What Are The Two Phases Of Roosevelt's New Deal?

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During the Great Depression, Americans wanted a new leader since they believed that their current one (Herbet Hoover) was not doing nearly enough to help them. So, in the 1932 election they voted for Franklin D. Roosevelt as their new president. The website ushistory.org claims that FDR had no actual grand plan to fix the Great Depression. However, he was “a bold experimenter” which allowed him to try a variety of plans. If a plan worked then he stuck with it, but if one failed then he could just try a new plan. He tried many ideas such as signing legislations that would help fix banks and the stock market, aiding the unemployed alongside nation's farmers, and beginning housing initiatives and ventures into publicly-owned electric power (ushistory.org, …show more content…

The first phase mainly consisted of programs used to help get Americans jobs so they could afford food and shelter. One such program was the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). The Program Sent 250,000 young men to work camps to perform reforestation and conservation tasks (Feldmeth, 1998). While the men did earn money for their families, they were also separated from them for a long duration of time. However, it did remove a surplus of working boys from cities, and provided healthy working conditions for them as well (Feldmeth, 1998). Like the CCC, the Civil Works Administration (CWA) attempted to put people back to work as well. However, they gave different jobs and pay from the CCC. The CCC sent men between the ages of 17-25 to rebuild reservoirs and bridges, plant billions of trees, clear lands for camping, and dig ponds. They made $30 a month for these tasks. The CWA meanwhile, got people jobs teaching the illiterate, building parks, repairing schools, and constructing athletic fields and swimming pools for a salary of $15 a week (ushistory.org, 2015). While these programs did not fix the stock market and banking system, they did provide relief for people who very much needed new …show more content…

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) was the largest relief program of all (ushistory.org, 2015). In its first year of operation it employed over 3 million workers (Taylor). They were placed in jobs such as construction, but were also provided work in literary projects, art, and theater. While Americans were getting their jobs back, they were also more aware of how quickly they could lose their money. They needed a way to secure their finances, so FDR implemented the Social Security Act in 1935. With this program, current generation employees would have about 1 percent of their income deducted and put into a fund while retirees (people who could not work) took their monthly stipend (ushistory.org, 2015). The Social Security Act considered blind, deaf, disabled, and dependent children to be eligible to receive pensions, unemployment insurance, and aid (Feldmeth, 1998). This provided Americans with a sense of financial