Franklin D. Roosevelt's Response To The Great Depression

And being that the farmers make up to 1/3 of the nation in the 1930’s, their decrease in export and lack of income had a big severe effect on the nation’s economy. However, the president of the United States at the start of the great depression, was Herbert Hoover. Hoover took the presidential office in 1929, his believes and words to the people of the Unites State was that, the economy will recover. Though the situation of the economy was very bad and heart breaking. He believe that the economy will turn around and become good.

In what ways did the Great Depression affect the American people? After a decade of economic prosperity, what seemed like an era that defined the concept of the American dream, quickly came to an end when the stock market on Wall Street collapsed in 1929. The aftermath of the events that occurred on Wall Street would put its heavy mark on the years to follow among the citizens of the United States. Banks closed down, unemployment rose and homelessness increased. It was a widespread national catastrophe that had its impacts on both poor and rich.

Increase in suicide rate: During depression and the market crash it is said that many people committed suicide as they lost everything they had. On the day of market crash it said that more than 10 brokers committed suicide. 3. People lost faith in government: After the market crash people didn’t trust the government. Many protest and strikes were carried out against the government.

The Social Security was enacted on August 13, 1945 under the executive administration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The act emerged during the Great Depression, which lasted a decade from 1929 to 1939. In fact, the original name of the policy was The Economic Security Act. The Great Depression were years of uncertainty, depravation, low amounts of food for those who were not of wealthy socioeconomic status. The implementation of the Social Security Act was to provide a cushion and support for millions of American citizens after depletion of goods with surplus mounts of depression and recession.

It devastated not only in the U.S economy and but worldwide. Before the crash, the stock market experienced an all-time high that the Dow Jones Industrial Average reached a record high 381.2. By November, it plummets to as a low 199 and with this low, it caused stocks to lose value about 90 percent. In lieu of the crash of this created a great depression, and it was the longest and most severe depression every experienced by the industrialized Western world. “The fundamental changes impacted the economic institutions in example, banks and macroeconomic policy and economic theory” .

The first example is just the stock market crash. This is saying that the stock market it affected a lot of workers. This is important because of how it left the economy. Another example of the setting showing powerlessness is the general homeless, unemployed workers at that time. This is expressing that steinbeck creates the average person during the time period such as Crooks and creates sympathy though his background.

The Great Depression was catastrophic. It was a critical time period in our history when our economy crashed. People lost their jobs, and families became homeless. Back then, two million people were homeless(Timeline). Today, 564,708 people are homeless(Social Solutions).

The great depression, the New Deal, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt goes hand in hand during the 1930’s, after the stock market crashed which resulted in the Great Depression. President Roosevelt, is one of the presidents that has been loved and hated at the same time by American society. The general public might say that FDR, did not do enough for the county, while others may believe he worked hard for the common people, trying to fix the country. For now, the focus on this paper will be, on the pros and cons of President Roosevelt New Deal. The Program would focus on three things which were: Relief, Recovery, and Reform.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Eleanor’s husband, was inaugurated into office in 1933, in the midst of the Great Depression. By the time FDR was even inaugurated president, banking systems had collapsed, and 25% of workers were unemployed, and prices and productivity had fallen rapidly (Franklin D Roosevelt Library & Museum). FDR was elected president amidst the worst economic downturn in the history of the industrialized world. In Roosevelt 's first speech as president, he stated, "This great nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and prosper…The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”(History.com Staff, “Franklin D. Roosevelt”). Roosevelt’s New Deal programs were based on various, not always consistent, theories on the causes of the Great Depression (Franklin D Roosevelt Library & Museum).

High unemployment, low production and deflation had brought the world further into chaos, and international relations have deteriorated. “By its height in 1933, unemployment had risen from 3 percent to 25 percent of the nation’s workforce. Wages for those who still had jobs fell 42 percent.” In order to protect the domestic industries and employment, the government may raise tariffs to stable social order. In the early time of the great depression, the government leader passed the Smoot-Hawley tariff in US. “It increased 900 import tariffs by an average of 40 to 48 percent.” On the face of the Smoot-Hawley tariff, it protected the farmers in US.

Great depression begins when the stock market crash in 1929. The consumer spending dropped and unsold goods began to pile up, slowing production. Stock continued to rise. On October 24, 1929 the stock burst investors were dumping stock a record 12.9 million shares were traded that day known as “Black Tuesday”. Five days later some 16 million were traded the stock market had crashed.

New Deal used Government as an agent and started to intervene in the economic institution in order to recover from the failure. Roosevelt New Deal plan also helped businesses to recover from the Depression loss. Shlaes mentioned in 1934, “Business has recovered half its depression loss, only 30 percent of the Depression unemployed has been put to work” (Shlaes 262). Also, to help recovery from the Great Depression, the New Deal offered social insurance; “Social Security seemed a gift on a scale most American would never have expected a president to be able to offer” (Shlaes 255). The Great depression impacted the Americana government in a way that the government had to change, reform and became more cautious of economic situations.

The Depression left millions of Canadians hungry and homeless. The depression in Canada was known as the “Dirty

Discussion Paper #1.2, “Did the New Deal Prolong the Great Depression” Burton W. Folsom Jr. argues that Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal stretched out the length of the Great Depression due to the funds it filtered towards special interest groups in a spiral of spending and improper utilization of excise taxes. He writes that the U.S hike in excise taxes was a poor choice. Even more, since the funds filtered towards certain special interest groups disappeared after the first New Deal ended, it left many unemployed and vulnerable again. As a matter of fact, Folsom notes that Roosevelt is rated as one of the greatest presidents, yet his New Deal did far from great things to the American people. However, the Great Depression darkened the economies

The Great Depression of 1929 was one of America’s most influential downfalls that crippled society for years. The depression caused many years of failure and poverty for almost all of society. The government’s role during these times was crucial and critical for turning around the economy. The depression had a major effect on government’s power and involvement with the people and states. The government was less involved before the depression.