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The New Deal Programs

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Frustrated by the Great Depression, desperate people of the United States embraced the spirit of “try something” with the new elected President―Franklin D. Roosevelt. The New Deal programs, or more specifically, new economic experiments, were introduced by Roosevelt soon after taking office. Within the president’s first two terms, the ways the federal government involved in people’s daily lives were transformed. For the first time the U.S. government took care of the aged and disabled, provided pensions, and even went as far as to provide federal jobs to relieve the unemployment crisis while increasing its own spending to ensure a healthy economy. All of a sudden the government took up the responsibility of providing with the people a social …show more content…

The New Deal, in summary, as Garrison had noted in 1934, brought “an enormous outpouring of federal money for human relief and immense sums for public-works projects started to flow to all points of the compass”(Doc. D). In the midst of the worsening economic condition, more government spending meant more money in circulation, which was beneficial to the economy at the time. In order to do this, the Roosevelt administration endorsed the program of deficit government spending, further helping provide jobs and increased purchasing power in the society. While almost all people suffered from the depression, human relief played a crucial role in the proposed programs. As agricultural production increased, the commodity prices began a sharp decline, hurting the farmers more than any other group. By introduction of the Agriculture Adjustment Act (AAA), the government took the agricultural recovery into its own hands. The AAA endorsed the measure of cutting the amount of supply, which will result in the price coming back up. The government compensated the farmers for destroying their crops as well as animals, indirectly taking full care of the agriculture industry. Many other social groups benefited from the program; the introduction of Social Security which provided pension for the …show more content…

A minimum state of welfare was promised by the government, further helped restore hope of prosperity to the people. The role of the federal government was revolutionized, people for the first time saw the government as their personal guarantor who supported them economically and they, for the most part, accepted the role of the government as an active agent in providing relief during the depression. The economic downfall was stopped, and the economy had a short-term recovery before the recession of 1937. While failing to achieve its initial goal, it indirectly affected lives of African Americans, in both good and bad ways, along with many other minority groups. After the New Deal ended, the nation with its transformed government was ready to walk out of depression into new prosperity gained through

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