Fdr Essay, Research Paper

FDR

When Franklin D. Roosevelt took office in March 1933, the country was in horrible economic condition, banks were collapsing, businesses were failing and the stock market continued to plummet. Promising the New Deal in his candidacy, he took bold action as leader of the country against hunger, unemployment, and the other problems of the great depression. In Roosevelt s inaugural address he spoke, First of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. People saw him as a new president ready to try anything to pick the country out of the hole they had been stuck in. The first years of the 1930 s the standard of living dropped dramatically, millions, more than one-fourth, of people were put out of work, banks were closed, international trade was stagnant, homeless families roamed streets, farms were foreclosed; all faith in capitalism had diminished.

The new deal provided helping programs such as the Social securities act, WPA, and the federal emergency relief act (FERA) to lower the unemployment and help those who couldn’t work. Checks could be received to those who were poor because of the Soc. Securities act. In addition, the New Deal program founded the Works Projects Administration in 1939. It was the most important New Deal work-relief agency. The WPA developed relief programs to preserve people s skills and self-respect by providing useful work during a period of massive unemployment. From 1935 to 1943 the WPA provided approximately 8 million jobs at a cost of more than $11 billion. This funded the construction of thousands of public buildings and facilities. In addition, the WPA sponsored the Federal Theater Project, Federal Art Project, and Federal Writers’ Project providing work for people in the arts. One of the most well known, The Social Security Act, created a system of old-age pensions and unemployment insurance, which is still around today. Social security consists of public programs to protect workers and their families from income losses associated with old age, illness, unemployment, or death

Farmers were down to nothing after the depression. The AAA helped keeping the farmers balanced by “plowing under” crops. The Farm credit act allowed farmers to refinance mortgages at lower rates. Things started to get better for the Farmers until the Dust bowl destroyed much of what the mid west farmers had. They needed desperate help, quickly. No law could give farmers what they needed. In 1933 the Gov. stepped in and created the soil erosion services, farmers were also taught ways of farming that would deal with the drought. The soil conservation act aimed to promote and reduce surplus soil conservation.

In order to accomplish the recovery, several agencies were created. The National Recovery Administration (NRA) was the keystone of the early new deal program launched by Roosevelt. It was created in June 1933 under the terms of the National Industrial Recovery Act. The NRA permitted businesses to draft “codes of fair competition,” with presidential approval, which regulated prices, wages, working conditions, and credit terms.

The CCC, the first Franklin Delano Roosevelt New Deal project, was instituted on March 21, 1933 when the president asked Congress for unemployment relief. At that time, America was experiencing the first stages of the Great Depression. Banks closed down, unemployment rates soared, and financial needs were great. The CCC brought about significant changes within American society, and alleviated much of the country’s unemployment. To help the economy, CCC workers across the country constructed 41,000 bridges and built 44,475 buildings. They also constructed 3,982,000 dams as a form of erosion control, and devoted full time to soil conservation work on 4 million acres in 31 states. The men made fire lanes, trails, and rural roads.

The Tennessee Valley Authority, the TVA, was created and provided federal relief because it took over the dam and the two plants and sold power directly to homes. This was the first time the government had entered the energy business.

Roosevelt and the new deal helped to bring together the country economically and mentally. People panicked when the stock market steadily decreased but Roosevelt, with his amazing speeches, seemed to relax the nation in time of desperate need. Although the new deal was not completely successful it did improve the economy sufficiently. The world sat back and watched as Franklin Delano Roosevelt picked up the entire economy with his new ideas.

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