Argument for the FDR’s New Deal Policies
Two major factors of promised growth in America were the automobile and the radio. These two products changed the
economy in America according to background and causes of the Great Depression. Information from Great Depression:
FDR and the 1st and 2nd New Deal, the Great Depression began while Herbert Hoover was President. Hoover’s
handling of the Depression was unsuccessful because he did not know how to communicate with the people. His idea
that tax breaks for the wealthy would help the lower class was a failure. Stated in Background and Causes of the Great
Depression, another reason that seemed to lead to the cause of the great depression was that people began buying stocks
with money that they borrowed which caused the value of the American dollar to fall, which in turn caused the stock
market to crash. All these reasons lead to the economy becoming unstable. The government of future generations
changed dramatically due to FDR’s new deal polices during his terms as President. Franklin Delano Roosevelt began
with a plan called the First New Deal, of getting people who are out of work back to work with the hope that this would
fix the economy quickly. FDR’s next plan was called the Second New Deal, this idea was to help and protect rights of
working individuals during and after the depression. Both of FDR’s New Deals had positive and negative aspects for
the government and the people of America.
According to FDR How he changed America-and still affects your life today, President Franklin D. Roosevelt was
credited for keeping America a democracy during the worst periods in American history which were the Great
Depression and World War II. Information from Great Depression: FDR and the 1st and 2nd New Deal, FDR’s plan
called the First New Deal secured the banking industry by establishing the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
(F.D.I.C.) which guaranteed people who put their money in the bank that if the bank failed they would be insured and
get their money back. The new deal also formed the Industrial National Recovery Act (INRA) to protect the workers
and buyers by steadying prices, wages, and the production rates of industry. A program detailed in Great Depression:
FDR and the 1st and 2nd New Deal helped farmers and agriculture production called the Agriculture Adjustment
Administration (AAA), it was developed to protect farmers if their crops were ruined or too many crops were produced
and there was no market to sell them. In the mid west the farmers had to deal with drought and wind which was known
as the Dust Bowl and killed animals and crops which was very destructive for the farmers. Another act in the new deal
outlined in FDR How he changed America-and still affects your life today helped people with employment and was
called the Federal Employment Act which created jobs of building dams, streets, and writing and art. This Act was
followed by the Civilian Conservation Corps., (CCC) helped employing young people in public works jobs. These
programs and acts were designed to help the people of America to quickly boost the economy and destroy the Great
Depression surrounding them.
President Roosevelt’s Second New Deal as mentioned in Great Depression: FDR and the 1st and 2nd deal were
programs to help those who could not recover from the depression on their own. The Social Security Act was
developed to help older Americans with retirement benefits. Also, under the Social Security Act, those laid-off from
jobs would receive money from unemployment insurance. Child protection put aside Social Security money for
children under eighteen whose parent died. According to information from FDR How he changed America-and still
affects your life today, the Wagner Act and the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 prevented employers from firing
or being unfair to employees who join a union. These acts were also involved with the Fair Labor Standard Act to set
up a minimum wage and create a 5-day, 40-hour work week to open up employment to many instead of few workers.
Further data from Great Depression: FDR and the 1st and 2nd New Deal angered some of the public because Roosevelt
used a system called Court Packing plan which meant that he appointed 6 new judges on the 9 member Supreme Court,
making 15 judges, with the intention that the majority of judges would vote for his new deals.
During the 20’s, Americans enjoyed more freedom in travel with the manufacture of the automobile according to
Background and Causes of the Great Depression. They did not have to live only in cities so more buildings, stores and
streets were built to accommodate urbanization. The radio also helped introduce America to more public
announcements and advertising. Development of new products caused Americans to want more and when they did not
have the money to purchase immediately, they began borrowing money. Background and causes of the Great
Depression, further explains that Americans wanted money fast which could be made in the stock market, but they
borrowed more than they could pay back causing the stock market to crash which lead to depression all over the world.
The expansion of Government benefited some Americans because it allowed changes that helped Americans get back
to work and provided for their families. Great Depression: FDR and the 1st and 2nd New Deal claims that some of the
changes created higher taxes and less money for personal spending. Minimum wage stopped employers from
underpaying their employees, but employees continued to want more benefits and began labor unions which sometimes
hurt the profit and production of the businesses.
FDR’s New Deal Policies lead to numerous changes in the role of government for future generations. The future of
America was affected in many ways during the Great Depression. The origination of the United Nations by Roosevelt
helped in peacekeeping programs stated in FDR How he changed America-and still affects your life today. The 22nd
Amendment was a result of Roosevelt trying to run for president a fourth time, the new law states that "No person shall
be elected to the office of President more than twice." All the extra government programs need funding and the money
came from Americans paying more and more taxes. The tax money was not enough for all the programs designed to
help less fortunate Americans so America has a huge debt. Some of these changes were needed to protect future
generations, but some of the programs have created deficit spending causing the government to come up with ways of
stimulating the economy. One of the ways is by creating stimulus checks to be sent out this summer to American
families.
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