The Roaring 20s: a time of better pay, women in the labor force, and innovative
consumer goods. However, an economy with a tremendous and unprecedented growth is, often times, destined for a complementary downfall as a majority of the population did not share in the prosperity as the others. This Boom Bust economy lead the United States into its Crash of 1929 and thus its Great Depression. Through the Great Depression, Americans faced several challenges such as high unemployment rates and poverty that the New Deal then attempted to address. However, these challenges also lead Americans into wanting to address the growing struggles for social justice as many believed that "economic inequalities [generated] the disaster, [the Great Depression]," and thus they began to "[propose] remedies for it," through several forms of large-scale social protest movements (Globalyceum, The Great Depression).
With the Crash of 1929, on October 29, 1929 often referred to as "Black Tuesday", the United States economy went into a free fall as several corporations and the Growth National Product contracted whilst unemployment rates expanded (Lecture, 10/10/2018). The downfall of these corporations was a major travesty as, at the time, much of the production was controlled by only a handful of large corporations even so that by 1929 "the 200 largest corporations controlled 50 percent of corporation wealth," (Globalyceum, The Great Depression). Thus, for the following decade, the impact of the stock market crash not only caused thousands of banks to fail but also caused depositors' savings to essentially disappear. This in turn caused credit to dry up and businesses to lay off its workers; increasing the unemployment rate rapidly. With the rise of unemployment, also came the increase of consumer debt as people went into debt to finance their purchases that they made before the crash occurred. The combination of consumer debt and home and farm foreclosure rates skyrocketing often left many Americans homeless. Thus, by 1932, millions of Americans held onto whatever subsistence they had left as 60 percent earned less than the official poverty line and 25 percent of the labor force was out of work; this was especially detrimental to people of color as they suffered the worst unemployment having 30 to 60 percent higher rates than whites (Globalyceum, The Great Depression). Therefore in attempts to aid their status, thousands of people often found themselves "riding the rails" across the country looking for work (Globalyceum, The Great Depression).
With the challenges that many faced throughout the Great Depression, many Americans sought out for someone to blame. Here Herbert Hoover, in office for most of the Great Depression, was the one often put to blame as he not only failed to end the massive depression but also opposed direct government aid for unemployed or homeless; he thought welfare would make Americans lazy and grow to expect government handouts (Lecture, 10/10/18). Therefore in 1932, Franklin Delano Roosevelt defeated Hoover in the presidential election by a landslide as Americans felt desperate to vote for anyone but Hoover. Luckily, unlike Hoover, Roosevelt favored direct involvement by the federal government to deal with the economic crisis and thus launched the New Deal. The goal of the New Deal was to transform the relationship with Americans and the Federal Government and to provide, “Relief, Recovery, [and] Reform,” in attempts to address unemployment and poverty caused by the Great Depression (Lecture, 10/15/18). These series of programs were mainly emergency relief as there was a sense of urgency to aid Americans as activists and unconventional advisors were growing tired of having no solution to the people’s growing burden. This emergency relief took form of government created jobs through FDR’s “Alphabet Soup Programs” such as the Works Progress Administration (WPA), Civil Works Administration (CWA) and Social Security Act. The Works Progress Administration, being one of the largest “Alphabet Soup” Programs, and the Civil Works Administration sought to hire millions for either just job positions to get them out of unemployment (CWA) or for long term positions (WPA) in infrastructure jobs; the WPA built more that’s 40,000 courthouses, firehouses, hospitals, schools, and post offices whilst the CWA built similar infrastructures, along with bridges, 1.5 million miles of roads, highways (Globalyceum, The First New Deal and Lecture, 10/15/18). Even though many opposed these policies due to their appearance as “government handouts,” it provided Americans with a way to strengthen their status but also not feel inferior as a former CWA worker stated that they’d, “rather stay right here, in this ditch, than take one cent from direct relief,” (Lecture, 10/15/18). Another central part of the New Deal was the Social Security Act as it created a permanent, though limited, welfare system. However, this program became so complex due to the political compromises that it created several limitations for women and agricultural workers. Thus, emergency relief programs, with their benefits and limitations, managed to transform American politics and political culture as the common mentality transitioned from whether or not the government should intervene (before 1930s) to how much the government should intervene (after 1930s) (Globalyceum, The First New Deal).
Though there were many progressive actions taken in order to aid the depression, there were still struggles for social justice as many pushed for equality due to the fact that females and people of color were often being discriminated against in other areas of the New Deal. Organizations such as the Congress of Industrial Organization helped push for equality with grassroots unionizing movements, among industrial workers, as they were among those who helped with the passing of programs such as the National Labor Relations Act of 1936 (Wagner Act). The National Labor Relations Act guaranteed workers right to form unions, to collective bargaining and compensated in part for women and people of color as women were paid lower wages and African Americans were disenfranchised in southern states (Globalyceum, The Second New Deal and The Road to War). However, this act was not only fulfilled through the CIO but also through the organization of regular labor workers. Those who participated in the Longshoremen Strike of 1934, port workers who unloaded and unloaded exports and imports, were among those who advocated for unionization as it was illegal at the time. During this strike, around 1,400 workers participated which causes the port to shut down; however, the National Guard and the police of San Francisco were ordered to open fire on the strikers which not only resulted in two deaths but also fury as those two passings were in the hands of the government as they just wanted their union recognized (Lecture, 10/17/18). This anger in turn culminated the growing popularity for organizing strikes for unionization that by the end of 1934, 1,900 strikes occurred involving 1.4 million people nationwide (Lecture, 10/17/18). Such activism prompted government leaders, especially President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his administration, to act accordingly and create policies such as the Wagner Act. Thus with the NLRA (also known as the Wagner Act) and the efforts of those who advocated for it, by 1940, 800,000 women who had union jobs were able to receive higher wages and grievance procedure and many African Americans got their first chance to vote in National Labor Relations Board elections since their disenfranchisement in southern states (Globalyceum, The Second New Deal and The Road to War).
To conclude, the Great Depression proved to be a major strife for Americans as they managed to endure intense levels of poverty and unemployment as a result of an economic crash with the stock market. However, with the New Deal policies set by FDR and his administration, Americans were able to find relief from the depression without also feeling like they’ve simply received government handouts through programs such as the CWA, WPA, and the Social Security Act. With these improvements, also came struggles for social justice as several groups were marginalized or unaccounted for within the new policies that were set to aid all Americans. Thus, through organization among workers and groups, such as the CIO, they were able to address issues such as unequal pay, disenfranchisement, and illegal unionization in forms of the Wagner Act.