Why Is The New Deal Important
The New Deal was a relatively significant factor in American History 1933-1942. The New Deal was a series of projects in attempt to pull America out of the Great Depression (1929-1939), a sudden economic breakdown that started in 1929 and brought about huge unemployment all through the 1930s. The New Deal started with the introduction of Franklin Roosevelt as President of the United States from 1933-1945. The significance of the New Deal will be analysed the following paragraphs; political factors, economic factors, and social factors. Newsweek columnist Robert Samuelson acknowledged that if World War II hadn’t come along, America might have struggled through many more years of double-digit unemployment. On the other hand however, Samuelson is among those who give FDR top marks for handling the political crisis of the 1930s, the worst political crisis America has faced since the Civil War.
Politically, the New Deal was a turning point in the way the American Government was run. Prior to the New Deal, the presidents all adopted the “laissez-faire” attitude. This was demonstrated by Herbert Hoover. Hoover also supported “rugged individualism”, which is the idea of if …show more content…
someone is in trouble, either economically or socially, they should be able to pull themselves out of the hole they've dug themselves into. Roosevelt's 1932 triumph was more due to disgust with Hoover rather than to people wanting America to be part of a Democratic program. Through the use of the New Deal, FDR had the capacity to develop another political coalition that made a strong Democratic majority part that still continues today. From March 1933 to June 1944, Roosevelt tended to the American people in approximately 30 speeches broadcast via radio, talking on an assortment of topics from unemployment to banking to fighting fascism in Europe. Many people discovered solace and comfort in these speeches, which got to be known as the “fireside chats”. The government involvement was at height during Roosevelt’s time in the White House due to his attitude of “only thing we have to fear is… fear itself”. However, the New Deal faced a lot of opposition from the Supreme Court. At the time, the Supreme Court was mainly Republican, consisting of those still left over from the previous 36 years of having a Republican-run country. In the first hundred days, Roosevelt had to act very quickly in attempt to relieve some of the affects of the great depression. By doing this, he put through as many laws as he could to try and help his people, whilst doing this, he unintentionally made some laws that would later be ruled out as unconstitutional. In 1935, The Supreme Court decided to attack from a legal perspective and it effectively decided that the National Recovery Administration (NRA) illegal, and the year after it declared the Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) unconstitutional hence why it was killed off. The Supreme Court belief was that any efforts made to help farmers and other agricultural workers should come at a state level and not federal level and that these parts of the New Deal went against what was stated in the Constitution. Eleven out of sixteen of the Alphabet Laws were lawed unconstitutional in cases heard by the Supreme Court. The contention of the Supreme Court was that Roosevelt had attempted to push the power of the national government on state governments – and this was against the law. In the event that a state considered that there was an emergency in farming then it had to handle this emergency by themselves as set down by the Constitution however the national government did not have the right to force its choices onto the states. This was the only major opposition to the New Deal from a political stand point, therefore it can be agreed that politically, the New Deal was a quite significant factor in American History.
Socially, the New Deal had very mixed significance, as it was positive for some groups, yet worse for others. A fair few of New Deal acts were targeted directly at improving the general lives of native American Indians. For example, the Indian Re-organisation Act of 1934 granted money to buy land for the tribes rather than individuals (to stop others trying to take over). The government also issued loans to help native American Indians to set up their own businesses and buy farming equipment. Land owned by native American Indians went up from 47 million to 50 million. This act then gave the natives the right to manage themselves, such as setting up their own law courts. This is significant as it was the first time in American History that the native American Indians had been left to sort themselves out rather than be pushed about my the state governments. On the other hand, blacks remained second-class citizens throughout the New Deal, especially in the South where segregation was still present in education, transport and public spaces. This continued through the New Deal: Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) camps were segregated and when the new town of Norris was built in the Tennessee Valley, blacks were disallowed from living there. It was also incredibly difficult for blacks to get jobs, by 1935, around 30% were living on relief. Whites were much preferred to blacks when jobs were available, and the few jobs given to blacks were often low-grade. The 1940 census confirmed that only one in twenty blacks had a desk job in comparison to one in three whites. Roosevelt was unsuccessful in putting through civil rights laws, especially an anti-lynching law. He argued that he needed the support of the Democratic congressmen in the South to put through the New Deal, and they were strongly opposed to civil rights for blacks or anything to help them as a sector. This is significant because it shows how Roosevelt was more concerned with having his own New Deal put through Congress than the civil rights of the blacks, hence why the African-American Civil Rights Movement wasn't until 1954-68. Also, very few of the New Deal acts were directed at helping women.
Most of the programmes were centred around manual labour and construction, typically masculine work. Only about 8’000 women were included in the CCC programme. The amount of women employed did increase during the 1930s, but largely due to the fact that they were cheap labour. The average wage of a women in 1937 was half of that of a mans. The Social Security Act did require the state governments to help women and their dependant children financially, but a number of states tried to get around this, an example being that they wouldn't provide any payments to women with illegitimate children. The significance of this is clear as it shows how sexism wasn't combatted with the New Deal, and movement within it was slow until the
1970s.
As for economics, The New Deal was not very significant as even though it did help unemployment to a certain extent, the real problem solver was World War II. The First Hundred Days marked a tremendous triumph for the new president, and the New Deal inspired hope among the Americans that recovery would soon be here. The economy did improve under Roosevelt's leadership; all things considered, it turned out to be clear that the darkest days of the Great Depression had gone in the winter of 1932-33, after FDR was elected yet before he was in office. Many businesses were saved by Roosevelt’s quick action to save the banking system by proclaiming a four day bank holiday. The future of industrial development and prosperity was kickstarted by the contraction of roads, railways, schools, bridges and hydroelectric dams. Unemployment fell by over 30% from 1933-39, although it may of significantly declined from its 1932-33 peak, it still remained shockingly high. But the New Deal didn't fix the Depression. In the end, it was Americas involvement in World War II that cured unemployment, making the New Deal almost void. All through Roosevelt's first term, in spite of the New Dealers' best efforts, the American economy was still broken. Economic progress under the New Deal was brutally, painfully slow. Under Roosevelt the economy started to become as it once was, which opposed to how it shrank as it had all through Hoover's term, although development was at a glacial pace. The country's gross national product wouldn't match its 1929 level until 1941. The continuing economic uncertainty roused a number of radical (and, to many, dangerous) ideas. Louisiana populist Senator Huey Long suggested simply taking money from the rich and giving it to the poor, à la Robin Hood. A California doctor named Frances Townsend wanted to spend nearly half the national wealth to fund a plentiful state-funded retirement plan for the elderly. Roosevelt, irritated by the New Deal's slow progress in restoring success and feeling pressure to prevent more radical choices, pushed for a second round of reform. The limitations of the New Deal became apparent in the slump of 1937-38. The improving economy gave Roosevelt confidence he could not afford and took this as an opportunity to tighten the tap on the financial strains of the New Deal programmes. The economy went back into depression. Industrial production dropped by a third and unemployment skyrocketed by nearly 3 million. The unemployment rate, which topped at 25% just as FDR took office, still floated over 20% as late as 1935, and never dropped beneath 14% until 1939 thanks to World War II. Therefore, the New Deal was economically significant, but it would of taken many more years for America to reach its former pride had World War II not began, making the War more economically significant than the New Deal.
In conclusion, the New Deal was a significant factor in American History, 1944-1942 to a certain extent because it produced many changes throughout America, but still didn’t .
Politically, the New Deal was a turning point in the way the American Government was run. Prior to the New Deal, the presidents all adopted the “laissez-faire” attitude. This was demonstrated by Herbert Hoover. Hoover also supported “rugged individualism”, which is the idea of if …show more content…
someone is in trouble, either economically or socially, they should be able to pull themselves out of the hole they've dug themselves into. Roosevelt's 1932 triumph was more due to disgust with Hoover rather than to people wanting America to be part of a Democratic program. Through the use of the New Deal, FDR had the capacity to develop another political coalition that made a strong Democratic majority part that still continues today. From March 1933 to June 1944, Roosevelt tended to the American people in approximately 30 speeches broadcast via radio, talking on an assortment of topics from unemployment to banking to fighting fascism in Europe. Many people discovered solace and comfort in these speeches, which got to be known as the “fireside chats”. The government involvement was at height during Roosevelt’s time in the White House due to his attitude of “only thing we have to fear is… fear itself”. However, the New Deal faced a lot of opposition from the Supreme Court. At the time, the Supreme Court was mainly Republican, consisting of those still left over from the previous 36 years of having a Republican-run country. In the first hundred days, Roosevelt had to act very quickly in attempt to relieve some of the affects of the great depression. By doing this, he put through as many laws as he could to try and help his people, whilst doing this, he unintentionally made some laws that would later be ruled out as unconstitutional. In 1935, The Supreme Court decided to attack from a legal perspective and it effectively decided that the National Recovery Administration (NRA) illegal, and the year after it declared the Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) unconstitutional hence why it was killed off. The Supreme Court belief was that any efforts made to help farmers and other agricultural workers should come at a state level and not federal level and that these parts of the New Deal went against what was stated in the Constitution. Eleven out of sixteen of the Alphabet Laws were lawed unconstitutional in cases heard by the Supreme Court. The contention of the Supreme Court was that Roosevelt had attempted to push the power of the national government on state governments – and this was against the law. In the event that a state considered that there was an emergency in farming then it had to handle this emergency by themselves as set down by the Constitution however the national government did not have the right to force its choices onto the states. This was the only major opposition to the New Deal from a political stand point, therefore it can be agreed that politically, the New Deal was a quite significant factor in American History.
Socially, the New Deal had very mixed significance, as it was positive for some groups, yet worse for others. A fair few of New Deal acts were targeted directly at improving the general lives of native American Indians. For example, the Indian Re-organisation Act of 1934 granted money to buy land for the tribes rather than individuals (to stop others trying to take over). The government also issued loans to help native American Indians to set up their own businesses and buy farming equipment. Land owned by native American Indians went up from 47 million to 50 million. This act then gave the natives the right to manage themselves, such as setting up their own law courts. This is significant as it was the first time in American History that the native American Indians had been left to sort themselves out rather than be pushed about my the state governments. On the other hand, blacks remained second-class citizens throughout the New Deal, especially in the South where segregation was still present in education, transport and public spaces. This continued through the New Deal: Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) camps were segregated and when the new town of Norris was built in the Tennessee Valley, blacks were disallowed from living there. It was also incredibly difficult for blacks to get jobs, by 1935, around 30% were living on relief. Whites were much preferred to blacks when jobs were available, and the few jobs given to blacks were often low-grade. The 1940 census confirmed that only one in twenty blacks had a desk job in comparison to one in three whites. Roosevelt was unsuccessful in putting through civil rights laws, especially an anti-lynching law. He argued that he needed the support of the Democratic congressmen in the South to put through the New Deal, and they were strongly opposed to civil rights for blacks or anything to help them as a sector. This is significant because it shows how Roosevelt was more concerned with having his own New Deal put through Congress than the civil rights of the blacks, hence why the African-American Civil Rights Movement wasn't until 1954-68. Also, very few of the New Deal acts were directed at helping women.
Most of the programmes were centred around manual labour and construction, typically masculine work. Only about 8’000 women were included in the CCC programme. The amount of women employed did increase during the 1930s, but largely due to the fact that they were cheap labour. The average wage of a women in 1937 was half of that of a mans. The Social Security Act did require the state governments to help women and their dependant children financially, but a number of states tried to get around this, an example being that they wouldn't provide any payments to women with illegitimate children. The significance of this is clear as it shows how sexism wasn't combatted with the New Deal, and movement within it was slow until the
1970s.
As for economics, The New Deal was not very significant as even though it did help unemployment to a certain extent, the real problem solver was World War II. The First Hundred Days marked a tremendous triumph for the new president, and the New Deal inspired hope among the Americans that recovery would soon be here. The economy did improve under Roosevelt's leadership; all things considered, it turned out to be clear that the darkest days of the Great Depression had gone in the winter of 1932-33, after FDR was elected yet before he was in office. Many businesses were saved by Roosevelt’s quick action to save the banking system by proclaiming a four day bank holiday. The future of industrial development and prosperity was kickstarted by the contraction of roads, railways, schools, bridges and hydroelectric dams. Unemployment fell by over 30% from 1933-39, although it may of significantly declined from its 1932-33 peak, it still remained shockingly high. But the New Deal didn't fix the Depression. In the end, it was Americas involvement in World War II that cured unemployment, making the New Deal almost void. All through Roosevelt's first term, in spite of the New Dealers' best efforts, the American economy was still broken. Economic progress under the New Deal was brutally, painfully slow. Under Roosevelt the economy started to become as it once was, which opposed to how it shrank as it had all through Hoover's term, although development was at a glacial pace. The country's gross national product wouldn't match its 1929 level until 1941. The continuing economic uncertainty roused a number of radical (and, to many, dangerous) ideas. Louisiana populist Senator Huey Long suggested simply taking money from the rich and giving it to the poor, à la Robin Hood. A California doctor named Frances Townsend wanted to spend nearly half the national wealth to fund a plentiful state-funded retirement plan for the elderly. Roosevelt, irritated by the New Deal's slow progress in restoring success and feeling pressure to prevent more radical choices, pushed for a second round of reform. The limitations of the New Deal became apparent in the slump of 1937-38. The improving economy gave Roosevelt confidence he could not afford and took this as an opportunity to tighten the tap on the financial strains of the New Deal programmes. The economy went back into depression. Industrial production dropped by a third and unemployment skyrocketed by nearly 3 million. The unemployment rate, which topped at 25% just as FDR took office, still floated over 20% as late as 1935, and never dropped beneath 14% until 1939 thanks to World War II. Therefore, the New Deal was economically significant, but it would of taken many more years for America to reach its former pride had World War II not began, making the War more economically significant than the New Deal.
In conclusion, the New Deal was a significant factor in American History, 1944-1942 to a certain extent because it produced many changes throughout America, but still didn’t .