New Deal Dbq

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The 1920s in the United States was a precedent to the Depression that would follow in the next decade; the introduction of credit and weak banking were two out of various reasons for why the Depression happened. The president of that time was Herbert Hoover; he relied on local governments and private businesses to stimulate the economy, preventing the federal government from taking over the situation completely and was insufficient in addressing the depression. He then lost the 1932 election to Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Hoover’s lacking efforts to curb the Depression ultimately lead to major additions to infrastructure via Roosevelt’s New Deal, with much of the resulting infrastructure still used today, most notably the Russian Gulch State …show more content…

During his 1937 inaugural address, Roosevelt told a United States citizenry that it was the government’s obligation to provide relief funding. “A century and a half ago, they established the Federal Government in order to promote the general welfare and secure the blessings of liberty to the American People” (Hanes and Hanes 59). By providing relief funding, the government would be protecting the economic freedom of its citizens. Roosevelt justified this point by reflecting back on the chaotic times following the Revolutionary War and the Constitutional Convention: “Our forefathers found the way out of the chaos… they created a strong government with powers of united action sufficient then and now to solve problems utterly beyond individual or local solution” (Hanes and Hanes 59). This was Roosevelt’s evidence against Hoover’s idea that the government wasn’t able to help. In need of change, FDR assured the American people that the government is still able to help. Throughout his following terms, Roosevelt initiated several programs to decrease unemployment, regulate business practices and rebuild faith in American banks. These initiatives alone were not enough to lift the United States out of the depression, however, it improved the lives of millions; these programs were the precedent to the ascension out of the depression during World War