These acts provided people with relief and seemed to have achieved their target in the short time Roosevelt had to prove the New Deal, however not only did they give short time relief they also showed long term benefits, the banking system had improved considerably, the Glass-Steagall Act meant no personal loans were to be taken by banking officials and insurance funds were registered with a new agency, and due to the Reconstruction Finance Corporation the value of the dollar was falling, this meant more money would be used in circulation and therefore improving the economic system.
However this was not enough to prevent a second crash in the future, Roosevelt tried to encourage people who were worst effected by the great depression to help improve things for future, by asking farmers to cut production of the crops as part of the Agricultural Adjustment Act, the product was more in demand and prices could be increased, this would provide farmers with the money they needed without spending it on surplus crops. One of the extravagant schemes of the New Deal was the Tennessee Valley Authority; this was created to control the river, which ran through the seven poorest states. The TVA was used to build 20 dams to control floods to encourage schemes such as tree building to stop soil erosion, to encourage farmers to use more efficient means of cultivation and to produce hydroelectric power to nearby areas.
On the surface it seems that the New Deal contributed a lot to the recovery of the Great depression however the was areas where’s Roosevelt’s decisions were criticised by not providing enough action when it was needed. This has led to much controversy; supporters of the New Deal believe the government should have intervened and argue that FD Roosevelt took the most effective action he could have done whilst sticking by his own belief, however critics of the New Deal have argued Roosevelt took too much action and should have remained to a Liase- Faire society. This was not the opposition Roosevelt received. Even the United States Supreme Court found that several of FDR’s agencies created during the hundred days were unconstitutional. This action turned the Supreme Court into an immense obstacle that Roosevelt would have to cope with during his presidency. During this time, one of the primary targets of critics was the Works Progress Administration. This organisation was extremely criticized for not paying Americans high enough wages for their jobs. Critics also noted that even at the peak of the WPA’s efforts, seven million workers and their families were unemployed in the United States. Another program severely criticized by enemies of the New Deal was the Civil Works Administration. People remarked that Roosevelt made the CWA to create “make work” jobs, from digging ditches across the country to teaching children that would not exist when the Depression ended. To many people, the agencies that Roosevelt created to end the great Depression failed to accomplish their goal.
Roosevelt’s opponents can be separated into two categories, the first of these is the right wing critics such as the conservative liberty league, they believed the New Deal had gone too far in it’s reforms attacked the New Deal as a dangerous Constitutional departure and opposed measures like the Wagner-Connery Labour Relations, this was thought as the American socialist movement, The liberty Leaguers accused Roosevelt as being a socialist and a traitor.
On the other hand there were those who thought the New Deal had not gone far enough. This opinion was supported by three major figures-Dr Francis Townsend, through his Old Age Revolving Pension Plan, called for payments of $200 per month to persons over 60 years of age, to be paid for by a 2% tax on all commercial transactions. Each recipient would have to spend it all within the month. By 1935, they claimed 5 million supporters illustrating a desire for a kind of old age pension; Charles E. Coughlin was in favour of the National Union for social justice. In 1934, he voiced the opinion that FDR was not going far enough. Coughlin was specific in calling for silver inflation, but was vague on other issues, offering no real solutions. His broadcasts attacked international bankers, Communists, labour unions, and Roosevelt’s administration, as unemployment remained high. And, thirdly, Huey Long took part in the Share Our Wealth Movement by demanding that the government allow every family to get an annual income of $2,000 and a homestead or $6000 to build a home. To pay for this, the government would have to nationalise all banks.
While the New Deal did much to lessen the worst affects of the Great Depression, its measures were not enough to restore the nation to full employment. Conservatives argue, for example, that it went too far, and brought too much government intervention in the economy, while those on the left argue that it did not go far enough, and that in order to be truly effective, the Roosevelt Administration should have engaged in a far more comprehensive program of direct federal aid to the poor and unemployed. But the New Deal's greatest achievements transcend sheer economic statistics, the New Deal offered hope and restored the faith of the American people.
