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The Success of the New Deal Essay

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The Success of the New Deal

In 1932 the citizens of the USA were eager to see Herbert Hoover out of office. From the start of The Wall Street crash (1929), President Hoover had done next to nothing to try and counter the Depression following. He and the republicans argued that Economy went in cycles of "bust" and "boom". He kept insisting, "Prosperity is just around the corner." This gave the Democratic Party, led by Franklin Delano Roosevelt, a great chance to attack the Republicans and their policies.

"I pledge you, I pledge myself, to a New Deal for the American people.." -An extract from Roosevelt's pre-election speech in 1932.

Roosevelt promised. from his speeches, a new deal for …show more content…

T.V.A built dams, provided work and also improved the surroundings. They were aimed at men, not women. The New deal created millions of jobs through agencies, such as CCC and P.W.A, which also built schools, roads, etc. However, it had failed in other aspects: projects like CCC were aimed only at men and many alphabet agencies discriminated against blacks in one way or another.

F.D.R aimed to protect Americans' savings and their property, as well as restoring confidence and restoring the economy. The New deal cut the number of business failures and stabilised the American banking system. Banks were lent money and checked to make sure they were suitable to continue as safe, good banks. However, the New Deal never solved the underlying economic problems. The US economy took longer to recover than most European countries. Confidence remained low - throughout the 1930s Americans only spent and invested about 75% of what they had before 1929. Roosevelt encouraged people to spend and invest again - however the little boost this gave was not enough to make confidence rise by such an amount that it would be able to make things back to "normal" (like before the depression). When F.D.R cut the New Deal budget in 1937, the country went back into recession! Only the USA's entry into the war brought an end to unemployment and helped America prosper

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