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The New Deal In Appalachia

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Introduction
The 1920s had been a time of growth and prosperity for most Americans. This can be seen in the popular culture of the time. In 1929, the stock market crashed and brought forth The Great Depression.
The Origins of the Great Depression
The stock market initially dropped on October 24, but artificial purchasing pushed the crash back to October 29. Only a small minority of Americans had a stake in the stock market, so other issues, such as the wealth gap, economic policies of the 1920s, and low demand for goods, in combination with the market fall led to The Great Depression. Farmers had been suffering prior to the Depression because of large harvests that pushed prices down. While many Americans believed the US would get out of the …show more content…

Roosevelt attempted to help Southern farmers through the AAA, but the administration only hurt the most poor because they were kicked off their land. Child labor laws were passed along with minimum wages to especially protect people who worked in the abusive textile mill factories. The Tennessee Valley Authority may have been the most helpful to Southerners as it improved the poor regions along the Tennessee River.
The New Deal in Appalachia
Appalachia had a large amount of natural resources and were in demand after the Civil War, but the people of the region never prospered. The Great Depression worsened the situation and led to extreme poverty and rampat diseases. The New Deal worked to fix the region through homestead communities and public works from several different groups.
Voices of Protest
Roosevelt was careful in his actions to make sure they were within the bounds of the Constitution, and he received criticism for not going far enough in his actions. Huey Long was one of the most important critics of Roosevelt, and he believed that Roosevelt should institute a “Share Our Wealth” program where the money of the rich would be redistributed to the poor, but Long was killed at the Louisiana capital. Roosevelt was also criticized for regulating business, and he had great opposition from the Supreme Court, who eventually decided his NRA and AAA were …show more content…

New unions, such as the Congress of Industrial Organizations, arose during this time because of the increased protection and attempted to gain more benefits for workers. Roosevelt also instituted Social Security during this time to give money and benefits to the elderly and to needy children. Roosevelt worked to change the appearance of a Social Security system so that people would support it and not view it as a handout.
Equal Rights and the New Deal
African Americans suffered worse than whites during the Great Depression and had an unemployment rate around 50%. They were especially discriminated against in the South, which can be seen in the case of the Scottsboro Boys, who were sentenced for assaulting two white women, but they were eventually freed after a set of appeals. Roosevelt did not do much to help African Americans being discriminated against in the South; furthermore, many of his New Deal plans hurt African Americans or excluded them from receiving benefits, such as Social Security. The New Deal did not provide women with equal benefits either.
The End of the New Deal

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