The New Deal
A Significance of The Great Depression
Sarah Hyden, Sierra Latshaw, Martha Vertti
Significance: The New Deal improved the lives of many Americans, as it reformed several aspects in society while working to improve the economy through the sponsorship of public projects and the protection of workers.
Definition
The Great Depression Brings about the New Deal
Detail
The New Deal included both laws, passed by Congress, as well as presidential executive orders during the first term (1933–37) of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The New Deal itself created millions of jobs and sponsored public works projects that reached most every state in the nation. Also, in addition to setting a minimum wage and the maximum hours a person could work in a week, the National Recovery Administration outlawed child labor. The Social Security act was implemented to aid healthcare especially of the elderly and disabled. The final major items of New Deal legislation were the creation of the United States Housing Authority and Farm Security Administration, both in 1937, and the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, which set maximum hours and minimum wages for most categories of workers.
During the Great Depression Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the US President. On March 5, 1933, he proclaimed Bank Holiday, which shut down the banking system for a period of four days (5th-8th). During this period, he sought to identify the banks people should be confident using. Then he put money from the government into the banks and when banks reopened, people were standing in line to put their hoarded money in.
In a measure that garnered substantial popular support for his New Deal, Roosevelt moved to put to rest one of the most divisive cultural issues of the 1920s. He signed the bill to legalize the manufacture and sale of alcohol, an interim measure pending the repeal of Prohibition, for which a constitutional amendment of repeal was already in process. The repeal amendment was ratified later in 1933. States and cities gained additional new revenue, and Roosevelt secured his popularity especially in the cities and ethnic areas by helping the beer start flowing.
Additional relief was felt due to other components of the New Deal. For example, a bill was passed to pay commodity warmers, those who produced wheat, dairy, tobacco, and corn, to produce less food in order to get rid of agricultural surplus and increase prices. The Tennessee Valley Act brought about government-build dams in the Tennessee river, which provided cheap hydroelectric power and controlled flooding
- Roosevelt created the Works Progress Administration in order to give jobs to the massive amount of unemployed Americans. This allowed for people to earn wages and pay for goods which would stimulate the economy. The WPA also gave work to directors, artists, and actors in order to stimulate American culture.