Explain the main features of the New Deal

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Joseph Holdsworth-Morris 11.S1

Explain the main features of the New Deal

The New Deal was a plan created by Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 32nd President of the United States of America. Its purpose was to bring economic reform and recovery to the US during the Great Depression. It was combined of a number of programs and projects which intended to get unemployed Americans back into work, having lost their jobs after the Wall Street Crash. Prior to Roosevelt’s inauguration on the 33rd of March 1933, the current President, President Hoover, had taken a largely Laissez-Faire approach to the Great Depression, and believed that he should just let the economy run it’s course. Roosevelt aimed to take a different approach by introducing the New Deal; this was a large reason for him winning the 1932 presidential election.

Roosevelt entered office with a huge amount of problems on his shoulders. The beginning of his first term is famously known as ‘The First Hundred Days’. During these days, Congress granted every request Roosevelt asked, allowing him to behave much like a dictator. Roosevelt understood that Americans would be worried and confused about the New Deal, so he spoke to them through ‘Fireside Chats’. These were a series of 30 radio speeches in which explained what he was doing to deal with the Depression. Nothing like this had ever been done by a President before.

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On his first inaugural address Roosevelt placed the blame for the Great Depression on bankers, and proceeded to close all banks in America until he could pass new legislation. Five days later, on March 9 1933, Roosevelt sent to Congress the Emergency Banking Act, which was signed and passed on the same day. In order to stabilise the banking system, which had, during the past few years, lost much of people’s money and gone into debt itself, Roosevelt had experts assigned to examine every bank in the country and only reopen them if they were found to be financially secure. ...

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