Rising Discontent in 1934-1935Valeria Martinez

IB History of the Americas

Spring 2014

National Industrial Recovery Act

• Passed by Congress on June 16, 1933.• Part of President Roosevelt’s New Deal and Hundred

Days.• Allowed the President to regulate industry and attempt to

stimulate economic recovery.• Had two main sections called Title I and Title II.

Title I of NIRA

• “Industrial Recovery”• Was made “to promote the organization of industry for

the purpose of cooperative action among trade groups.”• Among the most important sections in Title I is Section 7:• Section 7(a) guaranteed the the rights of workers to form

unions and banned “yellow-dog” contracts.• Section 7(b) established max. numbers of hours allowed to

work, min. amount of pay and working conditions.

Importance of Title I

• Title I of the NIRA was important because it created the National Recovery Administration.

• The NRA established 557 basic codes and 208 supplementary codes.

• Companies that followed the codes were allowed to display a Blue Eagle emblem.

• The NRA was declared unconstitutional by the supreme court in 1935 and abolished.

Title II of NIRA

• “Public Works and Construction Projects”

• Important because it created the Public Works Administration and devoted $3.3 billion to it.• PWA was meant to build dams,

bridges, hospitals and schools.

Primary Source Document

• In my Inaugural I laid down the simple proposition that nobody is going to starve in this country. It seems to me to be equally plain that no business which depends for existence on paying less than living wages to its workers has any right to continue in this country. By "business" I mean the whole of commerce as well as the whole of industry; by workers I mean all workers, the white collar class as well as the men in overalls: and by living wages I mean more than a bare subsistence level-- I mean the wages of decent living.

Primary Source Document• Origin: It was a speech given by President Roosevelt

regarding the newly passed National Industrial Recovery Act.

• P: The purpose was to explain the act, and why he felt like he needed to pass it.

• V: This document is valuable because it allows one to see the type of policies that were important to President Roosevelt when he first took office, and why they were important.

• L: This document is limited in that it only talks about the good that can come from the NIRA.

Reactions to the NIRA

• At first the reaction to NIRA was generally positive.• It lead to increase in labor unions, which had been down.• Due to the many codes enacted by the NRA, public

opinion became increasingly negative.

Reactions to NIRA

• It was hard for many businesses to follow the hundreds of codes dictated by the NRA.

• Employees were also unhappy. Many in the laborers thought that the interpretation of labor provisions greatly favored employers.

• Employees often felt exploited and felt that they were being treated unfairly.

Labor Unions

• A labor union is an organization of workers dedicated to protecting their interests and improving wages, hours, and working conditions.

• The first federation of labor unions in the United States was the American Federation of Labor which was founded in 1886.

Union Uprisings

• In 1934 about 1.5 million workers took part in some 1800 strikes throughout the year.

• It was not uncommon for the class conflict to escalate to violence.

• In San Francisco, one exploited group of workers led to a whole city strike for better rights.

Election of 1934

• Mid-term elections, only time in modern American history that the party in office had improved its standing in Congress.

• Democrats were able to win 26 of an open 35 seats in the Senate.

• They also won 9 seats in the House of Representatives.

Importance of 1934 Elections

• Important to know, it was not so much the Democratic Party that was popular, it was the New Deal.

• People wanted the New Deal to further redistribute wealth and income in a more equal way.

• It is also thought that people voted Democratically to give a morale boost to the New Deal.

Effects at State Level – Wisconsin

• One of the three states that wanted policies more advanced than those of the New Deal.

• Had long been considered the most socially progressive state in the nation.

• The major symbol of Wisconsin progressivism had long been Robert M. La Follette Sr. until his death in 1925

Robert M. La Follette Jr.

• Took over as senator of Wisconsin after the death of his father in 1925. Was also among the many reelected in 1934.

• Deeply disagreed with the unequal distribution of wealth that was seen in the nation during the Great Depression.

• Created the La Follette Civil Liberties Committee, which brought to light the many techniques used by large employers to prevent workers from organizing.

Wisconsin Progressive Party

• Created by Phillip La Follette and Robert M. La Follette Jr. in 1934.

• It was an alliance between “Progressive” Republicans and the La Follette political family.

• Formed on the principle that people should make the law of the land – not corporations.

• It was created in order to better protect the rights of workers against unemployment.

Effects at State Level – Minnesota

• Floyd B. Olson – governor of Minnesota from 1931-1936.

• A self-proclaimed radical, openly criticized the American economic system.

• While he supported some aspects of the New Deal, he would also criticize it for not going as far as it should have.

• During his time in office he passed bills that, among other things, created a social security program for the elderly, guaranteed equal pay for women and created a minimum wage.

Effects at State Level - California

• Upton Sinclair was a novelist turned politician who wrote “I, Governor of California, And How I Ended Poverty: A True Story of the Future”

• A book about how he would win and be elected governor of California and would totally eliminate poverty in the state within four years.

• He was going to achieve this through his End Poverty in California plan. (EPIC)

End Poverty in California Plan

• The central feature of Sinclair’s plan was the concept of production for use.

• Sinclair argued that increased productivity had been a bad thing in the years leading to the Great Depression.

• Workers were not paid enough to buy what they produced, which set off a chain reaction.

• To offset this, Sinclair proposed that the state take over idle land and factories and that in turn would allow workers to use land and machines for their own needs.

Huey Long

• Nicknamed “The Kingfish”• Was the Governor of Louisiana and a

U.S Senator for Louisiana until he was assassinated in 1935.

• Was best known for his “Share Our Wealth” program.

Share Our Wealth

• Designed to provide a decent standard of living for all Americans by spreading the nations wealth among all people.

• Bill included stopping personal fortunes at $50 million through taxes.

• Later revised to tax any amount of money over $1 million and stop personal fortunes at $5-$8 million.

Charles Coughlin

• Controversial Roman Catholic Priest.• One for the first political leaders who

used the radio to reach a mass audience.

• While at first a supporter of President Roosevelt, he later became a harsh critic and claimed the President was “too nice to bankers”.

• Later used his radio show to distribute anti-semitic commentary.

Dr. Francis Townsend

• American physician best known for his old-age pension proposal.

• Known as the “Townsend Plan” it helped influence the establishment of the Social Security program put into place by President Roosevelt.

The Townsend Plan

• Stated that the government would provide a pension of $200 per month to every citizen aged 60 and older.

• This pension was to be funded by a 2% national sales tax.• In order to qualify for the money one had to abide to the

following:• Be retired• Have no past crimes• The money had to be spent in the U.S by the pensioner

within 30 days of receiving it.

Works Cited

McElvaine, Robert S.. "Thunder on the Left: Rising Unrest, 1934-1935." The Great Depression America, 1929-1941. New York: Three Rivers, 2009. Print.

"How Labor Unions Work." HowStuffWorks. HowStuffWorks Inc, Web. 30 Jan. 2014. <http://money.howstuffworks.com/labor-union3.htm>

"U.S. Department of Labor -- History -- Americans in Depression and War." U.S. Department of Labor -- History -- Americans in Depression and War. U.S Department of Labor, Web. 30 Jan. 2014. <http://www.dol.gov/dol/aboutdol/history/chapter5.htm>.

"The NIRA." The NIRA. University of Virginia, Web. 30 Jan. 2014. <http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ma02/volpe/newdeal/nira.html>.

"Wisconsin Progressive Party Marker." Wisconsin Progressive Party Marker. Historical Marker Database, Web. 1 Feb. 2014. <http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=3648>.

"Share Our Wealth." Huey Long Official Website. Long Legacy Project, Web. 01 Feb. 2014. <http://www.hueylong.com/>.

"Father Charles E. Coughlin." History. Web. 01 Feb. 2014. <http://www.ssa.gov/history/cough.html>.

"Social Security." Townsend Act. U.S Social Security History, Web. 01 Feb. 2014. <http://www.ssa.gov/history/townsendproblems.html>.• Roosevelt, Franklin D. “Presidential Statement on N.I.R.A.” 16 June 1933.

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