The New Deal. I completely agree with the comment the New Deal was not a complete success. However, I will not go as far as saying that it was a failure.

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Nadeem Hussein 110

                                                     The New Deal

  1. Franklin Roosevelt became president if the USA in 1932, during the great depression. When Roosevelt came into power he came in with a promise of ‘doing something’. He planned to do these things through the new deal. The new deal had several features. These were to get Americans back into work, protect there savings and property, produce relief for the old, sick and unemployed, get American Industry and agriculture back on their feet, which all contributed to the main aim of the new deal, ‘full employment and economic recovery’. The new deal consisted of legislations which were designated to solve a certain problem, an example of a problem being unemployment. These legislations were; the emergency banking act; securities exchange unit; FERA; CCC; AAA; PWA; NIRA and the TVA, all of which were brought in within FDR’s first hundred days in office. The FERA, CCC, AAA, PWA and TVA created jobs and were aimed towards decreasing unemployment. The TVA in particular helped the needy as Tennessee was a very deprived area, with little work until the TVA came in and created jobs, electricity, housing, etc.... This shows what the new deal was all about helping the needy, which I feel was the main aim of the new deal. When I say the ‘needy’, it doesn’t exclude black people. Black people also claimed and gained benefits from the FERA. From what I have just told you, I feel that the new deal actually made America a less racist and prejudice country. Another one of the new deals legislation within the new deal was ‘the emergency banking act’ which closed all the banks and then re-opened them when they were judged to be sound. This meant that people were more confident, something that people were lacking during that time, about there banks. This would then cause people to go back to there banks and invest there money again as they would feel that it was ‘safe’. No-one can spend/invest if they haven’t got anything to start with and the new deal gave people work, from which they could earn from. With that money they could then buy or invest into other things, and when people buy there is a need for increased production, and with higher demands come more jobs for people to do.  Hoover hoped that all this would stabilize the once so strong American economy.

  1. Roosevelt introduced the new deal because of the state that the U.S. economy was in, it was in depression. During this period Herbert Hoover, president of USA at the time, was criticized for ‘doing nothing’. In certain states they would name shantytowns, ‘Homerville’s’. This was because they felt he was responsible, and he wasn’t doing anything. Hoover was a republican and the republican policy on how to run America is to let the people fix themselves up, ‘rugged individualism’. In contrast, Roosevelt’s parties, the Democrats, are more hands on and are more popular among the poor, because of the direct relief they provide. The depression caused people to lose money, which had some severe consequences, almost like a chain reaction. When people lost money, they started to lose confidence, which meant less people were making investments, which then caused banks to close. Within the new deal there was a legislation called ‘the emergency banking act’. This was done so people felt that their money was safe in the bank, which would cause people to go back to the bank. Something that they weren’t doing before the new deal was introduced. Initially the new deal was created so that the American economy would rise out of the depression it was in. It was also introduced because Roosevelt was a Democrat and he wanted a change of government and the way the country is ruled. He believed in a active, hands on government which directly influenced the people, even those that were less well of. He was also a sufferer of Polio and these people were perceived as being less well of and Roosevelt suffered from not receiving benefits and help from the government. He saw the new deal as an opportunity to give sufferers benefits and help them, as he did not want people to go through the pain and abuse he had to. This is because before the USA and most of the world believed in a Laissez fair government from of ruling and this was basically to leave the people, even those less well of and needy. This meant if you where less well of, in any way, you did not gain any benefits or sympathy. Roosevelt felt this was so wrong and he planned to change this perception by changing the role of government. So he followed Keynes theory on how to run the country by being an interventionist and helping the people. He felt that giving the people jobs and money to spend would then cause them to go out and shop, which would then increase the demands for goods, which would reduce employment and there would be the American back on its two feet again. Roosevelt introduced the new deal because it was the democratic view on how to run a country and he felt that if no one has any money to start of with then no one would spend something that was happening during Hoover’s time in power, so he learnt from Hoover’s mistakes.
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  1. I completely agree with the comment ‘the New Deal was not a complete success’. However, I will not go as far as saying that it was a failure. In my own opinion I feel it was more of a success than a failure. It was a success as it reduced unemployment, through the legislations created by the new deal. However, this does not show the full picture as when Roosevelt cut the new deal budget in 1937, unemployment increased sharply. In my opinion the economy was not a strong point of the new deal, what made it strong ...

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