The Great Depression in United States History Read Free

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    Roosevelt’s most powerful foe lived in Louisiana. Senator Huey Pierce Long was a spellbinding orator. “[He would] go to places where he’d never been before, where they had never heard him. When he finished [speaking], he had ’em,” his son Russell recalled. 3
    As governor, Long had worked wonders with his impoverished state. He created better schools, provided students free schoolbooks, and built roads while keeping Louisiana’s budget in good order. Unlike many Southern white politicians of the time, he refrained from anti-black prejudice. His enemies, however, called him a dictator who ruthlessly squashed those who stood in his way.
    He called himself the Kingfish (after a popular radio character) but declared “Every man a king.” His “Share Our Wealth” program promised each family at least five thousand dollars per year. 4 Long’s ideas drew a great following, particularly in the South. He made no secret of his desire to become president. Roosevelt allies feared he could siphon enough votes from the president to give Republicans a 1936 victory.
    Those fears ended on September 8, 1935. A physician named Carl Austin Weiss, Jr., angered at Long’s criticism of his father-in-law, shot the Kingfish to death in the Louisiana state capitol.
    After Long’s death, election threats to Roosevelt from populist groups largely disappeared. The Canadian-born Coughlin was not eligible to become president, and Townsend considered himself too old to be a candidate. Some of the three men’s followers fell behind the candidacy of North Dakota Congressman William Lemke, but Lemke gained relatively few votes.
Labor Pains
    The New Deal’s National Industrial Recovery Act barely lasted two years. But one section of the NRA survived in an altered form that proved vital to the labor movement. Section 7 A gave workers the right to organize unions and deal with owners through collective bargaining. Workers and unions praised the section. Owners hated it.
    In the early 1930s, industries went to great lengths to stop independent labor unions. Some formed company unions, which gave workers few benefits. Others took more drastic action. Carnegie Steel near Pittsburgh paid informers thirty-five dollars per day to spy on union activities. The Pittsburgh Coal Company kept machine guns at the mines. Chairman of the Board Richard B. Mellon claimed, “You cannot run the mines without them.” 5
    Strong union leaders such as John L. Lewis showed that workers could stand up to management. The result was a series of strikes that spread across the country. More than 1.5 million workers walked off their jobs in 1934 alone.
    Some strikes resulted in bloodshed. One battle in Minnesota left two workers dead and another sixty-seven injured. Other workers retaliated by killing two members of a so-called “citizens’ army” sponsored by the factory. More than one hundred thousand people showed up at the slain workers’ funeral.
    In 1934, a strike by the Longshoremen’s Union rocked the West Coast. Every major Pacific Coast port except Los Angeles closed, because no one would load or unload ships.
    San Franciscans expected a peaceful demonstration for the longshoremen on July 5. Many gathered to watch, and some even sold refreshments. Then the shooting started. Workers, spectators, and bystanders fled wildly as police on horseback ran over the crowd and bashed people with nightsticks. The strikers retreated.
    A few days later, workers called a general strike. Businesses everywhere shut down. “No street cars were operating,” one journalist wrote. “No buses, no taxis, no delivering wagons except milk and bread trucks which were operated with the permission of the general strike committee.” 6 The only restaurants open were those kept open to feed the strikers. The general strike resulted in a compromise that brought gains to the longshoremen.
    Lewis saw that workers were making gains. He wanted to see them become even stronger. At