World War II Influence

After the Great Depression, many Americans were left disheveled. They needed some form of financial assistance to help them get their lives back to normal. Many government officials such as Hurbert Hoover and Franklin D. Roosevelt helped to enact bills and programs that would assist Americans in rehabilitating their lives. The amount of unemployed workers, the economic relief for retired workers, and the creation of legislature directed towards financial stability all illustrate that the most important effects that the New Deal legislation had on the American government was a liberal one..

The United States encountered many ordeals during the Great Depression (1929-1939). Poverty, unemployment and despair clouded the “American Dream” and intensified the urgency for solutions to address and control the nationwide damage. President Franklin Roosevelt proposed the New Deal to detoxify the nation of its suffering. It can be argued that the New Deal was ineffective due to the inability to end the Great Depression with its short-term solutions and created more problems, however; it was successful in regards to providing direct relief for the needy, economic recovery and some structural reform for the majority of the general public in the severity of the Great Depression.

The America in the 1930s was drastically different from the luxurious 1920s. The stock market had crashed to an all time low, unemployment was the highest the country had ever seen, and all American citizens were affected by it in some way or another. Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal was effective in addressing the issues of The Great Depression in the sense that it provided immediate relief to US citizens by lowering unemployment, increasing trust in the banks, getting Americans out of debt, and preventing future economic crisis from taking place through reform. Despite these efforts The New Deal failed to end the depression. In order for America to get out of this economic

The Great Depression affected millions of Americans. In 1933 almost half of the 25,000 United States banks had failed, and by 1932 “unemployment had risen to between 12 and 15 million workers, or 25-30 percent of the work force.” (“About the Great Depression” 1) Because of the amount of human suffering, the Great Depression significantly impacted the literature of the time. Writers were engrossed with the way people seemed to stay hopeful and strong while they were faced with innumerable challenges. It “encouraged a revival of regionalism in literature. Some writers saw the values of ordinary people in the United States as a source of strength in hard times.” (857) Moreover, The person most credited with helping America get out of the Great Depression is Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd president of the United States. He served as the president for four terms, from 1933 to 1945. (“Franklin D. Roosevelt” 1) Roosevelt was most famously know for the New Deal, a program that helped lift America out of the depression.

Already in the decade the seeds of the desire for security are sewn particularly in the politics. Some historians theorize that the Depression could’ve been slowed by more immediate government intervention. President Herbert Hoover vigilantly laid groundwork of change he lacked the insight about how his common Americans were struggling to make ends meet in their own homes.Americans were in desperate need of stability through the government, but Hoover held a strict laissez faire policy having to do with direct government intervention. But all the people wanted was for the government to solve its problems (“How a Different”. His stubbornness created an even more impoverished United States seeking security that Franklin D. Roosevelt was destined to take over after his landslide election in 1932. With FDR came significant change and a plan to work the country out of their unpleasant situation (“Herbert” 2). He introduced the New Deal which in its genesis, consisted of many new laws passed and the use of the National Recovery Administration as a means of establishing and regulating minimum wages and a system of fair competition. Though after a small initial success the attempt was discarded after the Supreme Court declared them unconstitutional. Having been derailed and left to come up with a new plan of security Roosevelt’s second administration sought to boost the

The United States entered one of the most devastating economic periods in its history after the stock market crash of 1929. The massive damage done to the quality of life of the average American during this time, known as the Great Depression, prompted a fundamental change in the attitude of the nation. The most notable change was a shift in public belief about what type of President would best serve the struggling nation. The election of Franklin D. Roosevelt completely reversed the trend of Presidents that pursued policies focused around benefitting businesses and the wealthy. Whereas leaders before him held fast in their support of big businesses, even to the point of ignoring the harm they had brought to the country, Roosevelt focused his

The Dust Bowl was one of the worst economic and tragic events of the 20th century. The Dust Bowl negatively affected people who lived there in a personal way. Some of them included how badly it had affected the children living in that time, how it had affected families health, and how badly it affected the economy causing a mass corruption.

Thesis Statement: During Franklin D. Roosevelt’s presidency, his administration helped and tried to solve the problems of the Great Depression. He caused the government to play a very important role in society and from their help many people responded with their opinion of what they felt about it.

During both the Progressive era and the New Deal era, policies as well as programs were being created in an effort to assist the American public, specifically those living in poverty. Throughout the early 1900’s Roosevelt had strayed away from the typical laissez-faire policy and decided that the people would need to be guided by the government. “Wilsonian Progressivism” had also aimed at assisting the public with his “New Freedom Program” which consisted of antitrust legislation, banking reform as well as tariff reductions. After the stock market crashed in 1929, America had fallen into a Great Depression resulting in the unemployment of millions. Newly elected Franklin D. Roosevelt decided to present his

This lack of complete dedication to private interest or public purpose is further displayed in Documents B and C where Hoover stresses the importance of the individual in ending the Depression while also assuring government support for job production if the situation required it. Hoover's speeches are remarkably similar to Roosevelt's speech in Document E. Here, even during the Depression, Roosevelt stressed the importance of balancing the budget unless unemployment required the government to spend money stimulating the economy. Instead of Hoover's desire to continue restricting government, Roosevelt wanted to balance the budget. The Depression created the need for government intervention and an unbalanced budget as shown in Document F. However, despite a few efforts by Hoover to create jobs, he still seemed much different than Roosevelt who insisted in 1936 that America must not go back to supporting Conservatives who protected private interest unjustly. (Document G)

The American History provides a predicament between the actions and different point of views of President Herbert Hoover and Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR),in the new deal to save the American people during the Great Depression of the 1930s. In David M. Kennedy essay “FDR: Advocate for the American People” describes the difference between these two presidents, and also explains how the New Deal proposed by President Roosevelt help to deal with the chaos that whats’ happening at the time. The President FDR played an important role in bring reforms, and changing the way of life for many Americans. The New Deal stressed recovery through planning and cooperation with business, but also tried to aid the unemployment and reform the economic system.

The late 1930s were a time of great suffering and uncertainty in the United States. The country was crippled by effects of the Great Depression; the result was a massive decline in jobs and economic stability that dramatically impacted both rural and urban communities. Millions of Americans were out of work, unable to support their families. State organizations and charities were unable to meet the growing needs of the people and many were left to fend for themselves. The Great Depression brought with it a legitimate, tangible fear about the future of America and its citizens. Upon the outcry of the American people a “New Deal” was struck giving the citizens of America a lifeline of hope in the ever-growing State. The New Deal was a succession of programs, organizations and laws, enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, directly addressing the issues of jobs, welfare and uncertainty through direct federal involvement. The creators of the New Deal worked across party lines to reshape the norms of state involvement whilst making a great legislative effort to turn the declining economy around. The New Deal reshaped the federal government’s relationship with its citizens in a time of economic uncertainty helping to grow the State in a time of peace.

The traditional view of Franklin D. Roosevelt is that he motivated and helped the United States during the “Great Depression” and was a great president, however, as time has passed, economist historians have begun analyzing Roosevelt’s presidency. Many have concluded that he did not help America during the Great Depression but instead amplified and prolonged the depression. Jim Powell wrote about FDR economic policies and did an excellent job explaining Roosevelt’s incompetent initiatives. Roosevelt did not know anything about economics and his advisors made everything worse by admiring the Soviet Union.

The 1920s seemed to promise a future of a new and wonderful way of life for America and its citizens . Modern science, evolving cultural norms, industrialization, and even jazz music heralded exciting opportunities and a future that only pointed up toward a better life. However, cracks in the facade started to show, and beginning with the stock market crash of 1929 the wealth of the country, and with it the hopes and expectations of its people, began to slip away. The Great Depression left a quarter of the population unemployed and much of the rest destitute and uncertain of what the future held. Wealth vanished, people took their money out of banks, and plans were put on hold. The most significant way in which the Great Depression affected Americans’ everyday lives was through poverty because it tore relationships apart and damaged the spirit of society while unexpectedly bringing families together in unity.

“The world the American people had tried to exclude after the First World War could not forever be kept at bay.” (The Great Depression and World War II;Kennedy, David). World War II began in the year 1939 and lasted until 1945. (history.com,Pearl Harbor) Many of the issues that arose during the Second World War was initial baggage from the First World War. The Treaty of Versailles was the reason why the First World War ended between the Allied Powers and Germany. (history.com). During this time, the United States wanted as little involvement with Europe’s controversies. Meanwhile, the United States did not know at the time that Japan was a threat to our country because of unresolved issues prior to Pearl Harbor. (history.com). The common denominator between both of our countries in this era was that we were both in financial crises. (Gilder Legrman, Institure of American History) The United States was suffering from the Great Depression and Japan was in a financial crisis. One of the reasons that the United States was not in favor of Japan was because we did not support their attacks on China. “The United States allied with China when Japan declared war on China in 1937” (Office of The Historian). “The United States responded to the aggression with a battery of economic sanctions and trade embargoes” (Pearl Harbor and the road to war, history.com). Japan was upset