND
, - They thought he spent too much money which was borrowed by taxing
(on the New Deal)
- The Republicans tried to take power in ’36 and failed – but in ’37 FRD
faced a recession
- However, in ’38 due to a coalition with the Conservative Democrats, they
had the power to defeat any new measures that FDR tried to make into
law, so they used their power to:
o Cut spending on relief programmes
o Investigate Alphabet Agencies
o Block new measures (like a housing plan and public work measure
in ’39)
Businesses
- Originally, businesses benefitted from the New Deal as it calmed the
economic crisis
- However, they turned against it as they didn’t like being told what to do
(NRA codes made businesses pay a minimum wage and restricted
working hours – anti laissez-faire)
- Also, the New Deal supported unions who could challenge business
managers
- Businesses didn’t like the way the government were spending too much
in taxes
The American Liberty League
- It was founded in 1934 and Conservatives from both parties come
together
- They distributed leaflets and broadcasted speeches to spread their
message
- They thought the New Deal threatened state power and was anti-business
- They campaigned against Roosevelt and sponsored legal challenges
- Although, they struggled to recruit, and it became unpopular by
Republicans
- Also, the Supreme Court changed its attitude, beginning to support New
Deal laws
Huey Long
- Governor of Louisiana who heavily taxed the rich and big businesses to
provide social services
- He said the New Deal was too right wing and that the NRA was
controlled by businesses
- He also said the AAA left farmers homeless and the Social Security didn’t
reduce the wealth gap
- He introduced the Share Our Wealth scheme, giving $1.8 mill to ordinary
Americans
- He was popular with his speechmaking, making Americans feel
understood
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