To conclude the reason why Roosevelt introduced the new deal was to combat all the problems that I have just mentioned. If he had not introduced the new deal the USA was in a downward spiral that probably would have lead to a revolution or a civil war.
Explain the main features of the New Deal?
During his election campaign Roosevelt had promised the American people a New Deal. Now the people of America weren’t entirely sure what this would entail however what was clear to them was that FDR (Franklin Delano Roosevelt) was going to use the full power of the government to pull the US out of its depression. FDR had for aims and making them work was his priority, the aims were getting Americans back to work, protecting their savings and property, providing relief for the sick, old and unemployed and getting American industry and agriculture back on their feet.
He spent the Lame Duck months (the 4 month period the election and the new presidents inauguration) planning his action, The New Deal. people didn’t know if Roosevelt could solve the problems of the depression, they were willing however to trust him as opposed to allowing Hoover to do nothing for another term. The contrasting beliefs between Laisez Faire (leave well alone) of the Republicans and Interventionism of the Democratic Party did leave the Democrats the best choice if action was needed.
Only 3 days after his inauguration speech, Roosevelt used a law from the First World War, for emergencies that allowed laws to be passed legally but quickly with minimal congress intervention, which slows down normal laws. This law was called the Trading with the Enemy Act. The first Law Roosevelt passed was called the Emergency Banking Act. FDR ordered all the banks to close and remain closed until government officials had checked them over. A Few days’ later 5000 trustworthy banks were allowed to reopen. They were even supported by government money if necessary. At the same time as FDR’s advisors had come up with a set of rules and regulations that would prevent the reckless speculation that had helped contribute to the Wall Street Crash. These two measures were in keeping with the second of FDR’s aims (protecting their savings and their property). These two measures also gave the American public an idea of what was install from the New Deal. In a hundred days FDR sent 15 proposals to Congress and all 15 were adopted. FDR would also keep the American public up to date with his progress of the New Deal with a broadcast on radio, which aired every Sunday to the nation. An estimated 60 million Americans would tune in to FDR’s “fireside chats”.
FDR now needed to get money for the government to spend on creating jobs. One way to do this was to cut spending in other areas. So the Economy Act cut the pay of all government workers, defence spending and the budgets of all government departments. It was successful in 2 ways: Firstly it provided over $1 billion for spending on the New Deal. Secondly it made FDR and the New Deal very popular. FDR became very popular when on then 20th march 1933 he passed the beer act, which put a long awaited end to prohibition. This was cleaver FDR because it gave the public something to cheer them up and provided more money from the tax on the beer.
Next on FDR’s list was dealing with the homeless and welfare problems. First he set up the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (known as FERA). A sum of $500 million was spent to help provide emergency relief such as food and shelter for the millions that were out of work and homeless. However this was only a short-term solution as it helped people through the worst of the crisis but it was very expensive to run. This was in keeping with his 3rd aim (providing relief for the sick, old and unemployed).
FDR believed that the best way to deal with the depression was to get people back to work. His plan was turn the downward spiral into an upward one. This may sound difficult but all FDR had do was do everything in opposite to the downward spiral which had lead to depression in the first place. He thought that if the government created more jobs, this would give the people more money to spend; this would create a greater demand for goods. More factories would open to supply this demand and this would create more jobs there for you have you upward spiral established. To create these Jobs FDR and Congress set up agencies called alphabet agencies. They set the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) that was aimed at unemployed young men in particular. They could sign on for periods of six months, which could be renewed if they could not find work. The CCC would do most of its work on environmental projects in national parks. This scheme helped to employ 2.5 million men. FDR got an act passed that aimed to deal with the problems of industry; it was called the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA). The act was divided into two parts; the first part was set up to help unemployment in June 1933 and was called the Public Works Administration (PWA). This used government money to build schools, roads, dams, bridges and airports. These would be vital once America recovered and in the short term it created millions Administration (NRA) that managed to deal with many long-standing of jobs. The second part to the act was named the National Recovery problems. Led By General Hugh Johnson, the NRA drew up codes on fair practice, which businessmen were asked to sign. They stipulated fair wages, fair prices and decent working conditions. In return, the business was allowed to use the NRA “Blue Eagle” symbol to advertise. FDR in his “Fireside Chats” told Americans to shop only at blue eagle stores or use only blue eagle contractors.
FDR and the Congress set up the Civil Works Administration (CWA) in November 1933. FDR put an ex-social worker Harry Hopkins in charge of this agency. Hopkins had originally been in charge of FERA but Hopkins believed it was wrong to just hand out money because a worker on dole lost pride and moral. Many of CWA projects were similar to PWA however Hopkins was prepared to pay workers for almost anything. So as well as building roads and schools the CWA paid actors to perform in plays, people to sweep up leaves, historians to write books etc. Hopkins also went on to create the Workers Progress Administration (WPA) in 1935. The WPA was created by Hopkins to fill in the gaps left by the PWA. It employed unskilled labour, building roads and again gave work to people like actors, photographers and librarians. Together these agencies provided jobs and dignity for millions. Unemployment dropped from 13 million in 1933 to 7 million in 1937.
FDR set out to combat the huge farming problems. FDR set up the Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA) in may 1933. This set quotas to reduce farm production in order to force prices gradually upwards. At the same time the AAA helped farmers to modernise and to use farming methods that would conserve and protect soil. In cases of extreme hardship farmers could also receive help with their mortgages. It was a huge success at first but the modernisation put a lot of farm labours out of work.
FDR also set up the Homeowners Loan Corporation (known as HOLC) to help the homeless. This loaned money to people at very low interest rates so that they could keep up their mortgage payments and not lose their house. This was very successful because the savings people were making from the low interest rate could be spent essentials like food and clothing.
FDR recognized that the Tennessee valley Authority had problems that needed targeting specifically. FDR therefore set up an independent organisation called the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). The main focus of the TVA’s work was to build a series of dams on the Tennessee River. The dams made it possible to irrigate the dried-out lands. The dams also provided electricity for this undeveloped area and created thousands of jobs in an area hit hard by the depression.
‘The New Deal was not a complete success’ explain how far you agree with this statement?
“The New Deal Was not a complete success” I roughly agree with this statement. The reason why I roughly agree with this statement is because I think that the raw popularity of the New Deal and FDR over shadowed the failures of it. I’m going to look at the successes and failures and from this I will formulate a conclusion.
The Emergency Banking Act was one of the New Deals big successes. This act was both a success in the short term and the long term. In the short term it ended the crisis that had threatened to ruin the US finance and reopened most banks within days. In the long term it got rid of America’s weakest and most unstable banks and made sure that the rest were well regarded and properly inspected to ensure that a similar crisis would never recur. It was also a success in FDR’s eyes as it brought him a lot of popularity and it boosted the public’s confidence in him. The Failures of this act were slim and none, I suppose the only way in which it failed was that the banks that I did not aloe to reopen had to lay of their workers therefore adding to the unemployment problem.
The economy act was another quick success for FDR; it was successful in to ways: firstly, it provided over $1 million go spending on the new deal. Secondly it made FDR and the New Deal extremely popular because people now felt the government was not only interested in them but also with shearing their burdens as well. The Beer Act was another big success for FDR as it increased his popularity tenfold and also earned him and the New Deal a bit of spending money from taxes off the beer. This was a FDR hit gold, it was the fact that he had three successive acts that rocketed his popularity and out weighed the failures that he was make in the future.
The Civilian Conservation Corps was one of the first things FDR did that had failures as well as successes. The fact that it failed was over shadowed by the fact that FDR had claimed to be “the most successful of anything we have done”. It was fairly successful in that I gave jobs and experience to 2 million men by 1938. It was also a long-term success as the work they did in improving the US environment was most important (over half the trees in the US today were planted by the CCC). The area in which the CCC failed was it’s recruitment. The CCC only recruited 8000 women out of 2,000,000 people it helped. I think that this shows the CCC wasn’t a success because if you were to look at the ratio of unemployed men to women I think that you would find that it was probably about even not 250:1. So this was a failure in my mind and should have been in FDR’s because one of FDR aims was to get Americans back to work and the fact that his agencies were aimed mainly at men showed that he wasn’t really dealing with unemployment head on.
The Federal Emergency Relief Administration was huge success to start off with as it probably saved live. It made people cared for and reduced the crisis point of 1933. However this was only a short-term solution as it was far too expensive to run. I suppose this could be counted as a failure as it consumed a lot of money and only gave people food and shelter temporally. Also it was criticized by the rich who paid for it through their taxes and by the republicans who believed in “Laissez Faire”. It was also a failure in the respect that it lowered moral by lowering men’s dignity. A lot of men were very ashamed by the fact they were receiving charity and were not the providers them self’s. It was also said to encourage laziness because if families were getting their food and accommodation paid for they were less likely to be bothered about going out looking for work.
The Agricultural Adjustment Act was possibly (although it did work for a while) the biggest failure of the whole New Deal. It was successful at first as it did what it had set out to do which was higher the prices of farmers products. The prices rose and so did farmers incomes. However the AAA came under heavy criticism because people thought it seemed crazy for the government to spend money on the destruction of food at a time when so many were going hungry. I would say this was a failure by FDR because the food that was been destroyed could have just as easily been given the starving. The AA failed in two other aspects as well as this. Firstly, it did nothing to alleviate the desperate poverty of the “Sharecroppers” or agricultural labourers, half of who were black and all of who lived in conditions of hunger and slums. They suffered even more than before when the AAA destroyed crops or animals because it left them out of work and so no wages. Thousands had to leave their home areas to look for work. Now to this would seem to be a huge failure on FDR’s behalf, as he was going against one of his aims to solve another. By trying to get American agriculture back its feet he had but more Americans out of work. The second other aspect in which FDR failed with the AAA is that he failed to deal the problems of the dust bowl. The AAA was shut down in 1936 therefore it is hard to make a balanced assessment on how successful it was as it never had a full chance to prove it’s self.
The Tennessee Valley Authority was one FDR’s and the New Deal’s successes as it became one of the more prosperous areas of the USA and the showpiece of the New Deal’s success.
The National Recovery Administration was another case like the AAA. At the first this policy was greeted warmly be employers and workers however it soon hit problems. Employers signed the codes and then broke them and some employers wouldn’t even sign at all. Businessmen and politicians accused FDR of socialism and too much interference in private enterprise. Workers felt cheated and began strikes. The only success that could be extracted from the NRA is that it was a start in the long, unequal and bitter battle for labour rights in the USA.
Unemployment was a big part of the new deal in fact there were 3 separate agencies set aside design specifically to deal with the problem. These were the Pubic Works Administration, he Civil Works Administration and the Workers Progress Administration. Each were huge successes or lured us into thinking they were. Together these 3 agencies provided work for millions and unemployment dropped from 15 million to 1933 to 7 million in 1937 as a result. Now this may seem like a huge success but unemployment had only been halved and there were still 7 million Americans unemployed this was know were near as low as before the crash of 1929. So FDR did not get unemployment levels back to normal as he had planed in fact to words the end of the New Deal the unemployment levels started to rise again. During the New Deal FDR faced a lot of opposition from the rich, the republicans but mainly form the Supreme Court. The reason why FDR faced such ruthless opposition from the Supreme Court was because republicans dominated it and they opposed to the New Deal.
The New Deal affected the whole of America and all it’s raises. One of the big failures of the New deal was that it didn’t do enough for black or native Americans. Many New Deal agencies discriminated against Black Americans and wouldn’t give them work and when given work they would be played less than white workers. FDR also failed to pass any laws against the lynching of black Americans, as he feared that Democrat senators in the southern states would not support them. However with all this many black Americans benefited form the new deal. Around 200,000 black Americans gained benefits form the Civilian Conservation Corps and other New Deal agencies. Also many black Americans benefited from New Deal slum clearance and housing projects. As with the Black Americans FDR did something for them but not enough. The New Deal benefited the Native Americans by providing them with money to help them buy and improve land and helped Native Americans to preserve and practise their traditions, laws and culture. The New Deal failed in that the Native Americans remained a poor and excluded section of society.
“The New Deal was not a complete success” in conclusion I agree with this statement. The reason’s why I have come to this conclusion is by looking at Franklin Delano Roosevelt aims and seeing if he achieved them. Now FDR’s first aim was to get American’s back to work and stamp out unemployment. FDR was very successful in doing this as with his agencies he lowered the unemployment level from 15 million in 1933 to 7 million in 1937.
All though FDR had viably lowered unemployment he wasn’t completely successful. There fore of FDR’s aims was not completely fulfilled either. His forth aim was to get American industry and agriculture back on their feet. The first aspect of this aim was getting industry back it’s feet, which he managed to do. However the second aspect of this was not completely successful. The Agricultural Adjustment Act was FDR’s attempt to try and boast agriculture it failed miserably. There fore making his forth aim not a complete success. To conclude I agree with the statement because the New Deal wasn’t a complete success. It was a success in all it’s right’s as it lowered unemployment, homelessness and most importantly it gave the American public faith and confidence in their government. However although the New Deal was a success it didn’t completely hit the grade. For the New deal to be a complete success FDR would have done everything he set out to do and he didn’t.
