To help more, Roosevelt next act is to cut the amount of money spent by the government to help the unemployed. On the 15th March Roosevelt asked the congress to vote for a Economy act. This act is to cut everyone working in the government and working in the armed forces wages by 15%. It also cut the budgets of the government departments by 25%. Again congress voted in favour and this act had saved nearly a billion dollars.
After this Roosevelt is getting more and more trusted and on the 20th March the Beer act was introduced. This is so selling beer was once again legal. This was the first step towards prohibition. This also meant that the government could make more money out of taxes on beer. Now Roosevelt is closer to depression.
Farmers needed extreme help. “Unless something is done we will have revolution in the countryside within twelve months.” This was said by the leader of farmers Ed O’Neal. Out of everyone effected by the depression the farmers were worst off. This reason was because the farmer’s food was so low that they were making no profit. Farmers thought that the more crops are grown the more business they will get. This theory did not work and in fact the farmers were losing out in money even more due to overstock. By 1933 many farmers were not able to keep their farming lands so it gets evicted and gets taken away by the government because they simply got no money to pay for the land.
To solve this problem Roosevelt instructed Henry Wallace the secretary of agriculture to find a way for the farmers to gain money. On 12th May 1933 the Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA) is introduced. The plan that they came up with is so that the farmers grow less crops so less stock needs to be made so therefore the prices on the market increases. The government also influenced the farmers to sell all their crops to them so the government could burn it. So the farmers made more money. Also the government bought all the farmers pigs to slaughter and to be canned so the unemployed could have it. This raised the money the farmers made even more, even though this was good news for the farmers a lot of people said this was a disgrace and this should not be done.
This had some bad consequences as the people who worked for the farmers known as sharecroppers has been made jobless as there is no longer any work for them to do. This created a mass amount of 1.5 million sharecroppers became jobless and had to look for work elsewhere.
America has long standing agriculture problems one of those beings the “Dust Bowls” which is flat grassland long since ploughed to grow. All the crops just get swept away by high winds. The farm could simply be there for one day and disappear the next. So a lot of problems occurred and Roosevelt had presented a new agency known as TVA. TVA’s job was simply to conserve the lands and to help the people having trouble growing any crops.
By 1935 Roosevelt’s New Deal ran into great problems, like Trade unions were organising strikes and the supreme court has declared setting up New Deal agencies as illegal. Roosevelt’s way to get through this problem was to replace the illegal agencies and create what is called a second New Deal.
Roosevelt introduced a number of new acts. Like the Wagner act which is to give chances for people to form unions and it stopped employees from punishing workers so everyone was working under a fair condition.
The social security act which is very important. This act gives old people, widows, disability people and children in need money to carry on living. It also gives people who are out of jobs financial help from the government.
Instead of the Agricultural Adjustment Administration which the Supreme Court has declared illegal. Roosevelt now introduced soil conservation act in 1936 this is when the government gave farmers money for conserving and for improving their crops.
By 1936 the new election has started. Roosevelt second New Deal was starting to come into effect. This effect gave everyone hope that this method would work and turn out great. So said by Roosevelt “We have only just begun to fight” This speech given by Roosevelt promise everyone that the second New Deal would become successful. Because of this he got elected twice in a row as president.
People were happy that more or less everything was back to a recoverable state and no more major problems occurred, but there is one drawback. Roosevelt failed to realise that he failed the promise he made in 1933, which was to give everyone work. This speech was taken from a book named “Down and out in the great depression” a complaint made by a unemployed man to Roosevelt “You promised us work. Give it to us now. We waited long enough.” In 1934 a 6000 men strong mob marched to Roosevelt all requesting one thing. A job.
Roosevelt had 3 opposition. Charles Coughlin, Francis Townsend and Huey Long. Charles Coughlin was a Canadian priest. His plan was to nationalise banks and to introduce a minimum annual wage.
Francis Townsend is planning to pat pensioners $200 a month to every American over 60. In return they had to retire at 60 and spend their $200 in the month. This way more space is free for younger people to work. This also gives pensioners money to buy products so there is more demand.
Huey Long he was the most dangerous opposition to Roosevelt because he said if he took over Roosevelt’s place he would confiscate any people with over $3 million and give it to every American this sum is looking for around $4000 till $5000.
Roosevelt saw this coming and he did not have enough strength to win this so he introduced the second New Deal.