To What Extent Did The New Deal Pull America Out Of The Depression?

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To What Extent Did The New Deal Pull America Out Of The Depression?

In 1928 there was a presidential election. One of the candidates running for president was called Herbert Hoover who was a Republican. Hoover believed in Laissez Faire, which was that he would leave things alone and that the government should not intervene in people's lives. He also believed Rugged Individualism. This is where people should work hard. Everybody was sure that the Republicans would win again. Hoover did win by a landslide and all seemed well.

When Hoover formally moved into the White House in March 1928 the mood of confidence was still strong. He pointed out that Americans had more bathtubs, oil furnaces, silk stockings and bank accounts than any other country. He introduced many new polices while in office.

In 1930 he introduced a Smoot Tariff, which was a high tax on imported goods. He cut taxes by $130 million to try and give the American people more money to spend. To create jobs in society he started up many schemes such as the Hoover Dam.

Six months after Hoover was elected it was a very different picture. In October 1929 the Wall Street Crash stock market crashed, the American economy crashed and the USA entered a long depression that destroyed much prosperity of the 1920's.

In the 1932 the Democrat, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, became president. He set about trying to solve the problems caused by the depression. He had three main aims, which were to spend money trying to help people get back to work, to rebuild US trade and industry and to improve the lives of ordinary people. This was called the New Deal.
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In the first hundred days in office he introduced many new ideas. He closed all of the weak banks in America and loaned money to the stronger ones to help them trade. He tried to control buying and selling on the Stock Market. Roosevelt told American people that their money was safe in the banks again. Roosevelt also started schemes to feed the poor and help them get back to work. One scheme that got thousands of people out of unemployment was the Civil Works Administration, which built roads, bridges, hospitals and basically enhanced the lives of Americans ...

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