Opposition to the New Deal (AQA GCSE History)
Revision Note
Written by: Zoe Wade
Reviewed by: Bridgette Barrett
Why did the New Deal Cause Opposition? - Summary
The New Deal faced opposition for several reasons. Some people thought the government was getting too involved in people's lives and businesses. They believed in a smaller government with less control over the economy.
Others were worried about the cost of the New Deal programmes. The government was spending a lot of money on things like creating jobs and giving aid to the unemployed. Some people thought it would lead to too much debt or higher taxes in the future.
The US Supreme Court posed a significant challenge to the New Deal. They stated that certain aspects of the programme were unconstitutional. The Supreme Court argued that measures such as the National Recovery Act (NRA) and the Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) exceeded the federal government's authority.
Some business owners and politicians didn't like the new regulations and taxes introduced by the New Deal. They felt it restricted their freedom to run their businesses as they wanted and thought it could hurt profits.
Some critics thought the New Deal didn't go far enough to help people. They wanted more radical changes to address the root causes of the Great Depression and provide more support for workers and the poor.
Conservative Opposition
Some people in the USA believed that the New Deal went too far to help people
Many conservative opponents came from the Republican Party. They believed that:
The government should be following laissez-faire and rugged individualism approaches
The New Deal cost too much money
The jobs created by the New Deal were pointless
Roosevelt had too much power and was becoming a dictator
People should not be dependent on the government
Business owners had issues with certain aspects of the New Deal
They hated government involvement in how they ran their businesses through the NRA and the National Labour Relations Act
They believed that the USA was becoming communist
Some people even compared the New Deal to Stalin’s Five-Year Plans
Examiner Tips and Tricks
Franklin D. Roosevelt is also known as FDR. Either version is acceptable in your exam answers. Whilst there are many abbreviations in this course, it may help in your exam answers to shorten Roosevelt’s name. When writing an answer, write “Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR)” once. This will allow you to write “FDR” throughout the rest of your answer.
Radical Opposition
Some left-wing Democrats criticised the New Deal for not going far enough
Huey Long
Who | Criticism of the New Deal | Beliefs | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
Huey Long was the Senator for Louisiana. He was known as the ‘Kingfisher’ | Long did not believe that the New Deal helped enough people. He wanted the government to do more | Long proposed a ‘Share our Wealth’ campaign. The plan suggested that anyone with over $6-$8 million would have to give their money to the government. This money could then be shared between poorer families | Long was Roosevelt’s strongest opponent. However, he was corrupt. He got rid of opponents, rigged elections and bribed police. Long was assassinated in 1935 |
Charles Coughlin
Who | Criticism of the New Deal | Beliefs | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
Father Charles Coughlin was a Catholic priest based near Detroit. He was known as the ‘radio priest’ | Coughlin was a supporter of Roosevelt. However, he believed that the New Deal did not do enough to help the poor. He even called Roosevelt an “anti-God” | In 1935, Coughlin created the National Union for Social Justice. The group wanted work and fair wages for everyone. He argued that banks should be nationalised | Coughlin’s radio show had 30 million listeners. Coughlin ran against Roosevelt in the presidential election of 1936 but was unsuccessful. His support declined after he made speeches attacking Jewish people and trade unions |
Francis Townsend
Who | Criticism of the New Deal | Beliefs | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
Dr Francis Townsend had been the assistant city health director in Long Beach, California. He lost his job during the Depression at age 66 | Townsend did not think that the government was doing enough for older people struggling with poverty like himself | Townsend created the Old Age Revolving Pension Plan. This campaigned the government to give $200 a month to everyone over 60. Each pensioner would have to spend this money within the month. He believed retiring at 60 would free up millions of jobs for younger people | Townsend had millions of supporters. His ideas inspired parts of the Social Security Act in the Second New Deal in 1935. The government scheme was not as generous. Townsend never stopped proposing his pension scheme to the government |
The Reaction of the US Supreme Court
Many members of the US Supreme Court were Republicans
They were opponents of the New Deal
The US Supreme Court used their power to fight against the New Deal
The Sick Chickens case
In 1933, a poultry company in New York signed up to the NRA
In 1935, the business began to sell diseased chicken meat
This broke one of the NRA’s policies
The NRA took the poultry company to court for this violation
The poultry company appealed and the case went to the Supreme Court
The Supreme Court sided with the company, declaring that the NRA was an illegal organisation
The Supreme Court declared that the NRA and the AAA were illegal and unconstitutional for:
Giving too much power to the government
Imposing laws onto state governments
By 1936, the Supreme Court had tried 16 cases against the Alphabet Agencies
They had ruled against the agencies in 11 of these cases
Reactions after 1936
Roosevelt won the 1936 presidential election, despite the criticism of the New Deal
In 1936, Roosevelt threatened to ‘pack’ the Supreme Court with six judges who supported the New Deal
His opponents and supporters criticised him for his statement
Roosevelt backed down and did not appoint new judges
The Supreme Court stopped challenging the New Deal
Worked Example
Describe two problems that critics had about the New Deal
[4 marks]
Answer:
One problem that critics had about the New Deal was that it did not do enough to help people (1). One critic named Father Charles Coughlin argued that the New Deal did not help poor people enough. He created the National Union for Social Justice to gain fair wages for all (1).
Another problem that critics had was that aspects of the New Deal were illegal (1). The US Supreme Court banned the NRA and the AAA because it gave the federal government too much power. This argument was used in the Sick Chickens Case (1).
Examiner Tips and Tricks
When answering ‘Describe…’ questions, the four marks are given to you for:
Identify - write a relevant point based on the question topic (1)
Describe - add some specific own knowledge about the point you have made (1)
To achieve full marks, you must do these steps twice
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