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How Did The New Deal Contribute To The Great Depression

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Many conditions in the United States throughout the 1920s led to a worldwide state of economic depression. This Great Depression had many factors that contributed to its occurrence, including the stock market crash, an economic lull after World War I, a reduction in public spending habits and tense foreign relations after high tariffs were imposed. After World War I, the production of goods rapidly declined, leading to a decrease in income for many businesses, especially farmers. This resulted in more loans being taken out, which eventually led to the stock market crash of 1929. The stock market crash was the final catalyst for the onset of the Great Depression; after people began selling their stocks because economic growth was slowing, stock …show more content…

The National Industry Recovery Act (NIRA) wrote codes for each industry discussing production standards, prices and working conditions and worked in tandem with the National Recovery Administration (NRA) that verified code-following companies by putting blue eagle stamps on those products. According to Charles Fusco, an immigrant worker, “... the N.R.A I think was very good -- it gave everybody a chance”. For smaller business, like farms, the New Deal came up with other solutions. To help these farmers, who greatly suffered from the effects of the Depression, the New Deal instituted the Agricultural Adjustment Act that paid farmers to grow fewer crops, lowering surpluses and giving them more income by increasing supply and demand. Most notably, the Social Security Act was passed as part of the New Deal that set up pensions for older people to free up jobs, gave unemployment insurance to those who needed money in between jobs, and gave states money to support dependent children and those with disabilities. Giving people money so they could have the basic necessities of life was important in this time, as President Roosevelt said, “... the Congress is about to pass legislation that will greatly ease the mortgage distress among the farmers and the homeowners of the nation, by providing for the easing of the burden of debt now bearing so heavily upon millions of our people”. Some argue that the New Deal was bad because it did not speed up recovery - the Great Depression still lasted for twelve long years when full recovery came in 1941. Although the Great Depression lasted a long time, without the New Deal it could have gone on longer and more drastic measures could have been taken in attempts to restore the country to its former state. According to digitalhistory.edu, countries across Europe that were harshly affected by the Great Depression

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