How Successful Were the Policies of President Roosevelt’S New Deal In Deal With the Problems of the Economic Depression In the United States Between 1933 and 1940?

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How Successful Were The Policies Of President Roosevelt's New Deal In Deal With The Problems Of The Economic Depression In The United States Between 1933 and 1940?

After the Wall Street Crash in 1933 the American economy collapsed and fell into a state of depression. There were a number of problems in 1933 - all of which stemmed from the slump which followed the Wall Street Crash. Firstly, there was no confidence in the money system, or in the banks. In total 1500 banks had been closed and nine million men and women lost their savings because the banks had collapsed.

Putting your money in an open bank would be almost like giving your money away because nobody knew when the next bank was going to close. The people in America needed immediate relief. A once strong and prosperous country had been reduced to a country living in poverty and grief. The Americans were not used to this type of life style and they were not prepared for it either. The Americans needed to be rescued from the depression and they needed it immediately. Also because of the depression, millions had lost their jobs and could not find work anywhere else. At this time, not only were the workers not doing too well; farmers were also being destroyed because the prices for products such as wheat and corn were far too low. It didn't even pay off for the farmers to shift the harvest from the fields because of the low prices. A solution was needed which would help both working men and farmers. Because of the disastrous consequences that the depression had, welfare schemes were needed as a backup which would prevent and 'cushion' the effects of future depressions. In the early 1930s, America was in distress and needed urgent help. The person to help America out of the depression and on the way to becoming an economically strong and prosperous society was Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

President Roosevelt tackled each of the problems through the first and second New Deals. The New Deals were a series of Acts and schemes which Roosevelt hoped would pull America out of the depression. Roosevelt decided to tackle the economic problems before he did anything else because he knew that a strong and reliable money system would build up confidence in the Americans, which would act as a foundation for the American economy. In 1933 Roosevelt proved to the Americans that the promises he made before he was president were not just 'vote winners' because he started to help straight away. The first of Roosevelt's schemes was the '100 days'. The '100 Days' was a relief program in which Roosevelt passed 15 laws which tackled some of America's biggest problems, all within 100 days. First of all, Roosevelt introduced the Emergency Banking Act (EBA). The EBA was designed to end the banking crisis in America. All banks were closed for ten days and only those approved by the federal government were allowed to reopen. Roosevelt used the radio to talk directly to the citizens of America. On the radio Roosevelt explained his policies through a series of 'fireside' chats. He explained that he was doing something to help America and that he would need their cooperation. The public was obviously convinced that Roosevelt was on their side because when the banks reopened, many people began to reinvest their money in a reopened bank.
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Within the '100 Days' relief program, there was also a rapid program of legislation which would help solve the country's problems. The other Acts within the '100 Days' were the AAA, TVA, HOLC and NIRA (these Acts/schemes will be explained later). All of these schemes were aimed to bring relief to as many people as they could and to bring the relief quickly.

Unemployment was also a major problem in America in the 1930s. Firstly, there was immediate relief for the unemployed through a 500 million dollar Federal aid. Roosevelt knew that this aid was only ...

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