The Role Of The Great Depression In America

The Great Depression marked a tumultuous period in American history. Burdened by an extreme economic collapse the country struggled to regain its financial footing. Americans were forced to rely on the government for answered on how to reshape social, economic, and political practices that led the country down a road to ruin. Over the next several years following the depression the government established a number of experimental programs aimed at creating jobs and providing support to those who were suffering the greatest. The experimental projects and programs came to be known as The New Deal and it forever changed the dynamic of the relationship between the Federal Government and it citizens.
In late October 1929 America experienced the worse
In an attempt to gain and edge on the unregulated markets of the era, speculation became a major tactic for those who invested in stocks, and bonds. Speculators would engage in the risky business of attempting to profit from sporadic fluctuations in market prices, as oppose to the fairest method of reaping profits through long term capital gain, dividends earned or accrued interest. The stock market was open to other forces of manipulation as well. Industrialist, bankers, and Wall Street tycoons manipulated the media to influence the public to purchase stocks that they would immediately sale once market prices peaked. This tactic would leave the unknowing public to suffer serious financial losses. It was the culmination of no market regulation, unscrupulous market transactions, the migration of Americans to the cities and the collapse of agriculture which led to the Great Depression and the necessity for reform which manifested itself in the form of The New
Relief for the poor and unemployed, recovery of the economy, reform of policies, and creation of regulations to prevent a depression of this magnitude in the future. For the first time the government’s main focus wasn’t on foreign affairs, but on the well-being of its citizens. One of Roosevelt’s first acts was to establish the four-day bank holiday. During the era of the Great Depression, keeping one’s money in a bank was risky business. If a bank made unsound decisions or simply fell victim to the financial turmoil of the times and was forced to close, account holders would lose their funds with no hope of recovery. Often times just a rumor of bank instability was all that was needed for citizens to leave their homes and places of work by the thousands to withdraw their money from banks. By the time President Roosevelt took office over five thousand banks had failed and countless families lost their life savings. Roosevelt’s four-day bank holiday suspended all bank transactions from March 6th until March 10th. During this four day holiday Roosevelt petitioned congress with the Emergency Banking Act. The act was developed to stabilize the banking sector and rekindle the nation’s confidence in the securing of its banks. The policies which stemmed from the Emergency Banking Act empowered the Roosevelt to reopen banks that were able to meet their financial obligations as well as assist those banks that were unable to remain