Apush

APUSH
Mrs. Passerelli
APUSH

The stock market crash in the 1920’s shook the nation from top to bottom. There was immense amount of chaos through the country because people had lost their entire life savings and weren’t ever going to get them back and some people because of sudden poverty were turning into homeless citizens. All banks had to shut its doors for the public because there was no more money left to give. President Hoover and his administration used the “leave it alone” approach, which meant that the government would not intervene in businesses. Many citizens were angered by this approach and protested in front of the white house thus creating the hoovervilles. In this mass amount of protesters, there were large amounts of WWI veterans ready to collect their pensions. By the time of the 1933 election, FDR had won the election by a land slide. Although the election of FDR and the creation of his “New Deal” didn’t bring an end to the Great Depression, it did bring Relief, Reform and Recovery. These three components helped the nation to recover from powerful old fashioned economic laws. In the process, the Great Depression’s impact was weakened and was going to slowly fade away by the end of WWII. Through the creation of “alphabet agencies” to provide jobs for the citizens, the large amount of jobless people of the Great Depression decreased. The Civil Works Administration (CWA 1933) constructed roads, schools and parks, employing over 4 million workers from November 1933-April 1934. Another agency known as the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA 1933) created dams all across the region and then used those dams to create cheap electricity for seven states in the TN area. Also the National Youth Administration (NYA 1935) provided work and scholarships to high school and college men and women to excel in life for their families. Men and women were given the chance to acquire a good education and become productive members in society to help better the nation. By reforming Industrial and Agricultural businesses, the “New Deal” was able to revive the firm sectors of the economy. This was accomplished by the Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA 1933) which set limits on production of wheat, cotton, corn, hogs, rice, tobacco and dairy products. It also paid subsidies to individual farmers for leaving land idle to which gross farm income increased by half in three years. Also the National Recovery Administration (NRA 1933) helped by setting minimum wages, maximum hours in a week and abolished child labor. Also the tremendous amounts of jobs being produced with agencies brought relief and reform to the people and were slowly climbing out of poverty.

The reformation of the money and business sector was able to rebuild the trust in the previously failing banks and corrupt stock market which lead the nation towards recovery. For example, the Emergency Banking Act of 1933 closed all banks in the U.S for four days so the federal government could go in and see if the bank is capable of reopening. Also the government provided federal assistance to troubled banks resulting in ¾ of the banks to reopen within three days. A collective amount of $1 billion flowed back into the banks. Also the Glass Steagall Act of 1933 established the Federal deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), which guaranteed the American people all deposits up to $2500. Most importantly the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC 1934) was developed to oversee the stock market so in the future there isn’t any corruption. Most Americans because of these actions were beginning to recover from not trusting the banks and government at all with their money. Although the “New Deal” didn’t fully crack the Great Depression which was later overcame by WWII, it did reform a stable economy and provide relief to the American people. Countless Americans received jobs and veterans were given their pensions so they could live peacefully. Trust was formed between the people and the government again and it signaled that the horrific depression was coming to an end. Coming to an end was seen to be possible of FDR’s “New Deal”, which was Relief, Reform and Recover.