Having gone through severe unemployment, food shortages, and a seemingly remiss President Hoover, the American people were beginning to lose hope. But sentiments began to turn as FDR stepped into office and implemented his New Deal programs. FDR and his administration responded to the crisis by executing policies that would successfully address reform, relief, and, unsuccessfully, recovery. Although WWII ultimately recovered America from its depression, it was FDR’s response with the New Deal programs that stopped America’s economic downfall, relieved hundreds of Americans, reformed many policies, and consequently expanded government power.
One of FDR’s first orders of business was to respond to the need of reforming the banking system.
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Yet, it implanted hope into millions of Americans for the well-being of their future and the capitalist system. The Social Security Act was also revolutionary in changing the government’s role by showing how a citizen’s welfare was now also part of the government’s responsibility. All these new programs and organizations created by the New Deal show how they greatly expanded the government’s power and influence, as shown in Document C. In Document C, the cartoon shows how FDR’s New Deal was a progression of small change that consequently led to an expansion of government power. The New Deal’s many reform programs provided a foundation for America to build off of.
FDR’s New Deal also sought out to provide relief for Americans. Unemployment rates were high and poverty was widespread. To solve these problems, FDR created many programs and organizations, such as the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), the Civil Works Administration (CWA), the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), and the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Document A shows how poor women, and also men, were barely assisted by the government. Urban unemployment represented a big problem in the US. To solve the unemployment issue, FDR implemented the CWA, which gave jobs to many people to build or repair roads, buildings, and other structures. This was very effective because it not only dealt with the problem of unemployment,
During FDR’s first hundred days of his presidency, he advanced and Congress passed 15 bills. One of them, including the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), which accorded jobs for people between the ages of 18-25. This program specifically targeted white men. Some of the jobs included building parks, planting trees, and building small dams. However, in the Second New Deal, the Works Projects Administration (WPA), which funded the government with $4 billion for public works. This created jobs for the people who lost their jobs during the crisis. The CCC and WPA decreased the unemployment rate, however there are many people that are still unemployed. The unemployment rate also triggered bank failures.
In February 1933, “the Senate passed a resolution calling for the newly elected president, Franklin Roosevelt to assume unlimited power” (Bailey, Beth, et al. “Chapter 22: The Great Depression and the New Deal.” A People and A Nation: Brief Tenth Edition. Vol. 2. Stamford: Cengage Learning, 2015. 632-667. Book. [Further: Bailey, Blight, and Chudacoff]). Through the New Deal, Roosevelt sought to “revive the economy through economic planning and relief programs” (Bailey, Blight and Chudacoff). These relief programs helped many Americans find jobs and ultimately restore the economy.
Franklin D Roosevelt jumped into action to save the economy the 1930s. In Doc A, he said “we are giving opportunity of employment to one-quarter of a million of the unemployed, especially the young men…” (Doc A). This shows that the New Deal created jobs so people could get paid and ended the Depression. In Doc E, it shows that in 1937, the unemployment rate had increased down to 9.1% compared to the 22.5% it was before FDR took office (Doc E). This shows that the New Deal succeeded in providing work. Besides providing jobs, the New Deal gave Americans faith in their government.
Riley Hogendorn AJ Spike Advanced US History 26 February 2024 Depression to Deal: America’s Recovery Following the Great Depression and Hoover’s mistakes, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected. You will see nine different passages that prove that Roosevelt improved America socially, politically, and economically. Although some would argue that the response of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to the problems of the Great Depression was ineffective, during his time in office from 1933-1941, Roosevelt’s response was effective to the problems posed by the Great Depression and had a positive impact on the role of the federal government socially, politically, and economically. Roosevelt’s response to the New Deal was effective to the problems
Many of the New Deal’s relief programs were revolutionary; the federal government was now responsible for relieving the problems of society previously left to individuals, states, and local governments. Work relief programs, such as the popular Civilian Conservation Corps, which offered unemployed Americans a chance to earn wages while working to conserve natural resources, and the Works Progress Administration, which gave unemployed Americans
To solve this he created many programs such as the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), the Civil Works Administration (CWA), the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), and the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Poor men and women were barely supported by the government.(Doc A) The CWA created jobs for americans by working on roads, constructing buildings or other things. This was good for employing people and repairing the country. The CCC also did the same thing by maintaining and restoring the environment. All of these programs were in the New Deal and dropped unemployment from 12,830,000 unemployed to 7,700,000 unemployed, proving the effectiveness of these relief programs. (Doc J) The creation of such programs also changed the role of goverment by demonstrating that the government could have big decisions done by states. The numerous programs FDR implemented were all run by the bureaucracy, thus the "bureaucracy in Washington grew by leaps and bounds" according to William lloyd Garrison, Jr. (Doc
Following the stock market crash of 1929, the nation spiraled into an abyss of unemployment, with millions of Americans losing their jobs and struggling to make ends meet (Washington University 1). Business failures were rampant, financial institutions collapsed, and poverty engulfed vast segments of the population. President Herbert Hoover's adherence to laissez-faire economic principles failed to stem the tide of the crisis, as government intervention remained minimal, and recovery efforts floundered. In this dire context, Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal emerged as a beacon of hope, guiding a new era of governmental intervention and economic reform. Key among the New Deal's economic policies was the establishment of programs like the Works Progress Administration (WPA), which aimed to employ millions through large-scale public works projects.
Following the Great Depression, the government instituted a series of experimental projects and programs, known collectively as the New Deal, which aimed to restore some measure of dignity and prosperity to many Americans. Roosevelt’s New Deal permanently changed the federal government’s relationship to the U.S. populace for the New Deal was a revolutionary step towards the use of governmental power to address economic and social issues.
The New Deal was a series of programs, including, most notably, Social Security, that were enacted in the United States between 1933 and 1938, and a few that came later. They included both laws passed by Congress as well as presidential executive orders during the first term (1933–1937) of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were in response to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians refer to as the; Relief, Recovery, and Reform: relief for the unemployed and poor, recovery of the economy to normal levels, and reform of the financial system to prevent a repeat depression.
FDR's response to this crisis was to create the "New Deal"which is a series of economic measures created to end the worst effects of the depression, give new energy to the economy, and restore the confidence of women and the American people in their banks and other key institutions.
Unlike Hoover, FDR was proactive, against rugged individualism and believed in a strong centralized government in order to get out of the deep depression. The programs that FDR initiated through the New Deal are still beneficial and in place to this day. The Social Security Act (SSA) provided checks that ensured the welfare of citizens. This program provided coverage to the disabled, children, adults, and more. Pension is also another aspect that the SSA provided and still provides to the elderly. The SSA provided recovery to many people during the Great Depression and it continues to be used in our society today. Unemployment benefits also originated from FDR’s New Deal and are still available to American citizens today. These forms of government securities benefit the American people and all owe their American benefits to FDR’s forward thinking attitude and his New Deal
When FDR took office, the United States was experiencing one of, if not the worst, economic depression. Labeled the Great Depression, FDR knew that extreme government policies would need to be implemented to combat the problems that existed. To do this, FDR’s “New Deal” policies did just that. Whether it be the Social Security Program or any other aspect of the New Deal, the response was highly effective. In fact, many programs from this time are still in use today, showing just some of the ways that the role of the federal government was changed due to the presidency of FDR.
The New Deal was a necessary program out in place which helped the nation and expanded the role of the government in a positive way. The nation was struggling in effect of the Great Depression and going through a hard time, and the New Deal helped the country out of it. Alone, the citizens of the United States would have never been able to pull themselves out of this mess, but the government stepped in and helped to fix the nation. The benefits of the New Deal can best be summed up with the three R’s: relief, recovery, and reform.
During this time, “…FDR promised ‘a new deal for the American people’” (Polenberg, 8). FDR quickly realized that in order to win over the citizens of the United States and to fix the crisis they were in, he had to address the two main things that he saw every American wanted during this economical depression. Polenberg informs his readers that FDR saw that the two things every American wanted was “…Work; work with all the moral and spiritual values that go with work. And with work, a reasonable measure of security—security for themselves and for their wives and children” (p.8). Knowing that these were the two main aspects (at the time) that FDR had to place the majority of his attention on, he went to work immediately as “He feared that a resolution was likely if he failed, as Hoover had, to solve the nation’s problems” therefore he begun formation of the first New Deal reforms (Polenberg, 8). These reforms were “…designed not so much to promote reform as to proceed recovery,” (Polenberg, 9) therefore indicating that “…the Roosevelt administration intended to move the country in a dramatically new direction” (Polenberg, 9). Some of the programs that the New Deal initiated were: the NIRA (National Industrial Recovery Act), the NRA (the National Recovery Administration), the AAA (Agricultural Adjustment Act), the WPA (Works Progress Administration), the CWA (Civil Works Administration), and the TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) just to name a few (Polenberg, 9-13). Each reform act was aimed at recovering a different but specific area of society. For example, the TVA worked to “…provide cheap electrical power… and… help prevent soil erosion and control floods” (Polenberg, 13) while the AAA “…served as the foundation of New Deal farm policy… balancing agricultural production and consumption so as to avoid surpluses and ensure that
As soon as Franklin Roosevelt came to power, he was quick to react to the countries needs. The text states, “Swift legislation regulated the stock market and the banking system, improved the agricultural economy, and introduced a social security program” (“Great Depression”). Franklin Roosevelt was swift in recognizing the problems facing the country and attempted to solve the issues. His legislation focused on securing the economy and beginning to built back up the trust between the government and the American people. It was successful, to an extent. People did begin to trust the government again but economic decline would not stop immediately. There were signs of progress; From 1933 to 1938 the economy experienced growth. Unemployment fell and national income increased (Jeffries). This statistic shows that New Deal reforms had some positive impact on the economy. They also succeeded in restoring confidence to the average person which was extremely important at the time. This statistic does not, however, reflect that this growth was very small relative to the growth experienced during World War II. New Deal policies failed to ever achieve enough economic growth to push the nation out of the depression. Another cornerstone of the New Deal was its campaign to make life more safe. The New Deal worked to make life less risky, and in a sense it did through acts