Hello, I'm Mr. Marchant and I'll be your history teacher for today.

I'm really looking forward to starting our learning journey together, and my role will be to make sure that you can meet today's learning objective.

Welcome to today's lesson, which is part of our unit on the New Deal and World War II in the USA, where we're asking ourselves, how far did the American economy recover in the 1930s and 1940s? By the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to explain the reasons for and the impact of opposition to the New Deal.

There are three key words which will help us navigate our way through today's lesson.

Those are laissez-faire, radical, and unconstitutional.

Laissez-faire beliefs suggest that the government should not interfere with the economy.

A radical is someone who believes there should be major social and political change.

And something may be declared unconstitutional if it is not allowed under the laws of a political system.

Today's lesson will be split into three parts, and we'll begin by focusing on business owners and the rich.

President Roosevelt's New Deal had many supporters across the USA, but the New Deal also faced considerable opposition.

This included opposition from business owners, and the rich.

Business owners and the rich were concerned by the end of laissez-Faire government, represented by President Roosevelt's New Deal.

Two major concerns bothered this group.

The first was increased taxation, and the second was increased regulation.

So we'll think about each of these concerns that business owners and the rich had, in turn.

So let's begin by thinking about increased taxation.

The federal government had to increase its revenue in order to fund a new deal.

This meant that new taxes were introduced, such as the 1935 wealth tax.

Millionaires had to pay 75% of everything they earned over $1 million as part of this new wealth tax.

Employers, as well as employees, also had to pay a new tax to fund social security.

So there were many increased costs that the rich and business owners were facing as a result of the New Deal.

So let's make sure we have a secure understanding of what we just heard.

Who had to pay the 1935 wealth tax? Was it all Americans, all business owners, or all millionaires? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was C.

All millionaires had to pay the 1935 wealth tax.

This took 75% of everything they earned over $1 million.

Increased regulation also led to some business owners and the rich opposing the New Deal.

Interference with business practises was resented by many employers.

For instance, the National Recovery Administration, or the NRA, introduced codes which guaranteed the rights of workers to join trade unions, set minimum wages, and limited hours of work for employees.

All of these codes reduced employer control over workers, and potentially increased business costs.

So some business owners felt that the New Deal was stopping them from running their businesses how they thought was best.

So, let's check our understanding of what we've just heard.

Which outcome was most likely for businesses who followed new NRA codes? Was it that more employees would quit, that company profits would fall, or that consumers would avoid their products? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said the correct answer was B.

It was most likely that businesses who followed new NRA codes would see a slight fall in their profits, because these codes guaranteed things like workers' rights to join trade unions, or fair wages for employees, all of which made it likely that employers would have to pay them more, and therefore see their profits fall slightly.

The American Liberty League was formed to oppose the New Deal in 1934.

The league was established by wealthy businessmen.

The league increased its campaigning during the 1936 presidential election, and saw a significant increase in its membership at that time.

Whereas there'd been 36,000 members in the American Liberty League in 1935, this had more than tripled within a year, as membership stood at 125,000 by 1936.

However, after President Roosevelt was reelected, the league rapidly lost members and closed down.

So, let's reflect on what we've just heard.

We have a statement on the screen that reads, "The American Liberty League provided long-term opposition to Roosevelt's New Deal." Is that statement true or false? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that that statement was false, but we need to be able to justify our response.

So two justifications have appeared on the screen.

The first says that the League supported Roosevelt's New Deal during both the 1932 and 1936 presidential elections.

And the second says the League was set up in 1934, but closed soon after Roosevelt's reelection in 1936.

So which one of those two justifications is correct? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay.

Well done to everybody who said the correct justification was B.

The American Liberty League was set up in 1934, but closed soon after Roosevelt's reelection in 1936.

So although the American Liberty League shows that there definitely was some opposition to the President and his New Deal, it also suggested its opposition wasn't always sustained.

So, we're now in a good position to put all of our knowledge and understanding into practise.

I want you to provide examples to support each of the following statements.

So our two statements read, "Business owners and the rich were forced to pay more to fund the New Deal." And the second says that, "Many business owners resented the New Deal." So provide an example to support each of those statements.

Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to reflect on your responses.

Okay, well done for all of your effort on that task.

So I asked you to provide examples to support each of the following statements.

Your answers may have included, "Business owners and the rich were forced to pay more to fund the New Deal.

The 1935 wealth tax required millionaires to pay 75% of everything they earned over $1 million." And, "Many business owners resented the New Deal.

The American Liberty League was formed by wealthy business owners in 1934 to oppose the New Deal, and increased its membership to 125,000 by 1936." So well done if your own answers look something like those models we've just seen.

So now we're ready to move on to the second part of our lesson for today, where we're going to focus on Republicans and radicals.

Roosevelt's New Deal was not just criticised by the wealthy.

Politicians from the Republican party, and even radicals within Roosevelt's own party, the Democrats, opposed his New Deal.

Republicans opposed the New Deal and its departure from laissez-faire principles.

One criticism of the New Deal was that it did too much for people.

Republicans were concerned that the the amount of support offered by the New Deal would encourage Americans to rely upon the government for relief, rather than working hard themselves.

Other Republicans worried that increased government intervention seen under the New Deal was making the federal government too powerful.

In fact, Senator Thomas Shaw went so far as to suggest that the New Deal was communistic, and that Roosevelt's policies were similar to Joseph Stalin's economic plans in the Soviet Union.

Many other Republicans worried about the costs of the New Deal.

The Republican nominee in the 1936 presidential election, Alf Landon, opposed Roosevelt's introduction of Social Security, calling it "a fraud on the working man".

Landon argued that increased taxation, used to fund social security, would make workers poorer, hurt businesses, and lead to higher unemployment.

Nevertheless, Landon won the support of only two out of 48 states in the presidential election that year.

All 46 others backed President Roosevelt, making the election an even greater landslide than Roosevelt's victory in 1932.

So let's make sure we have a secure understanding of what we've just heard.

I want you to write the missing word in the following sentence.

Republicans such as Thomas Shaw compared the New Deal to Soviet economic plans, and called Roosevelt's policies "blank".

So what's the missing word? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the missing word was "communistic".

Republicans such as Thomas Shaw compared the New Deal to Soviet economic plans, and called Roosevelt's policies communistic.

This was their way of suggesting that the government was becoming too powerful, and getting too involved in ordinary people's lives.

And let's try another question.

How many states voted for the Republican presidential candidate during the 1936 election? Was it two out of 48? 12 out of 48? 22 outta 48? Or 32 out of 48? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said the correct answer was A, only two out of 48 states backed the Republican nominee for president in the 1936 election.

This suggests that Alf Landon's criticisms of the New Deal, and those of the Republican party in general, weren't shared that much by members of the public.

Some radicals argued that the problem with the New Deal was that it did not go far enough.

This included Senator Huey Long, a member of Roosevelt's own party, who proposed his own alternative, called "Share Our Wealth".

Long promised to make every man a king.

This would involve confiscating, that means taking away, all fortunes worth over $5 million, funding free education, and providing consumer comforts, like a car and radio, for each American family.

Long was very popular, especially with the poor, and considered a dangerous rival by President Roosevelt.

However, Long's influence ended when he was assassinated in 1935.

Father Charles Coughlin, also known as the "radio priest", initially supported President Roosevelt's New Deal, but began to attack it, as he believed it did not go far enough to help the poor.

Coughlin shared his criticisms with a weekly audience of 30 million people through his radio broadcasts.

Coughlin also set up the National Union for Social Justice, the NUSJ, which argued that the government should take control over all banks, amongst other radical measures.

The NUSJ ran a radical union candidate in the 1936 presidential election, and expected to receive widespread support.

But in fact, the union received just 2% of all votes cast in the 1936 presidential election.

So, let's reflect on what we've just heard.

We have a statement on the screen which reads, "Radicals and Republicans criticised the New Deal for the same reason." Is that statement true or false? Pause the video here, and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that that statement was false.

Radicals and Republicans did not criticise the New Deal for the same reasons, but we need to be able to justify our response.

So two justifications have appeared on the screen.

The first says that radicals believed the New Deal had gone too far, whereas Republicans argued that it needed to do more.

The second says that Republicans believed the New Deal had gone too far, whereas radicals argued that it needed to do more.

So which one of those two justifications is correct? Pause the video here, and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay.

Well done to everybody who said the correct justification was B.

Whilst Republicans such as Alf Landon argued that the New Deal had gone too far, and was a fraud on the American people, radicals such as Senator Huey Long argued that actually, President Roosevelt wasn't doing enough.

And let's try another question.

This time I want you to write the missing word from the following sentence.

"Charles Coughlin was also known as the 'blank' Priest, due to his weekly broadcasts to up to 30 million Americans." So what's the missing word? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the missing word was "radio".

Charles Coughlin was also known as the "radio priest", due to his weekly broadcasts to up to 30 million Americans.

This helped to spread his radical message far and wide, though it didn't lead to much support for the radical union candidate in a 1936 presidential election.

So, we're now ready to put all of our knowledge and understanding of Republican and radical opposition into practise.

I want you to study the remark made by President Roosevelt in 1936.

Roosevelt said, "It seems that everyone is against the New Deal, except the voters." So I want us to answer two questions.

Firstly, why did Roosevelt say, "It seems that everyone is against the New Deal?" And then secondly, how accurate was Roosevelt's description of voters' opinion of the New Deal? So pause the video here, and press play when you're ready to reflect on your responses.

Okay, well done for all of your hard work on that task.

So the first thing I asked you to do was to tell me, why did Roosevelt say, "It seems that everyone is against the New Deal"? Your answer may have included, "Roosevelt said that it seems everyone is against the New Deal because his policies faced opposition from a wide range of different groups.

For example, wealthy businessmen formed the American Liberty League, and Republicans criticised the move away from laissez-faire government.

By 1936, opponents even included those who had previously supported the New Deal, like the radio priest, Charles Coughlin, who shared his criticisms that the New Deal did not go far enough to help the poor, with his weekly audience of 30 million Americans." So well done if your response to question one looks something similar to that, identifying the wide range of different groups who opposed Roosevelt's New Deal.

And then I asked you to answer a second question.

How accurate was Roosevelt's description of voters' opinion of the New Deal? Your answer may have included, "Roosevelt claimed that, despite apparent widespread opposition, voters were still in favour of the New Deal.

This view could be considered accurate, as during the 1936 presidential election, Roosevelt secured a landslide victory, gaining the support of 46 out of 48 states.

The Republican candidate, Alf Landon, who opposed the New Deal, won the backing of just two states, whilst the Radical Union candidate, who also criticised the New Deal, was supported by just 2% of voters." So really well done if your own response looks something like that model, which we've just seen.

So now we're ready to move on to the third and final part of our lesson for today, where we're going to focus on the Supreme Court.

The US Supreme Court is responsible for upholding the American Constitution.

The Supreme Court can judge laws or actions of the President to be unconstitutional.

When this happens, the law or action has to be stopped.

Some Americans were not convinced that all the actions undertaken by the federal government as part of the New Deal were permitted under the Constitution.

Consequently, many legal challenges were launched against the New Deal's alphabet agencies.

In 1935, the Supreme Court ruled that the Agricultural Adjustment Agency, the AAA, was unconstitutional.

The court justified this by saying that under the US Constitution, the federal government did not have the power to give help to farmers.

Instead, this was the responsibility of individual state governments.

As a result, all of the help provided by the AAA had to be stopped.

Similarly, the NRA was also declared unconstitutional by the US Supreme Court.

So let's reflect on what we've just heard.

What happens when the Supreme Court declares a law or action of the government unconstitutional? Is it that an election is held? The action or law stops? Or the government is fined? Pause the video here, and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said the correct answer is B.

When the Supreme Court declares a law or action of the government unconstitutional, that action or law has to stop.

And let's try another question.

This time we have a statement, which reads, "The Supreme Court stopped the AAA from helping farmers." Is that statement true or false? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay.

Well done to everybody who said the statement was true, but we need to be able to justify our response.

So two justifications have appeared on the screen.

The first says that the Supreme Court declared that the entire New Deal, including the AAA, was unconstitutional.

And the second said that the Supreme Court declared that the type of support offered by the AAA was unconstitutional.

So which one of those two justifications is correct? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay.

Well done to everybody who said the correct justification was B.

The Supreme Court declared that the type of support offered by the AAA was unconstitutional.

They said that under the American Constitution, giving support to farmers was the responsibility of individual state governments, not the federal government.

And this is why the AAA had to stop its support.

By 1936, the Supreme Court had ruled against 11 out of 16 of the so-called Alphabet Laws.

This worried President Roosevelt, who feared that the entire New Deal might be undone.

In 1937, Roosevelt planned to expand the number of judges on the Supreme Court, adding extra members who he knew would support and defend his policies.

However, this plan was incredibly unpopular, as opponents argued the president was trying to pack the court.

Opposition came from Democrats, as well as Republicans, who feared Roosevelt was trying to grab more power for himself.

The President was forced to abandon his plans.

Nevertheless, after 1937, the Supreme Court did show less opposition towards the New Deal than it had done previously.

Key policies, such as the introduction of Social Security, which Roosevelt feared the Supreme Court might strike down, were allowed to stand.

So, let's make sure we have a secure understanding of what we just heard.

Why did Roosevelt want to pack the Supreme Court? Was it to protect the remainder of the New Deal? To punish opponents of the New Deal? Or to raise more money for the New Deal? Pause the video here, and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay.

Well done to everybody who said the correct answer was A.

Roosevelt wanted to pack the Supreme Court to protect the remainder of the New Deal.

He was worried that the court might find all of the New Deal to be unconstitutional, and decided that if he could add extra judges to the court, who he knew supported his policies, then the court would stop striking down his laws.

And let's try another question.

Which statement is most accurate? "Democrats supported court packing, but not Republicans." "Republicans supported court packing, but not Democrats." "Democrats and Republicans supported court packing." Or, "Neither Democrats nor Republicans supported court packing." Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said the correct answer was D.

Neither Democrats nor Republicans supported court packing.

President Roosevelt faced a lot of opposition in Congress from both members of his own party, and the opposition, to his plans, and ultimately was forced to abandon them.

So, we're now in a good position to put all of our knowledge into practise.

I want you to answer the following question.

Which of the following posed the greatest challenge to Roosevelt's New Deal? Opposition from politicians, or opposition from the Supreme Court? I want you to write one paragraph to explain your answer.

So pause the video here, and press play when you're ready to reflect on your response.

Okay, well done for all your hard work on that task.

So I asked you, which of the following posed the greatest challenge to Roosevelt's New Deal? Opposition from politicians, or opposition from the Supreme Court? Your answer may have included, "Opposition from the Supreme Court posed the greatest challenge to Roosevelt's New Deal.

For example, the AAA was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, and by 1936, the Court had ruled against 11 out of 16 alphabet laws.

This was a significant challenge, because it meant that key parts of the New Deal had to be stopped completely, limiting the amount of help it could provide.

By contrast, the Republican and radical challenge to Roosevelt's New Deal in the 1936 presidential election was defeated comfortably, when the President was reelected in a landslide victory." So well done if your own answer looks something similar to that model, which we've just seen.

So we've now reached the end of today's lesson, which puts us in a good position to summarise our learning.

We see that some Republicans opposed the New Deal, as they still supported a laissez-faire approach to government.

Some businesses resented the increased government interference and costs they experienced under the New Deal.

Radicals like Senator Huey Long and Father Charles Coughlin argued that the New Deal did not do enough to help people.

Roosevelt's landslide election victory in 1936 showed that the New Deal still had widespread support from ordinary Americans.

And the Supreme Court declared some parts of the New Deal to be unconstitutional.

So really well done for all your hard work during today's lesson.

It's been a pleasure to help guide you through our resources, and I look forward to seeing you again in the future, as we think further about the New Deal, and World War II in the USA, and ask ourselves, how far did the American economy recover in the 1930s and 1940s?.