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Recommended: The "new" deal
The New Deal has become famous for creating an "alphabet soup" of government agencies that were referred to by their initials. These agencies worked to accomplish the three main goals of the New Deal: to relieve those suffering from the effects of the Great Depression, recover the depressed the economy, and reform the society so such a crisis would be avoided in the future. Though not all of these agencies proved to be successful, some helped to shape America. The Federal Deposit Insurance Cooperation, proving to be the most effective, provided America with the courage it had lacked since the day of the stock market crash, the courage to trust the banking systems and reinvest their money, but the Indian Reorganization Act seemed to have no effect on the economy or any significance to the three aims of the New Deal.
By 1933, America had lost billions of dollars due to the bank failures, but had also just gained their only hope to rebuild their economy, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Roosevelt recognized the country's lack of courage and took no time in addressing the situation. The famous line from his first inaugural address, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself," encompassed the entirety of the problems faced by America's depositors with the banking systems.
Before Roosevelt's presidency, American banks were failing and closing all around citizens each day. In the time of the stock market crash, deposit insurance did not yet exist and without much cash on hand, banks become highly endanger of runs. A run was the result of the depositors becoming fearful of a bank closure and, in return, immediately withdrawing their savings. For the common American, the increasing problem of collapsing banks became an unnerving new development. Roosevelt addressed those problems of fear or distrust with the Federal Deposit Insurance Cooperation, or the FDIC.
Roosevelt is saying many things in this speech, first and foremost he is re-enforcing the message that there is nothing to fear but fear itself as is shown when he says "It is possible that when the banks resume a very few people who have not recovered from their fear may again begin withdrawals It needs no prophet to tell you that when the people find that they can get their money -- that they can get it when they want it for all legitimate purposes -- the phantom of fear will soon be laid," this was a very powerful message of Roosevelt's as he seemed to believe that the fear of people, once the initial market crash had taken place, had only compounded the problem. Another thing he is saying, and this is the overall point of the message, is that peoples confidence is essential to the recovery of the banking system, shown when he says "After all, there is an element in the readjustment of our financial system more important than currency, more important than gold, and that is the confidence of the people themselves. Confidence and courage are the essentials of success in carrying out our plan."
Jerold Auerbach, New Deal, Old Deal, or Raw Deal; Some thoughts on left Historiography, The Journal of Southern History, Vol 35, no.1, (feb 1969) p.22
The shares values had fallen and this left people panicking. Many businesses closed and several of the banks did not last because of the businesses collapsing. Many people lost their jobs because of this factor. Congress passed Roosevelt’s Emergency Banking Act, which helped reorganize the banks and closed the ones that were insolvent. Then three days later he urged Americans to put their savings back in their banks and by the end of the month basically three quarters of them reopened. Many people refer to the Banking Act as the Glass Steagall Act that ended up prohibiting commercial banks from engaging in the investment business and created the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. The purpose of this was to get rid of the speculations in securities making banking safer than before. The demand for goods were declining, so the value of the money was
Because the economy was unstable, Franklin Roosevelt imposed many programs to boost the economy, both helping and hindering American citizens through banking and financial reforms with government regulation. After declaring the “bank holiday,” Roosevelt created the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) in order to put confidence back in the citizens and their ability to trust banks to keep their money. By also separating commercial banks from investment banks, the government was trying to keep the flow of money uniform. This idea is radical in form because of the new government imposed restrictions, and conservatives may argue this movement shows signs of socialism. Many people saw the implications of free enterprise disappearing; Herbert Hoover specifically mentions in his Anti-New Deal Campaign speech that he proposes to “amend the tax laws so as not to defeat free men and free enterprise.”
“The only thing that we have to fear is fear itself “said Franklin Roosevelt the thirty-second president of the United States in one of the most powerful political addresses ever delivered by an American president. President Roosevelt assumed the presidency during some of the darkest times in American history. He addressed the nation in a time of uncertainty and in a time of great fear. American Citizens were insecure about the economical situation the Unites States, as they were in the middle of the Great Depression. The Great Depression was a result of the stock market crash of 1929, also known as Black Tuesday. After the crash, profits plunged, prices dropped, and income fell. Unemployment rose to 25 percent in the United States. The nation was hungry for physical and emotional sustenance and Roosevelt's speech came at just the right time to satisfy and alleviate the minds of many Americans. Roosevelt delivered his first inaugural address to the masses that were in need of reassurance. In his Inauguration Address, Roosevelt acknowledges the faults that the government is accountable for, and illuminates the confidence he has in himself to get the country back on track. He aimed to declare war on the Great Depression and needed all the executive latitude possible in order to wage that war. By mentioning that we must not be afraid of fear Roosevelt inspired a nation that was fighting through a time of great economic and emotional hardship. In his speech Roosevelt hopes to give Americans courage to work at putting the country back on track and to earn their confidence as their newly elected leader. With the delivery of his Inaugural Address, Franklin Roosevelt attempted to pacify those wor...
The New Deal was a set of acts that effectively gave Americans a new sense of hope after the Great Depression. The New Deal advocated for women’s rights, worked towards ending discrimination in the workplace, offered various jobs to African Americans, and employed millions through new relief programs. Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) made it his duty to ensure that something was being done. This helped restore the public's confidence and showed that relief was possible. The New Deal helped serve America’s interests, specifically helping women, African Americans, and the unemployed and proved to them that something was being done to help them.
Franklin D. Roosevelt’s First Inaugural Address in 1933[ Richard Polenberg, The Era of Franklin D. Roosevelt 1933-1945: A Brief History with Documents (Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s Press, 2000), 39-44.] was a famous speech because it instilled new hope in the people. During the speech, President Roosevelt said, “our greatest primary task is to put people to work/ there must be a strict supervision of a banking and credits and investments, so that there will be an end to speculation with other people’s money; and there must be provision for an adequate but sound currency.” Imaginably,a number of people could not find jobs and people were worried about putting money in a bank. Roosevelt emphasized the seriousness of reducing unemployment, reinforcing reliable baking system, and distributing currency. These problems were important contexts that shaped the content of this speech.
After having a relatively indecisive president in office for the last for years, America was in desperate need of a president who could take charge of the governemt. Franklin Roosevelt was more than up to the task of turning around the spiraling American economy. Almost immediately after his inauguration, Roosevelt declared a national four-day “bank holiday” in an attempt to keep the banking system from failing. Roosevelt was able to push the Emergency Banking Act through Congress, which gave him “broad discretionary powers over all banking transactions and foreign exchange,” (Faragher, Buhle, Czitrom, & Armitage, 855). The measure was used to inspect banks and make sure they were healthy before reopening. Roosevelt wanted to restore confidence in the banking system after a disasterous widespread failure of banks. This shows how Roosevelt was much more decisive than his predecessor and went to work immediately after taking office.
Millions of American citizens were starving. In 1929, the stock market had just crashed, causing the amount of unemployed people to rise by the millions. The Great Depression had just begun. A plan needed to be made as soon as possible to fix this predicament. Fortunately, the newly elected president of 1933, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, came up with a constructed plan to fix the dilemma facing the United States. He called his strategy the New Deal, and it was meant to provide jobs and bring America back to stability. There was a total of two New Deals during the Great Depression, each with their own programs. Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) was later re-elected in 1936. The Great Depression finally ended in
In response to the Stock Market Crash of 1929 and the Great Depression, Franklin D. Roosevelt was ready for action unlike the previous President, Hubert Hoover. Hoover allowed the country to fall into a complete state of depression with his small concern of the major economic problems occurring. FDR began to show major and immediate improvements, with his outstanding actions during the First Hundred Days. He declared the bank holiday as well as setting up the New Deal policy. Hoover on the other hand; allowed the U.S. to slide right into the depression, giving Americans the power to blame him. Although he tried his best to improve the economy’s status during the depression and ‘pump the well’ for the economy, he eventually accepted that the Great Depression was inevitable.
Throughout history, America has had a plethora of leaders. A handful of these leaders have found a place in the heart of many Americans. Franklin D. Roosevelt, commonly referred to as FDR, is without a doubt one of these leaders. FDR made new laws, put forth many ideas, and raised the public’s morale before, during, and after WWII. He affected America in such a way that he brought us out of the slum of Great Depression. Even though Franklin D. Roosevelt put America in debt, his new deal policy gave millions of Americans jobs, stimulated the economy, raised public moral, and introduced new big government tactics. He was truly the people’s president.
Coming into the 1930’s, the United States underwent a severe economic recession, referred to as the Great Depression. Resulting in high unemployment and poverty rates, deflation, and an unstable economy, the Great Depression considerably hindered American society. In 1932, Franklin Roosevelt was nominated to succeed the spot of presidency, making his main priority to revamp and rebuild the United States, telling American citizens “I pledge you, I pledge myself, to a new deal for the American people," (“New” 2). The purpose of the New Deal was to expand the Federal Government, implementing authority over big businesses, the banking system, the stock market, and agricultural production. Through the New Deal, acts were passed to stimulate the economy, aid banks, alleviate environmental problems, eliminate poverty, and create a stronger central government (“New”1).
The New Deal period has generally - but not unanimously - been seen as a turning point in American politics, with the states relinquishing much of their autonomy, the President acquiring new authority and importance, and the role of government in citizens' lives increasing. The extent to which this was planned by the architect of the New Deal, Franklin D. Roosevelt, has been greatly contested, however. Yet, while it is instructive to note the limitations of Roosevelt's leadership, there is not much sense in the claims that the New Deal was haphazard, a jumble of expedient and populist schemes, or as W. Williams has put it, "undirected". FDR had a clear overarching vision of what he wanted to do to America, and was prepared to drive through the structural changes required to achieve this vision.
...the Reconstruction Finance Corporation because the nation’s banking system was about to collapse. Congress passed the Glass-Steagall Banking Act, guaranteed bank customers that the federal government would refund them for deposits if their banks failed. On March 12th Roosevelt made a broadcast that was also the first of a series of fireside chats, speaking in a friendly and unofficial manner, and explained that the people would be better off keeping their money in the bank than keeping their money with them in their houses. After a few of the fireside chats, people started to believe it and most of the major banks reopened.
The United States faced the worst economic downfall in history during the Great Depression. A domino effect devastated every aspect of the economy, unemployment rate was at an all time high, banks were declaring bankruptcy and the frustration of the general public led to the highest suicide rates America has ever encountered. In the 1930’s Franklin D Roosevelt introduced the New Deal reforms, which aimed to “reconcile democracy, individual liberty and economic planning” (Liberty 863). The New Deal reforms were effective in the short term but faced criticism as it transformed the role of government and shaped the lives of American citizens.