Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Attempt to Address the Problems of the Great Depression

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The New Deal attempted to address the problems of the Great Depression with FDR’s Three R’s approach: relief, recovery, and reform. This included monetary reforms for farmers and banks and relief to the unemployed. Roosevelt’s three R’s approach began with Relief, it was aimed to temporarily help Americans suffering from unemployment. Recovery was designed to help the economy bounce back from depression. Reform to target the cause of the depression in order to prevent it from happening again. Furthermore the New Deal introduced the present of federal government spending, because they were spending too much of their money. It was used to help poor people, and farmer’s welfare. The New Deal was designed to get us out of the depression.
The Great Depression lasted from 1929-1941; it was caused by a number of serious weaknesses in the economy. For starters the roaring twenties appeared to be a very prosperous time on the surface; however income was unevenly distributed and money wasn’t spent very wisely. People were borrowing from banks and money wasn’t being handled very well; no one was maintaining what was coming in and what was coming out. Americans spent more than ever before and were spending more than they earned. The Depression effected farmers as well; they faced low prices and heavy debt with their crops. The aftermath of WW1 also contributed to the depression, and all across the globe. It was the worst disaster in American History. Given the circumstances began ultimately on October 24, 1929 when sixteen million shares of stock were sold by panicking investors who had lost faith in the American economy, this was the crash of the stock market. During the height of the depression the unemployment rate reached 25%. Many peopl...

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...velt concluded, ‘‘All of these rights spell security. And after this war is won we must be prepared to move forward, in the implementation of these rights, to new goals of human happiness and well-being.’’ (Rauchway, pg.127-128)

New Deal a success?
With all this into account was the New Deal a success? It rescued us from the Great Depression by putting people back to work and providing income to get the economy going again. In my opinion the new deal didn’t exactly solve all our economic problems, however I don’t think anyone else could have done a better job than FDR, and the American people think the same; had they thought differently they wouldn’t have elected him four times. Before FDR there was no such program to help the elderly and disabled, they lived in poverty. This is an example to one of the longest effects from the New Deal, the Social Security Act.

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