Proside

=Resolved: FDR was Revolutionary.=

Ms. T: one thing to consider---prior to the Great Depression, the fed. govt. had limited regulatory powers over the economy. The New Deal definitely changes that. The stock market is regulated, banks are regulated, a minimum wage is established, agriculture is controlled by the govt. to a certain extent---FDR establishes a pattern of federal intervention into the economy to prevent a great depression from ever happening again.

Another thing that was really different was to have the govt. concerned with what happened to individual Americans. It took the crisis of the depression to make this change. The welfare of individual Americans had a lot to do with the health of the economy overall. No president before FDR had committed the govt. to ensuring a minimum well being for Americans. FDR does that. Which programs would help you prove this point?

Carl Degler, a noted American history, argues that the New Deal was a revolution in ideas, institutions and practices. (//Out of Our Past, p. 448).// Interesting to consider. People's expectations of govt. certainly were different after.

MAIN POINT #1 **THE WAGNER ACT** ---ms. t again--definitely consider how this act changes the balance of power between workers and employers. what role does the govt. take as a result of this act? 
 * Labor unions endorsed by government
 * Guaranteed labor’s rights to organize and bargain collectively
 * Sparked a wave of labor activism
 * Government protected union rights → the union had to form locals, recruit members, and demonstrate influence in the work place
 * Congress of Industrial Organizations (split from the AFL) inspired workers previously neglected by organized labor
 * Interracial union campaign → social recognition and economic opportunity
 * Labors opposed by the industries → against right to organize and bargain with management
 * Many strikes – sit down strikes – but gov’t did not take action
 * Senate investigation of violence against strikers → companies had hired private police to attack laborers seeking unionization
 * federal court orders finally forced the companies to bargain collectively
 * labor legislation, government investigations and court orders, and the federal refusal to use force against strikes helped labor movement secure rights for American workers → right to unionize and union membership, higher wages, better conditions, economic democracy, and protection
 * Government interfering, telling businesses how to treat their laborers
 * Fair labor standards – workers get what they want, right to unionize and government would protect
 * 1920’s – government serving needs of business
 * FDR – gov’t serving needs of workers
 * Laborers making more money – closing the gap between working class and upper class
 * Unions still around today → therefore, major reform
 * Changed the way the government handled business and provided more security for workers

MAIN POINT #2 **THE SOCIAL SECURITY ACT**
 * Full of compromise: nonpartisan committees
 * business
 * labor
 * public representatives
 * conservatives in congress made changes
 * Unemployment compensation
 * Retirement funds for the elderly
 * Monetary aid for disabled, mothers, and children
 * "At least some measure of protection to the average citizen and to his family against the loss of a job and against poverty-ridden old age."--FDR
 * Government took responsibility for welfare of citizens
 * focuses on the wellbeing of individuals --> government never did that before
 * Started the welfare system that future generations develop and the one we still have today-->very revolutionary