“Philadelphia is a good city in which to write American history.“
-Franklin D. Roosevelt
Happy Constitution Day! Today’s the day when we celebrate the signing of the U.S. Constitution in Philadelphia on
September 17, 1787!
The Constitution acted like a colossal merger, uniting a
group of states with different interests, laws, and cultures. Under
America’s first national government, the Articles of Confederation, the
states acted together only for specific purposes. The Constitution
united its citizens as members of a whole, vesting the power of the
union in the people. Without it, the American Experiment might have
ended as quickly as it had begun.
The National Archives is home to the Constitution, as well as the Declaration of Independence, and the Bill of Rights. Today is a great day to brush up on your Charters of Freedom history, or to learn something new about America’s founding documents. Head over to Archives.gov for Constitution Day!
Images: Painted plaster model of Independence
Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Created in 1937 by the Pennsylvania Museum Extension Project (MEP), a
branch of the New Deal’s Works Progress Administration (WPA). From the FDR Library; United States Constitution, page 1.
What was FDR’s controversial “Court Packing” plan?
In November 1936, Franklin D. Roosevelt proposed to reorganize the federal judiciary by adding a new justice each time a justice reached age seventy and failed to retire. In this manner, the influence of older justices, including a number of conservatives, could be superseded by younger Roosevelt appointees supportive of the New Deal.
FDR’s “Court Packing Plan” was a response to a Supreme Court that was increasingly unwilling to support New Deal legislation. Upon announcement, it was widely opposed by the public, the press, and Congress. However, the Supreme Court did reverse course and began to uphold New Deal legislation.
On this day in 1937, the U.S. Senate rejected President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s proposal to add more justices to the Supreme Court.
-More SCOTUS History from the FDR Library
Images: 1937 Supreme Court photo. L to R Standing: Owen J. Roberts, Pierce Butler, Harlan Fiske Stone, Benjamin Cardozo; L to R Sitting: Louis D. Brandeis, Willis VanDevanter, Charles Evans Hughes, Hames McReynolds, George Sutherland.
A page from FDR’s reading copy of the Fireside Chat announcing the Supreme Court reorganization plan. 3/9/37.
“This nation asks for action, and action now.”
-Franklin Roosevelt, Inaugural Address, March 4, 1933
In his inaugural address, FDR demanded “action, and action now” to fight the Great Depression. He did not waste any time in delivering on that promise. On his first full day in office he called Congress into special session. He had promised Americans a New Deal. Now he began to construct it.
Roosevelt’s New Deal would touch virtually every aspect of American economic life and forever change the role of the Federal Government in the lives of Americans.
(via ourpresidents)
On August 14, 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act.
Later that day, the Washington Post proclaimed that the Social Security Act was the “New Deal’s Most Important Act…Its importance cannot be exaggerated …because this legislation eventually will affect the lives of every man, woman, and child in the country.”
This poster was distributed from November 1936- July 1937 during the initial issuance of Social Security numbers through U.S. post offices and with the help of labor unions.
(via ourpresidents)
Source: fdrlibrary.marist.edu
FDR’s Last Law
FDR’s White House staff kept records of every bill sent to the President by Congress, carefully noting whether FDR vetoed or signed the measure. The last bill that Franklin Roosevelt signed on the day of his death - April 12, 1945 - was actually a law to continue a New Deal agency created in 1933, the Commodity Credit Corporation. This agency was established to stabilize the prices of farm commodities such as corn, wheat, and cotton, to guarantee private loans to farmers, and to make direct loans when private banks refused to do so. It also played a major role in achieving the “ever-normal granary” first proposed by Secretary of the Agriculture Henry A. Wallace, whereby surplus crops would be stored for use in bad crop years. This further stabilized crop prices and created a consistent food supply for the nation. So in the midst of war and at the end of his life, Franklin D. Roosevelt’s last law extended an early New Deal initiative to support farmers and provide food security for all Americans.
-from the FDR Library
Source: facebook.com
The “Court Packing” Plan – On This Day in 1937, FDR Proposes to Reorganize the Supreme Court
In November 1936, Franklin D. Roosevelt proposed to reorganize the federal judiciary by adding a new justice each time a justice reached age seventy and failed to retire. In this manner, the influence of older justices, including a number of conservatives, could be superseded by younger Roosevelt appointees supportive of the New Deal.
FDR’s “Court Packing Plan” was a response to a Supreme Court that was increasingly unwilling to support New Deal legislation. Upon announcement, it was widely opposed by the public, the press, and Congress. However, the Supreme Court did reverse course and began to uphold New Deal legislation. Read More at the Presidential Timeline
-from the FDR Library
Images: 1937 Supreme Court photo. L to R Standing: Owen J. Roberts, Pierce Butler, Harlan Fiske Stone, Benjamin Cardozo; L to R Sitting: Louis D. Brandeis, Willis VanDevanter, Charles Evans Hughes, Hames McReynolds, George Sutherland.
A page from FDR’s reading copy of the Fireside Chat announcing the Supreme Court reorganization plan. 3/9/37.
On this day in 1937, the U.S. Senate rejected President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s proposal to add more justices to the Supreme Court.
FDR’s “Court Packing” Plan was a proposal to reorganize the Supreme Court. In November 1936, after FDR won a sweeping reelection, he proposed to reorganize the federal judiciary by adding a new justice each time a justice reached age seventy and failed to retire. In this manner, the influence of older justices, including a number of conservatives, could be superseded by younger Roosevelt appointees supportive of the New Deal.
The “Court Packing Plan" was widely opposed by the public, the press, and Congress, and ultimately was rejected by the Senate on July 22, 1937. Read More.
Image: A page from FDR’s reading copy of the Fireside Chat announcing the Supreme Court reorganization plan. 3/9/37.
-from the Presidential Timeline
Eleanor Roosevelt at Works Progress Administration site in Des Moines, Iowa, 06/08/1936
Inspired by the New Deal. Cool.
Want to buy great gifts that support local artisans and the programs of the National Archives?
Come shop at our first-ever American Artisans Fair! The fair was inspired by the New Deal projects that put artists to work during the Great Depression.
The National Archives Shop will be featuring the work of local American artisans in a holiday fair December 1 to 6, offering original jewelry, apparel, and household items.
Wednesday Lunch Break
Surplus Commodities: School Lunch Programs, ca. 1936
Item from Franklin D. Roosevelt Library Public Domain Photographs, 1882 - 1962.
Source: go.usa.gov