The Great Depression began on October 29, 1929 soon after the stock market crashed. It did not end until 1939, the beginning of World War II. Within this period of immense poverty, the United States faced widespread economic turmoil. When Franklin Roosevelt came to presidency in 1932, the unemployment rate was at 22.5% (Doc E). He took action immediately after his inauguration, establishing the first hundred days of the New Deal. The New Deal was intended to boost morale, decrease unemployment, and regulate the economy; however, it was only a temporary fix and ultimately failed. It left the nation with an incredible amount of debt while unable to fulfill its main purpose of increasing employment and bringing confidence in the economy to the public. …show more content…
The TVA developed the Tennessee valley, which flowed through and gave jobs to people in seven surrounding states. The program not only gave thousands of unemployed jobs, it also generated electricity and helped prevent disastrous floods. The TVA boosted the economy by giving a source of electricity to the undeveloped land. However, Most of Roosevelt’s New Deal programs were just quick fixes for the outward effects of the Great Depression without doing anything to solve the underlying problems that caused the economic collapse in the first place. It did not work to increase the amount of sustainable jobs in the economy, but rather produced more programs which provided work and a small pay. The New Deal did not help jumpstart businesses that were able to run efficiently and independently, so they could not prosper, allowing them to hire more people and in turn