The Failure Of The New Deal
It all began with the Stock Market Crash of 1929. Stock prices went down, people lost their money and jobs, and Americans began to lose hope in their president, Herbert Hoover. Hoover served the rest of his term but Franklin D. Roosevelt took over after winning the 1932 election. FDR had a plan for helping America to get out of the depression that they were in. It was called the New Deal. The New Deal included many public programs, like the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Social Security Act, and was hopefully going to decrease the unemployment rate that had jumped in the previous years. While some parts of the New Deal succeeded, it was an overall fail due to the discrimination against African Americans, many of the remedies and programs not helping,
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and very few people actually getting jobs, making money, and being able to pay off any debt they had. One reason the New Deal was an overall fail is because it highly discriminated the African Americans living in America. This was still a time when African Americans were not very well liked by the whites and the New Deal did nothing to help with it. This especially showed in many things from realestate to the work field. When blacks attempted to buy homes in white neighborhoods the Federal Housing Authority refused to guarantee them mortgages just because of their race. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), a program intended to help unmarried men get jobs, kept the camps they had for the men segregated. In the Social Security Act, it “excluded those job categories that blacks traditionally filled.” When it came to agriculture, the Agriculture Adjustment Administration (AAA) acreage reduction made many blacks suffer because at least 40% of black men made livings by being sharecroppers and tenant farmers and the reduction made white landlords realize they would lose money if they put their land back into production rather than leaving it untilled. A result from the AAA’s policies was that “ more than 100,000 blacks were forced off the land in 1933 and 1934.” The National Recovery Administration authorized separate, lower pay scales for the blacks too. It may have seemed normal for that time but during this the only reason President Roosevelt didn’t help blacks is just because he feared the conservative southern Democrats, who had seniority in Congress at the time, would block his bills if he tried to fight the race question. He may have felt this was the right thing to do but it only made things worse and probably led to the recovery being as slow as it was (African Americans and the New Deal 2). Another reason the New Deal was more of a failure is due to the fact that many of the “remedies” weren’t actually helping the economy recover. The Civilian Conservation Corps, while it provided jobs to some people, it was very segregated and discriminatory. They had separate camps and standards for the black men who were a part of this program and gave them less opportunities for jobs compared to white people (Birdsell 1). Another program, or remedy, that failed to help was The Agriculture Adjustment Administration (AAA). This “remedy” was only intended to help the farmers in America. I was suppose to raise the prices that their crops sold for so they would be able to get more money. This program really only helped the farmers and was later ruled unconstitutional (Birdsell 2). Finally, one of the many other remedies that proved the New Deal to be a fail was the National Industrial Recovery Act, a program planning to help businesses and workers. This remedy was intended to boost the declining prices but it was a very big risk that didn’t end up being very successful in the end and was also declared unconstitutional like the AAA (Birdsell 3). A political cartoon entitled New Deal Remedies, had a very unique way of showing how these remedies weren’t working out. It showed what appeared to be al ill man, who could be representing America, waiting next to “remedies” that had not worked and the doctors, FDR and Congress, talking in the back about changing the remedies to hopefully make them work. People say that even though some of these programs were later declared unconstitutional, they still helped our economy recover but if they were so helpful to our country and the economy, then why didn’t they help more people or focus on more of the economic issues facing the country. The programs helped very few people in the country and led to the failure of the New Deal (New Deal Remedies 9). The final reason the New Deal was more of a failure is due to the fact that only a small portion of the unemployed actually got jobs, made money, and were able to pay off any debt they had.
At this time there were millions of unemployed that were in search of work. The government was only giving employment opportunities to “one-quarter of a million of the unemployed,” and it was only in the fields of forestry and flood prevention. It was also only mainly directed towards younger men who were looking for jobs. Even some people who had jobs, like farmers, were still unable to pay off the loans and debt they had acquired. As a result of this, Congress decided to pass a legislation to ease mortgage distress, when farmers and homeowners couldn’t pay off their loans so their property was taken away, for those who fell into that category. People argue that it is unrealistic to try and get everybody that was unemployed jobs and that the government was really trying to help these people who were in that situation and I see what they are saying but Congress still could have thought of more ideas that could have employed more people even though there would still be many unemployed people throughout America (Roosevelt
1).
For the reasons of it being very discriminatory, many of the programs not actually working, and very few unemployed actually getting jobs, making money, and being able to pay off any debt they had is why the New Deal and its programs and policies were more of a failure that a success. This was still a time when blacks in America were very discriminated against and the programs that were a part of the New Deal and the president did nothing to help with it. While a some of the programs in place actually worked and still exist today, many of them were unsuccessful and were later decided to be unconstitutional. Finally, while the government and programs did employ some of the millions of the unemployed throughout America, I still believe there is more they could have done to employ Americans even if they were small jobs. I believe that even though there were a few parts of the New Deal that actually worked there were still more that failed and that was the reason that the American economy never fully recovers until the U.S. entered World War II.
and very few people actually getting jobs, making money, and being able to pay off any debt they had. One reason the New Deal was an overall fail is because it highly discriminated the African Americans living in America. This was still a time when African Americans were not very well liked by the whites and the New Deal did nothing to help with it. This especially showed in many things from realestate to the work field. When blacks attempted to buy homes in white neighborhoods the Federal Housing Authority refused to guarantee them mortgages just because of their race. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), a program intended to help unmarried men get jobs, kept the camps they had for the men segregated. In the Social Security Act, it “excluded those job categories that blacks traditionally filled.” When it came to agriculture, the Agriculture Adjustment Administration (AAA) acreage reduction made many blacks suffer because at least 40% of black men made livings by being sharecroppers and tenant farmers and the reduction made white landlords realize they would lose money if they put their land back into production rather than leaving it untilled. A result from the AAA’s policies was that “ more than 100,000 blacks were forced off the land in 1933 and 1934.” The National Recovery Administration authorized separate, lower pay scales for the blacks too. It may have seemed normal for that time but during this the only reason President Roosevelt didn’t help blacks is just because he feared the conservative southern Democrats, who had seniority in Congress at the time, would block his bills if he tried to fight the race question. He may have felt this was the right thing to do but it only made things worse and probably led to the recovery being as slow as it was (African Americans and the New Deal 2). Another reason the New Deal was more of a failure is due to the fact that many of the “remedies” weren’t actually helping the economy recover. The Civilian Conservation Corps, while it provided jobs to some people, it was very segregated and discriminatory. They had separate camps and standards for the black men who were a part of this program and gave them less opportunities for jobs compared to white people (Birdsell 1). Another program, or remedy, that failed to help was The Agriculture Adjustment Administration (AAA). This “remedy” was only intended to help the farmers in America. I was suppose to raise the prices that their crops sold for so they would be able to get more money. This program really only helped the farmers and was later ruled unconstitutional (Birdsell 2). Finally, one of the many other remedies that proved the New Deal to be a fail was the National Industrial Recovery Act, a program planning to help businesses and workers. This remedy was intended to boost the declining prices but it was a very big risk that didn’t end up being very successful in the end and was also declared unconstitutional like the AAA (Birdsell 3). A political cartoon entitled New Deal Remedies, had a very unique way of showing how these remedies weren’t working out. It showed what appeared to be al ill man, who could be representing America, waiting next to “remedies” that had not worked and the doctors, FDR and Congress, talking in the back about changing the remedies to hopefully make them work. People say that even though some of these programs were later declared unconstitutional, they still helped our economy recover but if they were so helpful to our country and the economy, then why didn’t they help more people or focus on more of the economic issues facing the country. The programs helped very few people in the country and led to the failure of the New Deal (New Deal Remedies 9). The final reason the New Deal was more of a failure is due to the fact that only a small portion of the unemployed actually got jobs, made money, and were able to pay off any debt they had.
At this time there were millions of unemployed that were in search of work. The government was only giving employment opportunities to “one-quarter of a million of the unemployed,” and it was only in the fields of forestry and flood prevention. It was also only mainly directed towards younger men who were looking for jobs. Even some people who had jobs, like farmers, were still unable to pay off the loans and debt they had acquired. As a result of this, Congress decided to pass a legislation to ease mortgage distress, when farmers and homeowners couldn’t pay off their loans so their property was taken away, for those who fell into that category. People argue that it is unrealistic to try and get everybody that was unemployed jobs and that the government was really trying to help these people who were in that situation and I see what they are saying but Congress still could have thought of more ideas that could have employed more people even though there would still be many unemployed people throughout America (Roosevelt
1).
For the reasons of it being very discriminatory, many of the programs not actually working, and very few unemployed actually getting jobs, making money, and being able to pay off any debt they had is why the New Deal and its programs and policies were more of a failure that a success. This was still a time when blacks in America were very discriminated against and the programs that were a part of the New Deal and the president did nothing to help with it. While a some of the programs in place actually worked and still exist today, many of them were unsuccessful and were later decided to be unconstitutional. Finally, while the government and programs did employ some of the millions of the unemployed throughout America, I still believe there is more they could have done to employ Americans even if they were small jobs. I believe that even though there were a few parts of the New Deal that actually worked there were still more that failed and that was the reason that the American economy never fully recovers until the U.S. entered World War II.