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New Deal Dbq

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On October 29th, 1929, Black Tuesday, the stock market crashed and lead to the worst fall of economy in the modern world. When Franklin Delano Roosevelt took office in 1933, he had a plan to help America out of the Great Depression. The “New Deal” was all about relief, recovery, and reform. First, the goal of relief was to provide the citizens in need with employment, mortgage loans, and direct funds to help get them back on their feet. Recovery was to aid farmers, business owners, and the working class in hopes to bring the nation out of the seemingly interminable depression. Finally, the goal of reform was to eliminate future depressions through creating laws and agencies to protect banks, investors, consumers, the elderly, and the unemployed, …show more content…

First off, Franklin D. Roosevelt did not end unemployment for Americans. Before Black Thursday, the unemployment rate was at 3.2% in 1929 and by 1939 it was up to about 19%. When you look at it that way it certainly doesn’t look good on FDR’s part, but in 1932, when he took office, the rate was at 24.2% which proves that the New Deal did successfully eliminate a major chunk of the unemployed. By imposing “above-market” wages, it was more expensive for employers to hire. That is used as an argument for unemployment but what it did was allow employees of wealthier companies to earn a better income, and those who weren’t included in that could be potentially employed by the WPA. The Work Progress Administration was expensive, but in order to get the economy turning, you’ve got to put money in to get money out. This of course sparks another concern that the nation had become dependent on federal investments, which is true. Between 1933 and 1940, federal taxes were nearly tripled in order to fund the New Deal, but the government should take charge if the citizens are in need, and that’s what they …show more content…

citizens. President Hoover’s “trickle down” method was to provide for the “top” wealthy percentage of citizens and it was assumed that they would pass on their wealth to the “bottom” by spending. The theory sounds great that riches would eventually trickle down in attempt to even out the country’s economic standing, but that’s not how reality works. Hoover relied solely on his theory to stabilize the economy of America, but he was not paying enough attention the fact that he was clearly just handing the rich more money. This angered millions of Americans, which is why Roosevelt’s plan gave hope. FDR promised to flip Hoover’s structure upside down and put those who actually needed the help at the top, and make the wealthy his last priority. Roosevelt taking action triggered the government to stimulate the economy instead of just sitting back and watching it fluctuate

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