In 1929, the stock market had crashed—millions of Americans had lost their jobs, homes, and livelihoods. The United States had entered a period of economic turmoil: The Great Depression—one of the darkest points in American history. Although President Hoover tried to improve the American economic condition with an array of programs (including the Emergency Committee for Employment), he was unsuccessful (Perry). In 1932, voters ousted Hoover in the presidential election. In 1933,
Franklin Delano Roosevelt took office and began his crusade against The Great Depression. In the first one hundred days of Roosevelt’s presidency, Congress passed legislation which he signed, intended to combat the wretched state the country was in. These first
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While Hoover had signed relief bills to give states loans, they all paled in comparison to the legislation of the New Deal (Perry). This New Deal sought to mend the US as a country and improve its citizens’ lives, but in trying to accomplish this honest goal, the federal and state governments were in a constant battle (Perry). Throughout the 1930s, the states had to be coerced with incentives to implement the New Deal nationwide (Perry).Today, almost a century later, The New
Deal is considered one of the greatest pieces of collective legislation. The vast majority of modern
Americans see the New Deal as being highly beneficial to the nation then and now. Contrary to popular belief, FDR’s New Deal was destructive to America in both the short and long term.
FDR primarily executed the New Deal through an “alphabet soup” of programs. The NIRA regulated industries and enforced interstate and state labor industry standards (Perry). The Federal
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Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) was created to provide member banks of the federal reserve system with insurance for bank deposits (Britannica). The Agricultural Adjustment Administration
(AAA) acted as the backbone of Roosevelt’s farm program, seeking to artificially raise prices of
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Another piece of legislation devoted to unemployment was FERA. Relying on state and federal funds, the program received $500 million for distribution to the states, later resulting in a total of $3 billion of funding (Perry). The Securities and
Exchange Commission was instituted through the Securities Act of 1934 and was created to help regulate Wall Street and reduce risk for investors (Fiorillo). Through the NIRA, FDR’s Administration set up minimum wage and maximum hour laws, heavily favoring workers in employee/employer relationships (Perry). The Wagner Act of 1935 resulted in more authority given to the federal government in the industrial relationship sector (Britannica). Sprouting off of the Wagner Act, the
National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) was formed. Lastly, the Fair Labor Standards Act instituted nationwide enforced wages and hours for jobs (Britannica). Through the New Deal and its sequels,
Americans received aid and employment. At a glance, the New Deal may not seem very disastrous, but inspected slightly closer, its errors are easily grasped.
Many positive and negative outcomes resulted from the New Deal. Victory over the