Chapter 24: Redefining Liberalism: The New Deal, 1933-1939

1. The New Deal: What is Liberalism? We must always be careful NOT to assume that the context of one era can be easily translated to another--but do you think that the New Deal era has lessons for us today? Why or why not? (I will make a special BB Question for this--what do you think?)

Roosevelt: How did FDR establish a "rapport" with the American people? (Letters, Staff, Charisma); How did he establish leadership over legislation? (enlarged executive, "Brain Trust," Bernard Baruch, Raymond Moley, Rexford Tugwell, Adolph Berle, Felix Frankfurter, Cabinet members, Harold Ickes, Frances Perkins, Henry Wallace, Henry Morgenthau, Jr.).

The Hundred Days: What do you think was the most critical measure of the "First Hundred Days"? Why? (Banking Crisis--Bank holiday, Emergency Banking Act, Glass-Steagall Act, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC); Housing-Home Owners Loan Corporation; Unemployment-Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC); Rural Improvements-Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), repeal of Prohibition; Ag-Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA), cash subsidies, Southern Tenant Farmers Union (STFU); Industrial response--Ntional Recovery Administration (NRA). Also the Federal Emergency Relief Administration, Harry Hopkins, "dole," Public Works Administration (PWA), Civil Works Administration--a veritable "alphabet soup of agencies).

The New Deal Under Attack: Who opposed the New Deal and why? What were the most controversial aspects of the New Deal Program? (Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Stock Market, Wall & Street Insider Trading, Banking Reserve Act of 1935, "Liberty League," Herbert Hoover, Supreme Court's role--National Indusrial Recovery Act, Schechter v. U.S., Francis Townsend, Old Age Revolving Pension Plan, Social Security Act of 1935, Charles Coughlin, Senator Huey Long of Louisiana, "Share Our Walth Society," the "Kingfish").

2. The Second New Deal, 1935-1938

Legislative Accomplishments: What are the accomplishments of the New Deal? What do you think were the accomplishments of the New Deal? Why or why not? (What was the Second New Deal, and why? The Revenue Act, Wagner Act of 1935, National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), Social Security Act of 1935, Grace Abbott, Frances Perkins, "compulsory pensions" and "unemployment legislation," national health insurance (ugh!), welfare state, aid to the blind, deaf, and disabled and dependent children, Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), "deserving poor," WPA).

The 1936 Election: What was the outcome of the 1936 election and why? (Jack Reagan, Huey Long, landslide election).

Stalemate: Do you find the New Deal conservative or, indeed, liberal? Why were there fewer New Deal measures in FDR's second presidency? (opposition, Congress, the South, the Supreme Court, minimum wage law, FDR "packing" the Supreme Court--"A switch in time saves nine"--Hugo Black, Felix Frankfurter, William O. Douglas, National Housing Act, Fair Standards Act of 1938, Roosevelt Recession, John Maynard Keynes, deficit spending, Keynesian economics).

3. The New Deal's Impact on Society

Rise of Labor: What happened to the power of organized labor in the 1930s and why? (The United Auto Workers, The Congress of Industrial Organizations, "industrial unionism," United Mine Workers John L. Lewis, General Moters, collective bargaining, strikes, inclusion, Wagner Act, and the NLRB).

Women and Blacks in the New Deal: In what ways was the federal government and FDR tied to the plight of blacks and of women? (Molly Dewson, female appointees to federal government posts, Eleanor Roosevelt, "My Day," legislative remedies and women, Scottsboro, Alabama, southern migration to cities, blacks and legislative remedies, poverty and relief for rural folk, segregation, NRA codes and blacks, Mary McLeod Bethune, National Youth Administration, John Collier, Indian Reorganization Acto of 1934, cultural pluralism).

Migrants and Minorities in the West: How did the New Deal affect the West and those who lived there? (migration, agriculture in California, Los Angeles, Mexican and Asian immigrants to the West, FDR and Mexican Americans, Cesar Chavez, agricultural strikes, United Farm Workers, California discrimination, Chinese Americans in California, Exclusion Act of 1943, huiguan, Filipino immigrants, Tydings-McDuffie Act of 1934, the Dust Bowl Migration, the "Okies," The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck).

A New Deal for the Environment: How did the New Deal affect the environment and why? What was the purpose of the large government programs that sought to reshape the environment? (TVA, Department of the Interior, Rural Electrification Administration, applications for electric power, Soil Conservation Service, Blue Ridge Parkway, San Franciso Zoo, Berkeley-Tilden Park, canals in San Antonio, Appalachian Trail, and parks).

The New Deal and the Arts: In what ways did the New Deal promote the arts? (WPA, Federal One project, Federal ARt Project--Jackson Pollock, Alice Neel, Willem de Kooning, Louse Nevelson, Federal Music Project, Charles Seeger, Ruth Crawford Seeger, Federal Writer's Project, Saul Bellow, Ralph Ellison, Tillie Olson, John Cheever, Zora Neale Hurston, Richard Wright--and their works, Federal Theatre Project, Hallie Flanagan, Orson Welles, The March of Time newsreels, the "documentary impulse," Lorena Hickok, Martha Gellhorn, Dorothea Lange and photography, Walker Evans, Ben Shahn, Margaret Bourke-White).

The Legacies of the New Deal: How did the New Deal transform the U.S. (relative to our view from Reconstruction)--and what are the different views about the efficacy of these changes? What legacies of the New Deal in your own lives? (Social Security, Internal Revenue Service, Federal Reserve System, "classical liberals," points of view, the American political landscape).

Chapter 25: The World at War, 1939-1945 --In Progress

For this chapter, focus on the impact of WWII on the U.S. How does the war affect the U.S. economy, society, and politics? You should know the basics of our involvement in WWII, and the course of the war in Europe and in the Pacific (found in the last part of this chapter)--but mostly focus on the impact of the war on American economy, society, and political worlds.

Reluctant to become involved in the war until the bombing at Pearl--the opposite experience from WWI, WWII brought Americans out of the Great Depression.

1. The Road to War: What were the causes of WWII, and why did Americans become involved?

The Rise of Facsism: What is fascism? (Japan, Benito Mussolini-Italy, Adolph Hitler-Germany, Nationalist Socialist Party).

Isolationaists Versus Interventionists: How did Americans respond to militarization in Europe, why? (1934 repeal of Platt Amendment, kept Guantanamo Bay, 1934 NOrthDakota Gerald P. Nye congressional investigation into the profits of WWI, Neutrality Act 1935, "Cash and Carry" 1937, Communist Party membership, Popular Front, Munich Agreement, German taking of Czechoslovakia, Nonaggression Pact, blitzkrieg against Poland, War declared on Germany by Britain and France).

Retreat from Isolationaism: Why did Americans stand firm in isolationism, and why the change? (FDR's stance on neutrality, American public opinion in 1939, support for allies, William Allen White & the Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies, Charles Lindbergh, Senator Gerald Nye, America First Committee, National Defense Advisory Commission, Henry Stimson, Frank Knowx, Congressional hike in defense spending, "arsenal of democracy," Henry Wallace, Wendell Wilkie, aid to Britain, Lend-lease Act, meeting with Winston Churchill, the Atlantic Charter, Nazi U-Boats).

The Attack on Pearl Harbor: What was the impact of the Japanese attack on Pearl? (U.S. had not responded to Japanese aggression in China beyond rhetoric--General Hideki Tojo, Emperor Hirohito, Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere from Indonesia to Korea, FDR freezing of Japanese Assets in the U.S. and embargo against trade with Japan after Japanese troops occupied Indochina in 1941--October 1941 General Tojo became prime minister, by Nov 1941 U.S. military intelligence knew Japan was planning an attack, December 7th attack on Pearl Harbor--"a date which will live in infamy").

2. Organizing for Victory: How did Americans mobilize for the war? What was the role of the federal government? What was the 1941 "War Powers Act"? What was the role of the president?

Financing the War: How did Americans finance the war? What did Americans produce? (Revenue Act of 1942, Treasury bonds, federal bureaucracy & employees, War Production Board, "dollar-a-year men," Donald Nelson, Ford, General Motors, top 56 largest corporations received 3/4 of all war contracts, Henry J. Kaiser, Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program 1942, Reconstruction Finance Corporation, Secretary of War Henry Stimson, what was produced?)

Mobilizing the American Fighting Force: How did the federal government mobilize the military? (Enlisted 15 million men and women-with women in WACS, WAVES, and WASPs, 1940s was beginning of Civil Rights actions regarding racial segregation in the military).

Workers and the War Effort: How did the war effort affect the American Labor force? (labor shortage, recruitment of women--up from 24 % of the workforce in 1941 to 36 % of the workforce in 1936, wage structure regarding sex and race, Rosie the Riveter, post war job structure, National War Labor Board disputes, John L. Lewis, black activism regarding jobs and the work of A Philip Randolph, Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters 1941, Fair Employment Practices Commission, the League of United Latin American Citizens, James Farmer, the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), Peggy Terry and Fanny Christina Hill).

Politics in Wartime: To what extent were the American people united politically during the war? What was the Democratic Coalition and why were they successful? (new federal social initiatives at the end of the New Deal Programs such as the Civilian Conservation Corps--a second bill of rights for Americans--"GI" benefits, Henry Wallace, Harry Truman, Tom Pendergast, Thomas E. Dewey-NY).

3. Life on the Home Front

"For the Duration": WWII has been seen as a watershed in race relations, and one can also see the strains of gender roles as well--in this era there is both conflict and the beginnings of new cooperation. What examples do your find of conflict and/or cooperation on the home front? (Office of War Information, popular culture--Frank Capra, John Wayne, Spencer Tracy, humphrey Bogart, Claudette Cobert, Edward R. Murrow, per capita income doubled, leisure activities, shortage of goods, Office of PRice Administration, shortage of rubber, rationing of cars, shoes, fuel oil, hours of work, heaters, gasoline--development of the synthetic rubber industry, black market meat, gasoline, cigarettes, and nylon stockings!)

Migration and Social Conflict: How did WWII affect migration patterns? (moving to other states--from Kentucky to MIchigan, off to California, "the second Gold Rush," from the rural South to California, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, continuation of the "Great Migration" seen during WWI, also a continuation of urban violence over race in Detroit in 1943, in Los Angeles in 1943--Zoot Suit Riots).

Civil Rights During Wartime: What are the roots of the Civil Rights Movement seen in the war years? (5,000 Germans and Italians interned during the war, leftists and communists were left alone, Japanese and Japanese Americans interned after Pearl Harbor--Executive Order 9066 authorized the War Department to round up Japanese and Japanese Americans and to put them into camps--this in the context of much Asian prejudice and discrimination in the West, 2/3rds Nisei, War Relocation Authority built camps in California, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, and Arkansas, shortage of agricultural labort, 442nd Regimental Combat Team, Gordon Hirabayashi, Korematsu v. United States (1944), 1988 Reparations to survivors).

4. Fighting and Winning the War

Wartime Aims and Tensions: What was the relationship of the Americans to the Allies and what was their overall contribution to winning the war? ("The Big Three," FDR, Winston Churchill, Joseph Stalin, shared goals, Tehran conference, tensions).

The War in Europe: How did the allies approach the war with Germany and plan to retake Europe? (Stalingrad, North Africa, Italy, invasion of France, D-Day, Normandy, Battle of the Bulge, 8 May 1945 Germany Surrendered, VE Day-Victory in Europe Day 8 May--followed by VJ Day on August 15th--Victory over Japan--Life photos of German camps, War Refugee Board and Jewish relocation after the war).

The War in the Pacific: Why was the war in the Pacific challenging for the United States? (Bataan Death March, Battle of the Coral Sea, Battle of Midway Island, Iwo Jima, OkinawaKamikaze).

Planning the Postwar World: How was the Atom bomb developed? What was the significance of the meeting of FDR, Churchill, and Stalin at Yalta? (Hahatma Gandhi, United Nations, Security Council, death of Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, Enrico Fermi, Albert Einstein, Manhattan Project, Robert Oppenheimer, Los Alamos, Hiroshima, Nagasaki).

Chapter 26: Cold War America, 1945-1960

1. The Cold War

Descent into Cold War 1945-1946: How did the Cold War begin? (post war relations with Soviet Union and Stalin, question of free elections, Poland, V.M. Molotov, Potsdam Conference, Said, Maxim Litvinoff: "the ideological concept prevailing here [is] that conflict between Communist and capitalist worlds is inevitable").

The Containment Strategy: What was the "containment" strategy, and how did it develop? (George Kennan, "Long Telegram," Communists in Greece, Truman Doctrine, Communists in France and Italy, George C. Marshall, the Marshall Plan - an "international WPA," June 1948 the Berlin Airlift, Stalin backed down in May of 1949--organized NATO and SEATO, COMECON, and the Warsaw Pact, Soviet nuclear bomb, NSC-68, "a balance of terror," increase in forces).

Containment in Asia: How did the Cold War begin to play out in Asia? (China and Chiang Kai-shek, Revolution in October of 1949 under Mao Zedong, "China Lobby," Taiwan, Korea, China's exclusion from the United Nations, Korean War, McArthur).

2. The Truman Era: How might you characterize the Truman erea? To what extent were the platforms of Truman and Eisenhower different? The Same?

Reconversion: How did the U.S.--or did the U.S., convert the economy from one oriented around war to a peacetime economy? (concern for small businesses, price controls lifted, Taft-Hartley 1947, Strom Thurmond, Thomas Dewey--how was this election called? Why did Truman win?)

The Fair Deal: What was Truman's "Fair Deal," and what is your assessent of it? (labor rights, agriculure, welfarte of people, national health insurance, fiscal policy, "priming," Nantional Housing Act, Employment Act of 1946, health insurance).

The Great Fear (What was the "Great Fear"? Algier Hiss, State Department, Moscow's Popular Front, Robert Oppenheimer on Soviets, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Whittaker Chambers, House on Un-American Activities Committee, the blacklist, unions in the 1950s, CIO, relationship to Communists, "fellow travelers," Joseph McCarthy, "soft on Communism").

3. Modern Republicanism

They Liked Ike: What did Ike stand for in the election of 'fifty-two, and why do you think he beat Adlai Stevenson? (Dwight Eisenhower, Senator Richard Nixon, Republican platform, anti-Communism, HUAC and Alger Hiss, Adlai E. Stevenson (Illinois), New Deal-Fair Deal, "K-1, C-2 formula," Republican presidency & Democratic Congress).

The Hidden-Hand Presidency: (Joe McCarthy, "hidden hand" president, social welfare legislation with Democratic Congress, federal support of veterans benefits, housing loans, Social Security, and increases in min wage, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare 1953, expanded role of the Federal Government--National Interstate and Defense Highways Act of 1956, 1959 St. Lawrence Seaway, Sputnik 1957, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), government support of research, universities and research-Eisenhower continued New Deal welfare programs in most areas and was part of the "liberal consensus"--Said Barry Goldwater, Eisenhower ran a "Dime Store New Deal"--what was his point here?).

Eisenhower and the Cold War: What was Eisenhower's contribution to the Cold War? (Secretary of State John Foster Dulles' anti-communism, resolution of Korea at the 38th parallel, Nikita S. Khrushchev's leadership after Stalin's death, 1956 Hungarian rebellion encouraged by Dulles, Containment of Cold War costs by increasing the nuclear arsenal, developed "long-range" bombs, the Distant Early Warning radar stations in Alaska and Canada, "atomic-tipped Polaris missiles" 1960, MAD--Mutually Assured Destruction, arms limitation agreements, significance of the U-2 spy plane incident, Francis Gary Powers).

Containment in the Postcolonial World: What did Cold War "Containment" policy mean? (significance of self-determination, U.S. ignorance of indigenous nationalist or socialist movements of the so-called "Third World" irrespective of the Soviet Union, NATO Alliance, Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) 1954, system of allies, including Iran and Iraq, support for anti-Communist governments, including dictatorships or repressive regimes in the Philippines, Korea, Iran, Cuba, and Nicaragua, covert operations organized by Dulles and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Muhammad Mossadegh, Muhammad Reza Pahlavi 1954, Guatamalan coup against Jacobo Arbenz Guzman, United Fruit Company, Vietminh, Ho chi Minh, Japanese left Vietnam in 1945, French gained control and U.S. sided with them in battle that would eventually consume the United States, domino theory, 1954 Dienbienphu, Geneva Accords 1954, CIA aided coup with Ngo Dinh Diem (anti-Communist Catholic) instead of free elections scheduled for 1956, U.S. aid to Vietnam, Palestine, Zionist movement, British mandate for Jewish State, with UN support, Israel created after mandate ended, Arab League nations fought and lost, U.S. supported Israel, Gamal Abdel Nasser in Egypt, Aswan Dam conflict with U.S. and Dulles, Suez Canal, Soviet support for Egyptian Aswan Dam, Eisenhower Doctrine, King Hussein of Jordan, Lebanon, centrality of oil). What we have here, regarding foreign policy, is the development of containment during the Eisenhower years in Aisa, Guatamala, Vietnam, and the Middle East-in Iran, Israel, Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon.

Eisenhower's Farewell Address: Why has Eisenhower been remembered for his farewell address? (The military-industrial complex "is felt in every city, every statehouse, every office of the federal government. . . .. We must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. . . we must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes").