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While Roosevelt's New Deal remains in the collective memory as the policy that saved the United States from the Great Depression by offering the American people assistance, employment, and new rights, this documentary shows how African Americans were deliberately excluded from it.
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00:00History is not an exact science. It is never set in stone.
00:17As time passes, knowledge of the past is refined and evolves.
00:21But, by definition, received ideas have thick skins and are hard to shift.
00:43I have a dream that all men have created it.
00:46To understand the realities of the world, you sometimes have to shake them up and decipher the facts by looking at them another way.
00:58This is the export piece!
01:01I don't care if it's not special.
01:03The New Deal became the stuff of legends for saving the people of America from the Great Depression, while giving them aid, work and new rights.
01:28And new rights.
01:31And yet…
01:46In July 1932, 20,000 World War I veterans marched on Washington.
01:51Jobless and without resources, they demanded the bonus payment promised to them after the war.
02:06To pressurize the government, they camped on public ground for several weeks with their wives and children.
02:12The 1929 Wall Street Crash had caused a global economic downturn and plunged the United States into the Great Depression.
02:27In what was an electoral year, the Republican President Hoover, running for re-election, refused to enter into talks.
02:33He ordered the army to clear out the veterans and their families.
02:44Today's soldiers clashed with the soldiers of yesteryear.
02:47The United States was at war with itself.
02:54The veterans' distress mirrored that of millions of Americans.
03:02The veterans' distress mirrored that of millions of Americans.
03:04A CIDADE NO BRASIL
03:34A CIDADE NO BRASIL
04:04A CIDADE NO BRASIL
04:06A CIDADE NO BRASIL
04:08A CIDADE NO BRASIL
04:10A CIDADE NO BRASIL
04:12A CIDADE NO BRASIL
04:14A CIDADE NO BRASIL
04:16A CIDADE NO BRASIL
04:18A CIDADE NO BRASIL
04:20A CIDADE NO BRASIL
04:22A CIDADE NO BRASIL
04:24A CIDADE NO BRASIL
04:26A CIDADE NO BRASIL
04:28A CIDADE NO BRASIL
04:30A CIDADE NO BRASIL
04:32A CIDADE NO BRASIL
04:34A CIDADE NO BRASIL
04:36A CIDADE NO BRASIL
04:38A CIDADE NO BRASIL
04:40A CIDADE NO BRASIL
04:42A CIDADE NO BRASIL
04:44A CIDADE NO BRASIL
04:46A CIDADE NO BRASIL
04:48A CIDADE NO BRASIL
04:50A CIDADE NO BRASIL
04:52I PLEGGED MYSELF
04:54TO A NEW DEAL
04:56FOR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
04:58PEOPLE
05:00THIS IS alright
05:03BUT SOMETIME
05:04A CALL TO UP
05:05GIVE ME YOUR HELP
05:07NOT TO WIN VOTES SOME
05:09BUT TO WIN, IN THIS CRUCADE
05:13TO RESTORE AMERICA
05:15TO ITS OWN PEOPLE
05:19.
05:21.
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06:15.
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06:19.
06:20.
06:24.
06:25.
06:26.
06:28.
06:31.
06:32E eleva o governo de guerra contra a Great Depression.
06:36Não mais slacking.
06:38Se a situação requerido, ele pediu a congressos para os mesmos poderes as em guerra.
06:49Isso era algo novo.
06:51A U.S., made up of federal states,
06:53não era muito acostumado a governar o governo de economia e o social welfare sistema.
07:02A U.S. Roosevelt needed to act.
07:11Citizens had lost their trust in the banks and were withdrawing their money en masse.
07:17A new crisis was looming.
07:20The president announced the immediate closure of all banks.
07:25For four days, federal inspectors would assess them.
07:28Only viable banks would receive the necessary funding to save them.
07:45To give the new president a chance,
07:47Americans accepted the measure in good spirits.
07:50On March 12th, the day before the reopening of the banks,
08:00the president addressed the nation for the first time.
08:05Let me make it clear that the banks will take care of all needs.
08:09We have provided the machinery to restore our financial system.
08:15And it is up to you to support and make it work.
08:19It is your problem, my friends, no less than it is mine.
08:24Together, we cannot fail.
08:27This fireside chat heralded the Roosevelt method.
08:35He wanted to give the impression that he was close to his fellow citizens,
08:38whom he called his friends.
08:42He showed them that he respected and trusted them.
08:46The New Deal was a partnership.
08:50They, like him, would need to make an effort.
08:53His speech sounded spontaneous,
08:57but his text, which he followed to the letter,
09:00was meticulously rehearsed.
09:03The refined, experienced politician from a wealthy background
09:07established a close relationship with Americans.
09:10This is another partial reunion of the Roosevelt family.
09:19And it worked.
09:22Roosevelt claimed a first victory.
09:25When the banks reopened for business,
09:27citizens lined up to redeposit their savings.
09:29Happy days were here again.
09:48To celebrate saving the banks,
09:51after 14 years of prohibition,
09:53Congress authorized the sale of beer and wine
09:56with a low alcohol content.
09:57Welcome to the New Deal.
10:08After these two emergency measures,
10:11Roosevelt appointed and presented his cabinet,
10:13including, for the very first time, a woman.
10:18Francis Perkins, the new U.S. Secretary of Labor.
10:21He brought his advisers to Washington,
10:26mainly lawyers, economists, and university professors.
10:32Together, they became what was called the Brain Trust.
10:38Their job was to come up with proposals
10:40which were then submitted to the president.
10:42He, in turn, would pass on the ones he approved to Congress,
10:47where they would be made law.
10:51With their huge majority,
10:53the Democrats pushed through the objectives of the New Deal.
10:56But their party was made up of two factions.
11:00The Northern and Western Democrats
11:02represented an urban population,
11:05mainly company workers and laborers,
11:07often unionized.
11:15Their representatives favored progressive social reforms.
11:19Meanwhile, the Southern Democrats
11:21formed a tightly knit caucus,
11:24representing 15 states,
11:25including the former so-called slave states.
11:28It was the poorest region in the U.S.,
11:42with an average income
11:43less than 50% of the national average.
11:51In some of these states,
11:53African Americans made up
11:54almost half the population.
11:58Most of them supported the Republican Party,
12:04out of loyalty to Abraham Lincoln,
12:06the Republican president who abolished slavery.
12:15Conversely,
12:16Southern whites, still deeply racist,
12:18voted Democrat.
12:21They practiced racial segregation
12:23to prevent blacks from becoming integrated.
12:26and to deprive them from the vote,
12:29they used census suffrage
12:31and literacy tests.
12:40Southern Democrats expected a lot
12:42from the New Deal
12:43for their region's economic growth.
12:47But their support was subjected
12:49to a non-negotiable condition,
12:51the preservation of the racial status quo.
12:54Roosevelt knew that he needed the votes
13:00of the Southern Caucus.
13:03As the owner of a second home in Georgia,
13:06he knew the South,
13:07and he knew his party.
13:14He was a political tightrope walker
13:16and chose as his vice president
13:18and the experienced Southern politician,
13:20John Nance Garner.
13:41The New Deal was up and running.
13:43During Roosevelt's first hundred days in office,
13:49initiatives to get Americans back to work
13:51came one after the other.
13:54In late March,
13:55the White House founded the CCC,
13:58the Civilian Conservation Corps.
14:02Overseen by the U.S. Army,
14:03the program recruited single young men,
14:06aged between 18 and 25,
14:08to maintain the country's vast national parks.
14:29Pay was modest,
14:31but the young men were given bed and board
14:33and received basic training.
14:40In just three months,
14:421,463 working camps were opened.
14:52In government-produced films,
14:55the young men resembled a happy band of scouts
14:57with, as their troop leader,
14:59the president himself,
15:01who came to inspect them.
15:16The CCC was open to all,
15:19but the U.S. Army was segregated,
15:22as were the camps it ran.
15:25Blacks and whites were separated.
15:26Positions of responsibility
15:29and the most technical jobs
15:31were restricted to whites.
15:41This sad reality
15:43didn't hold the New Deal back.
15:45In May 1933,
15:47the president and his advisors
15:49presented Congress with a project
15:51even more ambitious than the CCC.
15:53The task given to the Tennessee Valley Authority
16:00was to drain the Tennessee River Basin
16:02and tributaries,
16:03which spread across seven southern states.
16:20The construction of a series of dams
16:23was to bring an end
16:23to frequent devastating flooding in the region
16:26while also producing electricity.
16:37Farming would be modernized
16:38and electricity would attract new industries.
16:45A virtuous circle
16:46which would create jobs and prosperity.
16:48within a few months,
16:539,000 people were already hard at work.
17:03The TVA was a first in the U.S.,
17:06with the government supplying labor
17:08by investing public money
17:10in major works across an entire region.
17:12local recruitment was encouraged,
17:19but the foremen were all white.
17:23When black laborers were hired,
17:25they were given the toughest jobs.
17:30The Southern Democrats were satisfied.
17:33The program benefited their region
17:35without disturbing its racial hierarchy.
17:37The construction of the dams
17:45meant flooding vast areas.
17:51125,000 people
17:53had to leave their land.
17:56Once again,
17:57a distinction was made
17:58between whites and blacks.
18:01The former received advice
18:03and compensation for their relocation.
18:07While the latter
18:08were just left with a small handout,
18:10forcing many of them
18:11to move to the cities.
18:24The slogans are new,
18:26but for us,
18:26the New Deal
18:27is the same old rotten deal.
18:28said one member of the NAACP,
18:32the National Association
18:34for the Advancement of Colored People.
18:40One white resident recalled,
18:42there was a black lady
18:44who had a little patch of land
18:46with a vegetable garden and hens.
18:49The authorities didn't take people
18:50like her into account,
18:51and suddenly,
18:52they had to get out.
18:53Meanwhile,
19:01in Washington,
19:02U.S. Secretary of Agriculture
19:03Henry A. Wallace
19:05pushed through a law
19:06which established
19:07the Agricultural Adjustment Administration,
19:10tasked with the reform of farming.
19:16The AAA
19:18asked farmers
19:19to reduce production
19:20in order to raise
19:22the selling price of crops
19:23and thus increase their revenue.
19:32If farmers sold their produce
19:34more expensively,
19:35they would have money to spend
19:37and the economic wheel
19:38would start turning again.
19:42In the meantime,
19:43the government would compensate
19:44for decreased production
19:46with subsidies.
19:47The New Deal
20:00also targeted industry
20:02through another acronym,
20:07the NRA,
20:09for National Recovery Administration.
20:11Under the leadership
20:15of General Hugh S. Johnson,
20:17the NRA
20:18established rules
20:20in each sector
20:21which set minimum sale prices,
20:23minimum wages,
20:24and maximum working hours.
20:25by invoking the spirit of partnership
20:35so dear to President Roosevelt,
20:37Johnson called on employers
20:39and employees alike
20:40to behave fairly.
20:46The companies that participated
20:48in the collective effort
20:49had the NRA logo
20:51printed on their products,
20:53the patriotic symbol
20:54of the Blue Eagle
20:55along with the slogan
20:56We Do Our Part.
21:05Small company bosses
21:06and their workers
21:07adhered in numbers.
21:09Everyone wanted
21:10to believe in it.
21:15Throughout the autumn
21:16of 1933,
21:18the NRA held numerous
21:19Blue Eagle parades
21:21in city centers.
21:30In New York,
21:31in the presence
21:31of Hugh S. Johnson,
21:33the event lasted
21:34more than 12 hours
21:35and resembled
21:36a victory march past.
21:40Unsurprisingly,
21:51the Republicans
21:52and the big bosses
21:53opposed the NRA.
21:55They saw it
21:56as the instrument
21:56of a Soviet-style
21:58economic plan.
22:05It was out of the question
22:07that the government
22:07should impose
22:08such rules on companies.
22:10Some even claimed
22:11it would be unconstitutional.
22:22But for the time being,
22:24the New Deal
22:25had the wind in its sails,
22:27as proved
22:28by the thousands
22:29of letters
22:29to the president
22:30that poured
22:30into the White House
22:32every day.
22:35The New Deal
22:36may well have been
22:37the collective effort
22:38of an entire team,
22:39but it was seen
22:40and often presented
22:41as the work
22:42of one man.
22:46All the world
22:47come to me
22:48for a sunny and air
22:50because the road
22:51is open again.
22:54There's a note
22:55of repair,
22:56there's a song
22:57in the air,
22:58it's the music
22:59of busy men.
23:02Every plow
23:03in the land
23:04meets a happier hand
23:06because the road
23:07is open again.
23:10There's an eagle
23:11blue in the White House
23:13to on the shoulder
23:15of our president
23:16there.
23:18We're the last
23:19key.
23:19Oh, darling,
23:20blood and love.
23:22Brother,
23:23do your share.
23:26There's a new day
23:27in you.
23:28There is no new.
23:29But the wave
23:30of optimism
23:31didn't last.
23:32I am against
23:35the NRA.
23:36Last year I was
23:37making around
23:38$35 a week.
23:39Now I make
23:40about $21.
23:41Steelworkers of the
23:42Smoky City
23:42thinks that the NRA
23:44is 100% fine
23:45if the firms
23:47will live up
23:48to the code
23:48consigned to them.
23:49The NRA
23:54didn't keep
23:54its promises
23:55to everyone.
23:57Many bosses
23:58didn't fulfill
23:59their obligations
24:00towards their personnel.
24:02They didn't
24:03increase pay,
24:04didn't respect
24:05the number
24:06of working hours
24:06and refused
24:08to allow employees
24:09to join trade unions
24:11freely.
24:17The tensions
24:18of the summer
24:18of 1932 resurfaced
24:20and strikes
24:21spread through
24:22all sectors
24:23across the country.
24:28In May 1934,
24:30longshoremen
24:31blocked nearly
24:31the entire waterfront
24:33along the west coast.
24:39In San Francisco,
24:41the death
24:41of two strikers
24:42shot down
24:43by police officers
24:44caused a general strike.
24:48The California
24:49governor went back
24:51to old ways
24:51and sent in
24:52the National Guard.
24:59NRA director
25:00General Hugh S. Johnson
25:02seemed less affable
25:03than during
25:03the autumn parades.
25:05Now the right
25:07of dissatisfied men
25:08to strike
25:09against a
25:09reconsistent
25:10employer
25:10is inviolate.
25:12This government
25:13has supported it
25:14and will support it
25:15to the limit.
25:16It is a weapon
25:17of a two-sided
25:18conflict.
25:19But the general
25:21strike is quite
25:22another matter.
25:30There's a threat
25:31to the community.
25:33There's a menace
25:34to government.
25:35That is civil law.
25:36The Battle of Toledo
25:55in the state of Ohio
25:56came close to civil war.
25:59It lasted five days
26:01and pitted 10,000 strikers
26:03against 1,300
26:05National Guardsmen.
26:06The outcome
26:08two strikers dead
26:09and more than
26:10200 injured.
26:18As in industry
26:20the first results
26:21in farming
26:21were disappointing.
26:23Another setback
26:25for the New Deal.
26:30To decrease production
26:32crops were dug up
26:33and piglets
26:34slaughtered
26:34in their thousands.
26:36But the compensation
26:38payments handed up
26:39by the AAA
26:40remained in the hands
26:42of the big landowners
26:43who refused
26:44to redistribute them.
26:46So even though
26:47sale prices increased
26:48sharecroppers
26:49and farmhands
26:50with no harvest
26:51or subsidies
26:51were left
26:52poverty-stricken.
26:53Once again
27:05private interests
27:06won out
27:07over the general
27:08interest.
27:11The New Deal
27:13once hijacked
27:14no longer benefited
27:15those who needed
27:16it most.
27:16In July 1934
27:22a black worker
27:23in Alabama
27:24wrote to
27:25Hugh S. Johnson
27:25to decry
27:26his working conditions.
27:31Tell me what
27:32I can do.
27:33I need to feed
27:34my family.
27:36I know
27:36the government
27:37is handing out
27:38money to us
27:38laborers.
27:39The president
27:40said so.
27:41I want to work
27:42for the combined effort
27:43but not for nothing.
27:54Across the region
27:55the southern Democrats
27:57obtained a waiver
27:58for certain industries
27:59notably cotton
28:00not to apply
28:01NRA rules
28:02to jobs
28:03filled by
28:03African Americans.
28:07Equal work
28:08different treatment.
28:13In a factory
28:19in South Carolina
28:20whites earned
28:2125 cents an hour
28:23for a 40-hour
28:24working week
28:25whereas for blacks
28:27it was 10 cents an hour
28:29for a 78-hour week.
28:37Variable NRA rules
28:39segregated CCC camps
28:42and exclusions
28:43from the TVA.
28:45All this
28:46was tantamount
28:47to a federal mandate
28:49for discriminatory practices.
28:53A perverted effect
28:55of the New Deal
28:56which broadened
28:57inequalities
28:57between the white
28:58and black populations.
29:07African Americans
29:08should realize
29:09that the Roosevelt
29:10administration
29:11does nothing for them
29:12wrote Walter White
29:14president of the NAACP
29:16the largest association
29:18for the defense
29:19of black rights.
29:28Worse still
29:29tensions caused
29:30by the economic crisis
29:31stirred up hatred
29:33and led to an escalation
29:34of racial violence
29:35in the South.
29:36to bring an end
29:43to this
29:44the Democrat senators
29:45of New York
29:46and Colorado
29:47Robert F. Wagner
29:48and Edward P. Costigan
29:50tabled a bill
29:51to indict
29:52on a federal level
29:53those who carried
29:55out lynchings.
29:55That didn't scare
30:05the lynch mobs.
30:07In October
30:08in Florida
30:09vigilantes announced
30:11in advance
30:11the time and site
30:13for the lynching
30:13of a young
30:14African American man
30:15accused of raping
30:17and murdering
30:17a white woman.
30:1823-year-old
30:29Claude Neal
30:29suffered a brutal death.
30:34His murder
30:35sent shockwaves
30:36around the country.
30:41But in Washington
30:43the Southern Caucus
30:44managed to defeat
30:46the anti-lynching bill
30:47in the Senate.
30:52The president
30:53remained silent.
30:55The true justice
30:57Roosevelt had promised
30:58during the election campaign
30:59was yet to be enforced.
31:03He explained
31:04to Walter White
31:05I have to get
31:09legislation passed
31:10by Congress
31:11to save America.
31:13If I come out
31:13for the anti-lynching bill
31:15now
31:15the Southerners
31:16will block
31:17every bill
31:17I ask Congress
31:18to pass
31:19to keep America
31:20from collapsing.
31:22I just can't
31:22take that risk.
31:26Roosevelt
31:26kept his distance
31:28from the racial question.
31:29He never even
31:30discussed it
31:31in public.
31:36He was protected
31:37by a security cordon.
31:40During the New Deal
31:41not one African American
31:43was officially received
31:44by the president.
31:45and no black journalists
31:47had access
31:48to the White House.
31:51And yet
31:52black citizens
31:53weren't indifferent
31:53to the New Deal.
31:55They adhered to it
31:56in increasing numbers.
32:03A black
32:04State Department
32:05employee recalled
32:06In the black neighborhoods
32:10during the fireside chats
32:12you could hear
32:13the radio playing
32:14along all the roads
32:15leading to your home.
32:16The president
32:17gave the impression
32:18he was speaking
32:19to everyone personally.
32:25Sylvester Harris
32:26was one of the listeners.
32:29He was about
32:30to lose his farm
32:31in the state
32:31of Mississippi.
32:32In desperation
32:34he phoned
32:35the White House
32:36and to his surprise
32:37managed to reach
32:38the president himself.
32:42His farm was saved.
32:49The White House press office
32:51used the story
32:52for political ends.
32:53In November 1934
32:59during the midterm elections
33:01Sylvester Harris
33:02was even invited
33:03to the Democratic Convention
33:05in Chicago
33:05with the aim
33:07of winning over
33:08black voters.
33:09Taking advantage
33:18of this apparent interest
33:20the few
33:20African-American
33:21public servants
33:22and intellectuals
33:23in Washington
33:24got to work.
33:28Around the respected
33:29civil rights activist
33:31Mary McLeod Bethune
33:32they formed
33:33an informal network
33:34which came to be known
33:36as the Black Cabinet.
33:39they hoped
33:43to use
33:44their professional status
33:45to push forward
33:46the interests
33:47of African-Americans
33:48in the New Deal.
33:52Especially
33:52as Mrs. Bethune
33:53had the ear
33:54of Eleanor Roosevelt
33:55who was more accessible
33:57than her husband.
34:09In New York
34:10anger against
34:11the New Deal
34:12was mounting.
34:14A family-run
34:15poultry wholesalers
34:16contested the sanctions
34:17imposed on it
34:18for failing to respect
34:19NRA regulations.
34:25In its complaint
34:26Shestes maintained
34:27that through the NRA
34:29the government
34:29was impeding
34:30the right
34:31to free enterprise
34:32and going beyond
34:33its legitimate functions.
34:34This echoed
34:41the Republican stance.
34:46On May the 27th
34:481935
34:49Chief Justice
34:50Charles Evans Hughes
34:52found in favor
34:53of Shestes.
34:57The judgment
34:58hit like a bomb.
35:00The NRA
35:01hailed by millions
35:02of citizens
35:03had acted
35:04unconstitutionally.
35:11Roosevelt took it
35:12on the chin
35:13in silence.
35:15A disillusioned
35:16Texan Democrat
35:17wrote to him
35:17like I told you
35:19the wealthiest
35:20will always call
35:21on the Supreme Court
35:22to kill our laws.
35:29The NRA
35:30was dead
35:31and buried.
35:33But in the spring
35:34of 1935
35:35the government
35:35rediscovered
35:36the impetus
35:37of 1933
35:38by massively
35:39investing in
35:40the WPA
35:41the Works Progress
35:43Administration.
35:50Its director
35:51Harry Hopkins
35:52soon made it
35:53the key agency
35:54of the New Deal.
35:56Its aim
35:57was to supply work
35:58to at least
35:59one member
36:00of a household
36:00hit by long-term
36:02unemployment.
36:05The WPA
36:07was active
36:07in all fields.
36:10The construction
36:11of roads,
36:13bridges,
36:14airports,
36:15hospitals,
36:16schools,
36:17and public parks.
36:21It financed
36:22public health programs
36:24and played roles
36:24in education,
36:26training,
36:26and leisure activities.
36:31It hired artists
36:33and promoted the arts
36:34in order to guarantee
36:35access to culture
36:37for all.
36:37the WPA.
36:49The WPA
36:49was everywhere.
36:52One division
36:53was even dedicated
36:54to African Americans.
36:57A first.
36:59At its head
37:00was Alfred Edgar Smith.
37:01to finally enable
37:04blacks to have
37:05access to qualified jobs
37:07on a par with whites.
37:08He made professional
37:09training a priority.
37:19At the same time,
37:21Mary McLeod Bethune
37:23was appointed director
37:24of the Division
37:24of Negro Affairs
37:26within the National
37:27Youth Administration
37:28created by the WPA.
37:30Hope was born.
37:34At last,
37:35African Americans
37:36might have a place
37:37in the New Deal.
37:41But segregation
37:42and discrimination
37:43were too anchored
37:44in American society.
37:48In reality,
37:49the efforts of Smith,
37:51Bethune,
37:51and the Black Cabinet
37:52only benefited
37:53a minority.
37:54during the summer
38:02of 1935,
38:03one measure
38:04followed the other.
38:07As a riposte
38:09to the invalidation
38:10of the NRA,
38:12Senator Robert F. Wagner
38:13pushed through
38:14a law that gave
38:15private sector employees
38:16the right
38:17to organize
38:18into trade unions,
38:20take part
38:20in collective bargaining,
38:21and to go on strike.
38:23But the Southern Democrats,
38:32already hostile
38:33to his anti-lynching bill,
38:35called for modifications.
38:39Unsurprisingly,
38:40they managed
38:41to have domestic workers
38:42and farm laborers,
38:44mostly black,
38:45excluded from
38:46the Wagner Act.
38:47Meanwhile,
38:56on August the 14th,
38:58Secretary of Labor
38:59Francis Perkins
39:00helped push through
39:01the Social Security Act.
39:08It included
39:09unemployment insurance,
39:11an old-age pension system,
39:13and financial support
39:14for handicapped children.
39:15It was a turning point
39:20in history.
39:25A first step
39:26towards security for all
39:28promoted by Roosevelt
39:29in his election campaign
39:31in 1932.
39:34But while the Act
39:35marked a milestone,
39:36the system itself
39:38was far from universal.
39:39Once again,
39:50the excluded
39:51were the same,
39:5265% of black workers
39:54as opposed to
39:5527% of white workers.
40:00Congress ended
40:02the busy session
40:02with the Democrats
40:03thumbing their nose
40:05at the Republicans
40:05one last time
40:07before the vacation.
40:08A tax on incomes
40:11superior to $1 million.
40:14Another victory
40:15for the New Deal.
40:22In 1936,
40:23Roosevelt's first term
40:24in office
40:25came to an end.
40:29The electoral year
40:30started badly.
40:33The Supreme Court
40:34invalidated
40:35the Agricultural
40:36Adjustment Act.
40:38a second flagship measure
40:40judged to be
40:41unconstitutional.
40:44The future
40:45of the New Deal
40:45was in danger.
40:51To rescue it,
40:53the incumbent president
40:54called on the people.
40:57More radical
40:58than in 1932,
40:59he attacked
41:00the big bosses.
41:01He accused them
41:04of refusing
41:04to get on board
41:05and turning their backs
41:07on the common effort.
41:09Throughout the campaign,
41:11he drew on his charisma
41:12and promoted
41:13his track record.
41:15I have five children
41:17and I'm grateful
41:18for the things
41:19he's done
41:19for the youth
41:20of this country.
41:21I came of age
41:22at a time
41:22when there was
41:23no security
41:24and no opportunity.
41:26President Roosevelt
41:27has provided
41:27both security
41:29and opportunity.
41:29on October
41:34the 31st,
41:351936,
41:36in New York,
41:38Roosevelt received
41:39a 15-minute
41:40standing ovation
41:41even before
41:42beginning to talk.
41:43of course,
41:52of course,
41:54we will continue
41:55to seek
41:57to improve
41:58working conditions
41:59for the workers
42:00of America.
42:01to reduce
42:10hours that
42:11are over long,
42:12to increase
42:17wages
42:17that spell
42:18starvation,
42:19to end
42:24the labour
42:25of children
42:26and to wipe
42:27out sweatshops.
42:32And for all
42:34these,
42:35we have only
42:36just begun
42:38to fight.
42:39the president
42:44hit his mark.
42:47Three days later,
42:48he was re-elected
42:50with the highest
42:50percentage of votes
42:51ever recorded,
42:53tantamount
42:56to a plebiscit
42:57for the New Deal.
42:58The fight
43:03continued
43:04under good
43:04auspices.
43:08The unemployment
43:09rate fell
43:10from 25
43:11to 14%.
43:12Production,
43:14profit
43:15and wage
43:15indexes
43:16returned to
43:17pre-Wall Street
43:18crash levels.
43:19Roosevelt seized
43:27the chance
43:28to attack
43:28the Supreme
43:29Court,
43:29which would soon
43:30rule on the
43:31Wagner and
43:31Social Security
43:32Acts.
43:36On February
43:37the 5th,
43:371937,
43:38he maintained
43:39before Congress
43:40that the workload
43:41for older justices
43:43was too heavy.
43:45He proposed
43:47that the president
43:48of the United
43:48States should be
43:49able to appoint
43:50an extra judge
43:51to support
43:52each justice
43:53aged over 70
43:54years.
43:57That his proposal
43:58would allow him
43:59to appoint
44:00six new judges
44:01and thus guarantee
44:02a majority
44:02in the Supreme
44:03Court
44:04wasn't down
44:04to chance.
44:10A hearing
44:11before the Senate
44:12Judiciary Committee
44:13began.
44:14It was the talking
44:15point of the
44:16whole country.
44:18of the Senate.
44:20Some believe
44:21that nine
44:22aged judges
44:23shouldn't block
44:24what the people
44:24had massively
44:25voted for.
44:28Others argued
44:30that it gave
44:30the president
44:31too much power.
44:35Roosevelt relied
44:36on his most
44:37effective weapon,
44:39the fireside chat.
44:40A few weeks
45:02later,
45:02to everyone's
45:03surprise,
45:04the Supreme
45:04Court endorsed
45:05the Wagner
45:06and Social
45:06Security Acts.
45:12With this
45:13about turn,
45:15the judges
45:15agreed that
45:16the government
45:16could legislate
45:17in social
45:18and economic
45:19matters,
45:19and thus
45:20legitimized the
45:21profound change
45:22that the New
45:23Deal brought
45:23to the American
45:24system.
45:30There was no
45:31longer any need
45:32to reform
45:32the Supreme
45:33Court.
45:36But with a rare
45:37lack of political
45:38nous,
45:39Roosevelt stuck
45:40to his plan,
45:42and packing
45:44the Supreme
45:45Court with judges
45:46who adhered to
45:47his cause
45:47came across
45:48as political
45:49maneuvering.
45:50The public
45:51stopped believing
45:52in him.
45:55On June
45:56the 14th,
45:57the Senate
45:57Judiciary Committee,
45:59made up of
45:59seven Democrats
46:00and three Republicans,
46:02unanimously decided
46:03that the
46:04President's
46:04proposal was
46:05a dangerous
46:06abandonment
46:07of the
46:07constitutional
46:08principle.
46:13The opposition
46:14by the seven
46:15Democrats on
46:16the committee
46:16was a personal
46:18failure for
46:18Roosevelt.
46:22for the
46:27Southern
46:28Democrats,
46:28the proposal
46:29was the
46:29last straw.
46:32Behind their
46:32party's back,
46:33they grew
46:34closer to
46:34the Republicans.
46:43Across the
46:44country,
46:45tension also
46:46increased.
46:48Unemployment
46:48was up again.
46:49reassured by
47:00an economic
47:00upturn early
47:01in 1937,
47:03the President
47:03once again
47:04attempted to
47:05balance the
47:06budget by
47:06reducing the
47:07finances of
47:08the New
47:08Deal agencies,
47:10notably those
47:10of the WPA,
47:12the Works
47:13Progress
47:13Administration.
47:14Another
47:18error of
47:19judgment.
47:22The economy
47:23was still
47:24ailing,
47:25and it was
47:25the federal
47:26programs that
47:27had propped
47:27it up.
47:31The United
47:32States entered
47:33into recession,
47:35a tough blow
47:36ironically called
47:37the Roosevelt
47:38Recession.
47:39to counter
47:45it, in the
47:46spring of 1938,
47:47the President
47:47demanded and
47:49received new
47:50funding for
47:51public works.
47:54Secretary of
47:56Labour,
47:56Frances Perkins,
47:57went on the
47:58attack.
48:00She wanted to
48:01reestablish the
48:02measures abolished
48:03by the
48:03invalidation of
48:04the NRA,
48:06a minimum
48:06wage and
48:07maximum
48:08working hours.
48:10Backed by
48:11Roosevelt,
48:12she added the
48:13abolition of
48:13child labor.
48:17Congress voted
48:19for the measure,
48:20despite fierce
48:21opposition from
48:22the Republicans
48:22and the
48:23Southern Democrats.
48:28Bosses no
48:29longer had the
48:29right to hire
48:30people under
48:31the age of
48:3116 to work
48:33in mines or
48:33factories.
48:35However,
48:36children who
48:37worked the
48:37land, mostly
48:39black, weren't
48:40protected by
48:41the new law.
48:46Following the
48:47midterm election
48:48in November,
48:49the balance in
48:49Congress changed.
48:52The Southern
48:53Caucus remained
48:54just as strong
48:55and the
48:56Republicans
48:56gained a few
48:57seats.
49:04The two groups
49:05formed a
49:05conservative
49:06coalition and
49:07refused to
49:08back Roosevelt.
49:11Without a
49:12majority, the
49:13great venture of
49:14the New Deal
49:15came to an
49:16end.
49:19The president
49:20therefore started
49:21to look to the
49:22increasingly alarming
49:23situation overseas.
49:24in the early
49:351940s, he took
49:36on a new
49:37role, that
49:38of a war
49:39leader.
49:41He turned
49:42America into
49:43the arsenal of
49:44the Allies and
49:45finally managed
49:46to bring about
49:47full employment.
49:48on April
49:57the 12th, 1945,
49:58on the eve of
49:59victory in Europe,
50:01Franklin D. Roosevelt's
50:02death cemented
50:03his status as a
50:04legend.
50:07Black or white,
50:09Americans mourned a
50:10president who, with
50:11the New Deal, had
50:12given millions of
50:13them jobs and
50:14security.
50:18by transforming
50:25the role of the
50:26U.S.
50:26government, Roosevelt
50:28had also laid the
50:29foundations of a
50:30welfare state, which
50:31continued to grow over
50:33the next half
50:34century.
50:36And yet, the New
50:38Deal didn't fulfill
50:40all its promises.
50:42It left behind one
50:43tenth of the
50:44American population.
50:48In the aftermath of
50:53war, African-Americans
50:55engaged in a new
50:56combat, the fight for
50:59equality between whites
51:00and blacks, a fight
51:02which is yet to be won.
51:04a day in the
51:22day in the
51:23hall, the
51:24first
51:24year in the
51:26battle.
51:26Legenda Adriana Zanotto
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