The Great Depression was the longest-lasting economic slump that the United States and most of the Western industrialized world has ever experienced. For about ten years, American families were living in poverty and struggling to survive. Countries around the world watched as their economy crumbled around them. Most effects were heavily felt until the start of the Second World War in 1939. There have been many theories as to what exactly caused the depression and what the smartest method was to overcome it. In this paper, I will examine these topics along with how the Marxist Theory of Stratification can be a helpful tool when analyzing the Great Depression. By the 1920’s, America was used to enduring economic recessions. According to The …show more content…
It is the purest form of supply and demand; it keeps the government from interfering in the market. This creates a completive market where producers are free to create new products and make improvements on older items. This method also gives the power back to the people. The customers are who ultimately decide which products are successful and which are not. This maintains a relatively constant price for products so firms stay competitive while trying to make a profit. With all these benefits, there also comes a major drawback. Once a free market starts to fail, it is very difficult to stop the crash. The great depression is an excellent example of this. As president Hoover refused to give federal aid to the nation, both unemployment and homeless rates continued to grow. He began to work towards a balanced budget by supporting local aid for public workers, but the country called for much more. Hoover resented federal government involvement in the economy. He feared it would turn America into a socialist …show more content…
He went to congress and convinced them to end prohibition. This pleased the American people, cut back on violence and put citizens back to work in the beer industry. Just two months after he was sworn in as president, he signed the Tennessee Valley Authority Act. This was the first step towards allowing the government to aid in the country’s recovery. Not only did the Act allow the government to build dams along the Tennessee River to control flooding, but it also generated inexpensive hydroelectric power. Actions like this created jobs for people who were looking to get back on their feet and work towards an end to the depression. This was just the first of many ideas that the president had. Soon after, the TVA Act came the Agricultural Adjustment Act and National Industrial Recovery Act. Both were popular among the people and workers of America. Roosevelt stayed true to his word when he promised to take swift action in his first hundred days as president. During that time period, he passed over ten laws that helped the economy and work force. However, his work was far from
The Great Depression, which began in October of 1929, was a time of great troubles for the United States of America. President Herbert Hoover thought it was merely “a passing incident in our national lives”, and so did not do much to change the situation. The American people were not liking Hoover’s decisions, and a new president was elected after Hoover’s first term. When President Franklin Delano Roosevelt stepped into office, he immediately took action. He enacted a series of programs (including Roosevelt’s Emergency Banking Act, ending Prohibition through the 21st Amendment, the Tennessee Valley Authority Act, and the National Industrial Recovery Act), many of which were enforced by the first 100 days. These programs and acts were collectively
The era of the Great Depression was by far the worst shape the United States had ever been in, both economically and physically. Franklin Roosevelt was elected in 1932 and began to bring relief with his New Deal. In his first 100 days as President, sixteen pieces of legislation were passed by Congress, the most to be passed in a short amount of time. Roosevelt was re-elected twice, and quickly gained the trust of the American people. Many of the New Deal policies helped the United States economy greatly, but some did not. One particularly contradictory act was the Agricultural Adjustment Act, which was later declared unconstitutional by Congress. Many things also stayed very consistent in the New Deal. For example, the Civilian Conservation Corps, and Social Security, since Americans were looking for any help they could get, these acts weren't seen as a detrimental at first. Overall, Roosevelt's New Deal was a success, but it also hit its stumbling points.
The domestic policies and administrations of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and William Jefferson Clinton are in some ways similar, but in other ways very different. The two men were very domestic-oriented presidents, focusing largely on America, and not the outside world. Both Democrats, they supported Federal Government programs to aid the American People. These programs were not necessary, but the presidents felt that they would aid Americans. Roosevelt created many jobs for the unemployed. He did this with such acts as the Unemployment Relief Act, which created the Civilian Conservation Corps, the Civil Works Administration gave temporary jobs to the unemployed during an especially harsh winter, and the Works Progress Administration spent about $11 billion employing people to work on government projects. Roosevelt also provided for money to be given to states to help increase employment. This includes the Federal Relief Administration, that gave $3 million to states to pay wages for work projects as well as direct dole payments. The Tennessee Valley Act dammed up the Tennessee river and created jobs, inexpensive hydroelectric power, cheap nitrates, improved navigation of the river, low cost housing, reforestation, and the restoration of eroded soil.
"I pledge you, I pledge myself, to a new deal for the American people," said Franklin Roosevelt. With that he was elected President in November 1932, to the first of four terms. By March there were 13,000,000 unemployed, and almost every bank was closed. In his first "hundred days," he proposed, and Congress enacted, a sweeping program to bring recovery to business and agriculture, relief to the unemployed and to those in danger of losing farms and homes, and reform, especially through the establishment of the Tennessee Valley Authority.
The Great Depression often seems very distant to people of the 21st century. This article is a good reminder of potential problems that may reoccur. The article showed in a very literal way the idea that a depression can bring a growing country to its knees. The overall ramifications of the event were never discussed in detail, but the historical significance is that people's lives were put on hold while they tried to struggle through an extremely difficult time.
President Franklin Roosevelt was one of the greatest presidents in the history of the United States. He created economic stability when the United States was suffering through the Great Depression. In his first three months of office, known as the Hundred Days, Roosevelt took immediate action to help the struggling nation.1 "In a period of massive unemployment, a collapsed stock market, thousands of banks closing for lack of liquidity, and agricultural prices fallen below the cost of production," Roosevelt passed a series of relief measures.2 These relief measures, known as the New Deal, provided help for individuals and businesses to prevent bankruptcy. Also, the New Deal is responsible for social security, welfare, and national parks. A further reason why Roosevelt is considered a great president is because he was a good role model for being determined in his...
When he took office, 'the nation was in the fourth year of a disastrous economic crisis' and 'a quarter of the labor force was out of work [and] the banks had been closed in thirty-eight states' (Greenstein 16). In order to remedy these problems and restore trust in the government, FDR enacted the New Deal in the Hundred Days legislation. Many of the programs created in the legislation are still around today in some form, continuing to show FDR's influence on the modern presidency. Such programs as the Works Progress Administration and The Tennessee Valley Authority helped poor Americans unable to get jobs or afford the luxury of electricity. These programs were some of the major reasons FDR was so popular during his terms in office. Also created was the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which insured the money in banks. This helped because then in the case of another bank crisis, people's money would not be lost. The FDIC was another reason, along with FDR's rhetoric, that people began to trust the banks and government again. One major policy FDR began was social security, which is still around today. When creating this idea of social security, it is clear he meant it to help the people, but also that he meant it to be permanent. FDR wanted, and received, a lasting effect on the government. By designing and implementing so many new programs and policies to help Americans, FDR showed what
During the 1920’s, America was a prosperous nation going through the “Big Boom” and loving every second of it. However, this fortune didn’t last long, because with the 1930’s came a period of serious economic recession, a period called the Great Depression. By 1933, a quarter of the nation’s workers (about 40 million) were without jobs. The weekly income rate dropped from $24.76 per week in 1929 to $16.65 per week in 1933 (McElvaine, 8). After President Hoover failed to rectify the recession situation, Franklin D. Roosevelt began his term with the hopeful New Deal. In two installments, Roosevelt hoped to relieve short term suffering with the first, and redistribution of money amongst the poor with the second. Throughout these years of the depression, many Americans spoke their minds through pen and paper. Many criticized Hoover’s policies of the early Depression and praised the Roosevelts’ efforts. Each opinion about the causes and solutions of the Great Depression are based upon economic, racial and social standing in America.
One effect of the Great Depression was the way that he was able to change American culture in such a short time. His actions gave the executive branch of the government an amount of power that they hadn’t ever wielded prior. Presidents of the past would usually just sign what came across their desk. His work with congress initiated all kinds of reform, recovery and relief programs. “Franklin D. Roosevelt introduced programs between 1933 and 1938, designed to help America pull out of the Great Depression by addressing high rates of unemployment and poverty. An array of services, regulations, and subsidies were introduced by FDR and Congress, including widespread work creation programs. The cornerstones of the New Deal were the Public Works Administration and the National Recovery Administration.” (Croft Communications,
During The Great Depression, people had to find ways to save money on even the bare necessities. One example of this was the widespread use of vacant lots, and land provided bythe cities to grow food. Americans now had to live in the manner of their ancestors, making their own clothing, growing their own food, and agai...
In brief, Theodore Roosevelt helped the economy by helping to create a better work condition for many groups; also he made adjustments with the congress to make an amendment to help keep the rights of individual workers, and to maintain an equal sharing among the people. Lastly, he allowed people from the other countries to immigrate to the United States. Roosevelt shaped the American dream for foreigners that immigrated to the United States, but also to the people that were currently dwelling in the United States. Despite that Theodore Roosevelt was working as president at a very difficult situation where the congress mostly disagreed with him, he still managed to accomplish his political priorities, and to shape the American dream.
The Great Depression was the longest lasting economic downturn; lasting from 1929-1939. Not long after the stock market crash of October 1929 the Great Depression followed, this sent Wall Street into a panic and wiped out millions of investors. Consumer spending and investment dropped dramatically over the next few years. This caused steep declines in industrial output and rising levels of unemployment as failing companies laid off workers. By March 1930, more than 3.2 million people are unemployed. By November 1930 New York City streets were crowded with unemployed people trying to make money by selling apples for five cents a piece, called Apple-Sellers. According to American Experience, the inequality of the rich vs. the poor, merged with the non-stop production of goods and the rising personal debt of many citizens, things could no longer be supported. President at the time, Herbert Hoover, underestimated how serious the situation actually was and called it, “a passing incident in our national lives.” and was certain that this would pass within the next 6...
After the end of the World War I in 1920, the United States entered in a period where great changes were made. During this period known as the New Era of the 1920’s, many innovations were taking place as well as many economic developments, which were stimulating the way through a change in America’s society. However, while for some Americans this was an era of better opportunities for living, some others were suffering the consequences. Later on, with an unequal distribution of wealth and low incomes, America’s economy was in a vulnerable point of a catastrophic collapse. And so it was. By the end of the 1920’s, when the stock market crashed, the prosperity of that period disappeared and the nation was sunk into an economic catastrophe known as the Great Depression. Many factors constituted the reasons for this collapse, for example, the Wall Street crash, the oligopolies domination over American industries, the weaknesses in some industries (textile, coal and agriculture), and also the government policies and international economic difficulties. Then, by the early 1930 with the depression spreading and affecting the entire society, the policies, philosophy and optimism that Herbert Hoover had brought to his presidency was being challenged. As a result, by the time of the elections in 1932, Hoover lost the presidency against the candidate of the Democratic Party, Franklin D. Roosevelt and his campaign of what he called the New Deal. Based on this, FDR pushed towards many solutions for the “crises of a collapsing financial system, crippling unemployment, and agricultural and industrial breakdown” (Goldfield, Page 704). Even thought when various changes were made, it was during the period right after the elections of 1936 that polit...
President Roosevelt initiated the only program that could pull the U.S. out of the Great Depression. Roosevelt’s New Deal got the country through one of the worst financial catastrophe the U.S. has ever been through. Diggerhistory.info biography on FDR states,” In March 13 million people were unemployed… In his first “Hundred Days”, he proposed, and Congress enacted, a sweeping program to bring recovery to business and agriculture, relief to the unemployed and those in danger of losing their farms and homes”(Digger History Biography 1). Roosevelt’s first hundred days brought relief to the unemployed. He opened the AAA (Agriculture Adjustment Administration) and the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps.). The administration employed many young men in need of jobs all around the country. Roosevelt knew that the economy’s biggest problem was the widespread unemployment. Because of Roosevelt’s many acts and agencies, lots of young men and women around the country were getting jobs so the economy was healing. According to Roosevelt’s biography from the FDR Presidential Library and Museum, “Another Flurry of New Deal Legislation followed in 1935, including the WPA (Work Projects Admi...
The Great Depression struck the United States in 1929, and devastated the country for 12 years (Potter). Filled with hardships and poverties, these 12 years seemed like a lifetime to most people, especially to the lower and middle class. American society during the 1930s was split into three main classes: Lower class, Middle class, and the Upper class. While the majority of the upper class continued to live lavishly, the lower class, consisting of mainly struggling laborers and almost all African Americans, definitely suffered the most. The Middle class was also heading down a dangerous path. Not being able to maintain their small fortunes, most were forced to lower levels of society. The effects of the Great Depression in the 1930s on the social classes in the south caused many people to move to the lower class.