---
title: "Share Our Wealth — APUSH Definition & Exam Guide"
description: "Share Our Wealth was Huey Long's 1934 plan to cap fortunes and guarantee incomes. It pressured FDR to push the New Deal further left, a classic APUSH MCQ setup."
canonical: "https://fiveable.me/apush/key-terms/share-our-wealth"
type: "key-term"
subject: "AP US History"
---

# Share Our Wealth — APUSH Definition & Exam Guide

## Definition

Share Our Wealth was Senator Huey Long's 1934 movement proposing to cap large fortunes through heavy taxes on the rich and guarantee every family a basic income, pressuring FDR from the left and pushing the New Deal toward bolder reforms like Social Security and the 1935 wealth tax.

## What It Is

Share Our Wealth was a national movement launched in 1934 by Louisiana [Senator Huey Long](/apush/key-terms/senator-huey-long "fv-autolink"), who argued [the New Deal](/apush/unit-7/new-deal/study-guide/O8bvpnFSbBfiQMHlcl4D "fv-autolink") wasn't doing nearly enough to fix the Great Depression. His pitch was simple and radical. The government should tax giant fortunes down to a legal maximum and use that money to guarantee every American family a basic income, plus benefits like education, pensions, and healthcare. Long's slogan, "Every Man a King," captured the appeal. Millions of Americans stuck in economic misery joined Share Our Wealth clubs across the country.

For [APUSH](/apush "fv-autolink"), the movement matters less for its math (economists pointed out the numbers didn't add up) and more for its political effect. Share Our Wealth is the textbook example of what the CED calls radical and populist movements that "pushed Roosevelt toward more extensive efforts to change the American economic system" (KC-7.1.III.B). Long looked like a serious 1936 challenger to FDR until his assassination in 1935, and the threat he posed helps explain why the Second New Deal got more aggressive about taxing the wealthy and protecting ordinary workers.

## Why It Matters

Share Our Wealth lives in **Topic 7.10 (The New Deal)** in [Unit 7](/apush/unit-7 "fv-autolink") and supports learning objective **APUSH 7.10.A**, explaining how the Depression and New Deal reshaped American political, social, and economic life. The CED specifically expects you to know that FDR faced pressure from both sides. [Conservatives](/apush/key-terms/conservatives "fv-autolink") and the Supreme Court tried to limit the New Deal, while radicals and populists like Long demanded it go further (KC-7.1.III.B). Share Our Wealth is your go-to evidence for the left-wing half of that squeeze. It also connects to the Politics and Power theme, showing how mass movements outside the two-party mainstream can drag national policy in their direction even when they never win the White House.

## Connections

### Huey Long (Unit 7)

Long is the movement and the movement is Long. The Louisiana senator built Share Our Wealth as his launchpad for a possible 1936 presidential run, which is exactly why FDR took the threat seriously. Long's assassination in 1935 cut the movement short.

### New Deal (Unit 7)

Share Our Wealth only makes sense as a reaction to the New Deal. Long thought FDR's programs propped up banks and businesses instead of redistributing wealth, and that criticism helped push the [Second New Deal](/apush/key-terms/second-new-deal "fv-autolink") toward Social Security and the 1935 Revenue Act's steep taxes on high incomes.

### [Dr. Francis Townsend's Townsend Plan (Unit 7)](/apush/key-terms/dr-francis-townsends-townsend-plan)

Townsend's plan to pay every American over 60 a monthly pension was the other big populist pressure campaign of 1934-1935. Together, Long and Townsend show FDR getting flanked from the left, the pattern APUSH multiple-choice questions love to test.

### Wealth Redistribution (Units 6-7)

Long's demand to break up giant fortunes echoes the [Populists](/apush/key-terms/populists "fv-autolink") of the 1890s, who also blamed concentrated wealth for ordinary people's suffering. That continuity from Gilded Age populism to Depression-era radicalism is exactly the kind of cross-period thread a continuity-and-change essay can use.

## On the AP Exam

Share Our Wealth almost always shows up as evidence for one specific causal story. Multiple-choice questions ask why the New Deal shifted from the First New Deal's business-government cooperation to the Second New Deal's labor protections, business regulation, and taxes on the wealthy, and the answer is pressure from critics like Huey Long. Another common stem pairs Long's criticism with conservative criticism and asks what the pattern reveals about political responses to economic crisis (FDR governed from a contested middle). No released FRQ has used the term verbatim, but it's strong specific evidence for LEQs and DBQs on the New Deal's evolution or on 20th-century debates over the government's role in the economy. The move you need to make is causal. Don't just name the movement, explain how it changed what FDR did.

## Share Our Wealth vs Townsend Plan

Both were 1930s populist movements that attacked the New Deal as too timid, so they blur together fast. The difference is target and scope. Townsend's plan focused narrowly on the elderly, proposing a $200 monthly pension for everyone over 60 who agreed to spend it quickly. Share Our Wealth was broader and more radical, aiming to cap all large fortunes and guarantee every family a basic income. Quick memory hook: Townsend equals pensions for grandparents, Long equals soak the rich for everyone.

## Key Takeaways

- Share Our Wealth was Huey Long's 1934 movement to tax large fortunes down to a legal cap and guarantee every American family a basic income, summed up by the slogan "Every Man a King."
- It was a criticism of the New Deal from the left, arguing FDR's programs did too little to redistribute wealth during the Great Depression.
- Pressure from Long, Townsend, and other populist critics helped push FDR toward the more aggressive Second New Deal, including Social Security and the 1935 wealth tax (KC-7.1.III.B).
- Long's assassination in 1935 ended the movement before he could challenge FDR in the 1936 election.
- On the exam, use Share Our Wealth as evidence that FDR faced attacks from both radicals demanding more change and conservatives trying to limit the New Deal.

## FAQs

### What was the Share Our Wealth program?

Share Our Wealth was Senator Huey Long's 1934 movement proposing heavy taxes to cap large fortunes and fund a guaranteed basic income for every American family, plus pensions and education benefits. It was a radical alternative to FDR's New Deal during [the Great Depression](/apush/unit-7/great-depression/study-guide/hI7MOeaEZFK45NrnWkxr "fv-autolink").

### Did Share Our Wealth ever become law?

No. Congress never passed Long's plan, and economists argued the numbers didn't add up. Its real impact was political pressure that helped push FDR toward the Second New Deal, including Social Security and the Revenue Act of 1935.

### How is Share Our Wealth different from the Townsend Plan?

The Townsend Plan targeted only the elderly, promising $200 a month to Americans over 60. Share Our Wealth was broader, aiming to cap all big fortunes and guarantee income to every family. Both pressured FDR from the left in 1934-1935.

### Was Huey Long a supporter or critic of the New Deal?

A critic, but from the left. Long initially backed FDR, then broke with him, arguing the New Deal didn't go far enough to redistribute wealth. That's the opposite of conservative critics, who said the New Deal went too far.

### Why does APUSH care about Share Our Wealth?

It's the CED's prime example of radical and populist movements pushing Roosevelt toward bigger economic reforms (KC-7.1.III.B in Topic 7.10). Exam questions use it to explain why the Second New Deal got tougher on wealth and friendlier to labor.

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