The New Deal
The Great Depression:
A Timeline of the Great Depression and the New Deal from the, Library of Congress website:
**When underlined make sure to read. IMPORTANT.** 1929 In October, the stock market crashes, marking the beginning of the Great Depression. 1930 Unemployment grows from almost 4 million in January to 7 million in December. President Herbert Hoover appoints the President’s Emergency Committee for Employment to stimulate state and local relief (no funding for relief was provided the committee). 1932 Congress authorizes release of government surplus wheat and cotton for relief purposes.Emergency Relief and Construction Act is passed. The Act provides funding to help state and local governments with their relief efforts. Franklin D. Roosevelt is elected president in November. 1933 In the first two months of 1933, 4,004 banks fail. Unemployment reaches approximately 14 million (about 25 percent). FDR is inaugurated on March 4. The following day, he proclaims a four-day bank holiday. He calls a special session of Congress to begin March 9. On the first day of its special session, Congress passes the Emergency Banking Act, which gives the president power over the banks. Within a few days, many banks reopen, lifting national spirits. Over the next 100 days, Congress enacts a number of laws creating New Deal programs. These include: • The Reforestation Relief Act, establishing jobs for 250,000 young men in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). By the program’s end in 1941, 2 million people will have worked on CCC projects. • The Federal Emergency Relief Act, which provides funds to states for relief. • The Agricultural Adjustment Act, establishing prices for farm products and paying subsidies to farmers, and the Farm Credit Act, providing agricultural loans. • Tennessee Valley Authority Act, which creates the TVA to build dams and power plants. • Federal Securities Act, which gives the executive branch the authority to regulate stocks and bonds.Better housing: The solution to infant mortality in the slums • Home Owners Refinancing Act, providing aid to homeowners in danger of losing their homes. • National Industrial Recovery Act, which establishes the Public Works Administration (PWA) and the National Recovery Administration (NRA). The PWA provides employment in the building of roads and public buildings. The NRA regulates trade to stimulate competition. • Banking Act of 1933, creating the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to protect depositors’ funds. Roosevelt establishes the National Labor Board (NLB) to protect workers’ rights to join unions to bargain collectively with employers. 1934 Congress continues to pass relief and reform legislation, including the Securities Exchange Act, which establishes the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to regulate sale of securities, and the National Housing Act, which establishes the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) to provide insurance for loans needed to build or repair homes. 1935 Congress passes the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act, which funds the Works Progress Administration (WPA) to provide employment on “useful projects.” Through June 1943, when the WPA ends, the program will provide jobs for 8.5 million Americans with 30 million dependents. The Supreme Court rules the NIRA unconstitutional.Congress passes National Labor Relations Act, Social Security Act, Bank Act, Public Utilities Act, and Revenue Act. These acts provide a safety net for the elderly and disabled, authorize greater government regulation of banks and utility companies, and increase taxes on wealthier Americans. 1936 Supreme Court rules the Agricultural Adjustment Act unconstitutional.Roosevelt is reelected. 1937 Roosevelt is inaugurated in January. Thwarted by Supreme Court decisions, Roosevelt develops a plan to change the Court’s composition. His proposal would add a judge for every justice who does not retire at age 70. The plan is not well received, even among Roosevelt supporters.Supreme Court upholds National Labor Relations Act and Social Security Act. 1938 Congress passes Fair Labor Standards Act, which sets a minimum wage for workers and a maximum number of work hours. This is the last significant New Deal legislation.Historians still debate whether the New Deal succeeded. Those who say it succeeded point out that economic indicators, while they did not return to pre-Depression levels, did bounce back significantly, and also point to the infrastructure created by WPA workers as a long-term benefit. Critics point out that, while unemployment fell after 1933, it remained high. They argue that the New Deal did not provide long-term solutions and only the war ended the Depression. Furthermore, many critics feel the New Deal made changes in the government’s role that were not a benefit to the nation. |
Summary:
In 1929 the stock market crashes along with a lot of other failures and this is what started the Great Depression. There is a President (Herbert Hoover) that has not been to successful in the process of starting the track to getting things back to normal. The different government acts are not really helping the citizens and everyone wants a change. In november of 1932, President Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected President especially for all his ideas for a, "New Deal". Once elected he tried to get different 'acts' out at once to really help everyone. He believed that the government should really help the people instead of the people helping the government at all times. He tries and tries to help the citizens yet, in 1933 more banks fail and more employment. Afterwards he calls congress to session and they started creating different acts. The first at was the, Emergency Banking Act. From there this is what started the New Deal. (The timeline on the left gives a great synopsis on what happened from there and after it.) Note: The New Deal did not really end the Great Depression yet it still helped Americans by giving them jobs and for something to work for and hope to get out of. |
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The Great Recession:
Summary:
The Great Recession which started in 2008 was later known as the worst period since the 1930's AKA, the Great Depression (Which is talked about above). It came to a shock for most people because most Americans thought by now that there was a "safety net" on the banks and government. Of course not stocks, because no one knew what could happen but everyone thought it was more safe then it really was. There started to be unemployment, which rates went up and up. So many jobless people and so many people on food stamps and different variations of help from the government. Before in the Great Depression the government wasn't much help in the beginning and attempted to help later on but was still not as successful as hoped. Although the government help now took a couple years it was still more successful and did not take as long as when it did for the Great Depression. Just like the Great Depression the great recession needed government help, stocks were not so good, loss of jobs, net worth of money was not the same and so on. There are lists and lists of bad things that destroyed the economy of a couple of years. There was more of a surprise during the Great Recession because of the increase of everything and the success of everything as a whole. Between bank failures, drop of consumer goods, unemployment rate, and production did not even compare to the Great Depression but still affected almost just the same because of whole successful the United States is today compared to back in the 1920's and 30's. |
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