The New Deal By Thomas Kessner Analysis

With the economy at on all time low people wanted change, Roosevelt's legislative program represented a new way of government for capitalism in America. Roosevelt first used the term "new deal" when he accepted the Democratic presidental nomination in 1932. He said "I pledge you, I pledge myself, to a new deal for the American people." When Roosevelt became President on March 4, 1933, business was at a standstill and a feeling of panic hit the nation (World Book, Vol.14, p.200). Roosevelt responded with a controversial policy that rocked the nation and what our nation stood for. Roosevelt's New Deal programs aimed at three R's- relief, recovery, and reform.

Roosevelt created the New Deal. Roosevelt, former Progressive, want to radically reform Industrial Capitalism. The New Deal was Roosevelt economic policy to help fix the economy and fix the problems of Industrial Capitalism. Like the Progressives, the New Deal wanted Government to have more control over the economy .The New Deal adopted a “deficit spending” type of economy; this wanted the government to have more control over America’s money. To help stabilize the economy the New Deal created the monetary reform. This end the gold standard created and gave the government more control over the economy. The Mellon Plan created during the Roaring twenties was destroyed, giving the government more money. The New Deal was also able to created more jobs for people in America. The Civilian Conservation Corps and the Works Progress Administration help to employ more people. Also the legalizing of unions help to improve work conditions for the workers. Even though The New Deal was effective at helping workers by creating more jobs and stabilized the monetary system, Industrial Capitalism still had

Roosevelt had to fulfill his most important campaign promise, the new deal. “If the new deal is a success, a friend told Roosevelt in 1933, you will be remembered as the greatest American president. If I fail, Roosevelt replied, I will be remembered as the last one. “ (“FDR”) Roosevelt moved to put the government itself on a budget, freeing up federal dollars for relief and reform measures. (www.pbs.org) He boosted the morale by making the sale of beer and wine legal. FDR also launched a congregation of recovery endeavors, which were dubbed “alphabet soup” programs for the acronyms that identified them. The civilian conservation Corps (CCC) put 2.5 million men to work on conservation and reforestation projects. (Stolley, 86) FDR believed that the assembling of the National Recovery Administration was the most important legislation of the early New Deal. “The NRA was meant to stop wasteful competition, encourage better regulated pricing and selling policies and provide for higher wages and shorter hours throughout the American business community.” (Alsop, 123) During the Farm crisis, President Roosevelt initiated the Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA). This financed farmers for limiting the size of their crops. It assisted to make the farming community more solvent, also at the same time reducing the massive surpluses that had run down produce prices. (Alsop, 124) The most popular New Deal ideas

In his first inaugural address, the president criticized the failure of the wealthy to save the nation (Document A). His first term was marked by the New Deal, which spurred the faltering economy by creating new jobs and providing much needed financial help to the jobless and the poor. The New Deal also put many people to work on the federal pay roll through the Civil Works Administration and provided assistance to the agricultural sector, which had been in a slump since the 1920’s. By the time Roosevelt was up for re-election in 1936, he had changed American society for the better, and was able to continue for a second term. During this time, he created a second New Deal to implement social justice programs; his main goal was to use the power of the government to solve the issues of the individual (Document B).

Once President Franklin Roosevelt was elected during the Great Depression, his first 100 days enacted what he called the New Deal. This “deal” was a series of reforms that were meant to increase available jobs, better the working conditions, and put money back into the economy. Jobs offered during this time, as well as the relief, recovery, and reform efforts gave a kick start to the American economy, helping to pull us out of the Great Depression. Some examples of these efforts can be seen in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), the National Recovery Administration (NRA), and the Social Security Act (SSA).

President Roosevelt in his first term as president offered a “New Deal” to the American people. He brought in several new government programs to find a solution to problem that American working people were facing. He tried to save banking industry form collapse. During his acceptance of the re-nomination speech for the presidency in 1936. He gave a speech on Economic freedom.

Thesis Statement: During Franklin D. Roosevelt’s presidency, his administration helped and tried to solve the problems of the Great Depression. He caused the government to play a very important role in society and from their help many people responded with their opinion of what they felt about it.

Franklin Roosevelt had also battled private companies when he established the Tennessee Valley Authority which had determined how fair the rates being charged by private companies for electricity were. The New Deal legislation had led to an increased union membership and the winning of better wages and rights for the labor force.

In February 1933, “the Senate passed a resolution calling for the newly elected president, Franklin Roosevelt to assume unlimited power” (Bailey, Beth, et al. “Chapter 22: The Great Depression and the New Deal.” A People and A Nation: Brief Tenth Edition. Vol. 2. Stamford: Cengage Learning, 2015. 632-667. Book. [Further: Bailey, Blight, and Chudacoff]). Through the New Deal, Roosevelt sought to “revive the economy through economic planning and relief programs” (Bailey, Blight and Chudacoff). These relief programs helped many Americans find jobs and ultimately restore the economy.

In his inaugural address, President Franklin D. Roosevelt set the tone for the upcoming half century when he confidently said, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself”. In response to the economic collapse of the Great Depression, a bold and highly experimental fleet of government bureaus and agencies known as Roosevelt’s Alphabet Soup were created to service the programs of the New Deal and to provide recovery to the American people. The New Deal was one of the most ambitious programs in American history, with implications and government programs that can still be seen to this day. Through its enactment of social reform and conservation programs, the New Deal mounted radical policies that gave the federal government unprecedented power in the nation’s economy and society, however, the New Deal did not bring America out of the Great Depression and could be considered conservative in the context of the era, ultimately saving capitalism from collapsing in America.

There was need of new policies and things that would bring the country to stable economy. After there was a huge decrease in the stock market, there had been a time where millions of people were without jobs and fully depended on the government and also there was many bank failures and homelessness. In such a tough time Roosevelt stood his ground and helped the nation by taking the emergency measures at an instant. Despite working so hard the New Deal was often criticized as unprincipled and inconsistent. The New Deal was considered elitist as it had missed to consult the poor people about the legislation they wanted. As Roosevelt tried to save the large-scale corporate capitalism the other historian summed it up that the New Deal was an absolute failure and couldn’t solve the problem of depression, it couldn’t redistribute the income or extend equality or decrease the racial discrimination and segregation. Roosevelt took help from the university professors and experts as advisers who gave him ideas and helped him with the speeches. Roosevelt transferred the authority of the stock exchange from Wall Street to the Washington and the regulatory powers were increased of the Securities and Exchange

The New Deal had a major change of the government and had to change it completely. Before the New Deal, the government didn't provide for the people or had control over the economy. After the New deal, the federal government had played a major role in the economy and providing for the people. The New Deal had caused the federal government to take care of us. They had provided people with Medicare and Social Security.

During this time, “…FDR promised ‘a new deal for the American people’” (Polenberg, 8). FDR quickly realized that in order to win over the citizens of the United States and to fix the crisis they were in, he had to address the two main things that he saw every American wanted during this economical depression. Polenberg informs his readers that FDR saw that the two things every American wanted was “…Work; work with all the moral and spiritual values that go with work. And with work, a reasonable measure of security—security for themselves and for their wives and children” (p.8). Knowing that these were the two main aspects (at the time) that FDR had to place the majority of his attention on, he went to work immediately as “He feared that a resolution was likely if he failed, as Hoover had, to solve the nation’s problems” therefore he begun formation of the first New Deal reforms (Polenberg, 8). These reforms were “…designed not so much to promote reform as to proceed recovery,” (Polenberg, 9) therefore indicating that “…the Roosevelt administration intended to move the country in a dramatically new direction” (Polenberg, 9). Some of the programs that the New Deal initiated were: the NIRA (National Industrial Recovery Act), the NRA (the National Recovery Administration), the AAA (Agricultural Adjustment Act), the WPA (Works Progress Administration), the CWA (Civil Works Administration), and the TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) just to name a few (Polenberg, 9-13). Each reform act was aimed at recovering a different but specific area of society. For example, the TVA worked to “…provide cheap electrical power… and… help prevent soil erosion and control floods” (Polenberg, 13) while the AAA “…served as the foundation of New Deal farm policy… balancing agricultural production and consumption so as to avoid surpluses and ensure that

The late 1930s were a time of great suffering and uncertainty in the United States. The country was crippled by effects of the Great Depression; the result was a massive decline in jobs and economic stability that dramatically impacted both rural and urban communities. Millions of Americans were out of work, unable to support their families. State organizations and charities were unable to meet the growing needs of the people and many were left to fend for themselves. The Great Depression brought with it a legitimate, tangible fear about the future of America and its citizens. Upon the outcry of the American people a “New Deal” was struck giving the citizens of America a lifeline of hope in the ever-growing State. The New Deal was a succession of programs, organizations and laws, enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, directly addressing the issues of jobs, welfare and uncertainty through direct federal involvement. The creators of the New Deal worked across party lines to reshape the norms of state involvement whilst making a great legislative effort to turn the declining economy around. The New Deal reshaped the federal government’s relationship with its citizens in a time of economic uncertainty helping to grow the State in a time of peace.

In 1932, when Franklin Delano Roosevelt took office, the citizens of the United States had possessed sufficient time to realize that they could no longer be proud, but they must take anything they could get. Therefore, the programs set up by FDR’s New Deal program were perfect for the country at the time. These programs helped the people directly, providing relief, recovery, and reform. FDR based his plans on the philosophy of Keynesian economics, where the government spends money to make money. The government gave money and jobs to those in need, who in turn, had money to spend in the marketplace. The demand for products increased, and businesses were able to hire more workers and produce more products, as well as pay more money in taxes. FDR’s plans worked because they gave money not to those who would take advantage of the government, but to those who would use it in the way the government intended it to be used. During FDR’s first term in office alone, the unemployment rate dropped 4%. Because of FDR’s success in bringing the country out of the Depression, I give him an A.