New Deal Research Paper
Vibhav Kollu
Honors English III
December 21, 2010
The New Deal’s Lasting Effect on Society “I pledge you, I pledge myself, to a new deal for the American people,” President Franklin Delano Roosevelt said after winning his party’s nomination in 1932 ("A New Deal for Americans"). The 1930s was a time of great economic depression; in response the New Deal was FDR’s plan for America’s recovery. By 1933, when FDR took office, one in four Americans was unemployed. Furthermore, there was widespread hunger, malnutrition, overcrowding, and poor health. The New Deal was made to combat these tragic conditions and it did so through the means of welfare and government intervention. Indeed, the New Deal was a radical change to the way America had operated before, but radical times call for radical change. President Franklin D. Roosevelt had an outstanding impact on America in the 1930s and the years to come. His plan, the New Deal, restore confidence to the American banking system, started major labor reform, created and expanded infrastructure, gave help to rural areas, and influenced the way people thought for many years. The American banking system had completely collapsed in the early 1930s. There were runs on many banks. Furthermore, people stood in extremely long lines to take even a little portion of their remaining savings left. Many banks were failing. Suddenly, millions of Americans had no savings whatsoever. Moreover, businesses struggled to survive, and many had to close down. Herbert Hoover then established the Reconstruction Finance Corporation to help overwhelmed banks, but it was too little too late. In effect, the American people now had near to no confidence in the banking system anymore. When President Roosevelt came into office, he inherited these terrible banking conditions. One of the first actions he took when he gained office was tp call for a special session with congress. During this session, he called for a national banking holiday, which later
Honors English III
December 21, 2010
The New Deal’s Lasting Effect on Society “I pledge you, I pledge myself, to a new deal for the American people,” President Franklin Delano Roosevelt said after winning his party’s nomination in 1932 ("A New Deal for Americans"). The 1930s was a time of great economic depression; in response the New Deal was FDR’s plan for America’s recovery. By 1933, when FDR took office, one in four Americans was unemployed. Furthermore, there was widespread hunger, malnutrition, overcrowding, and poor health. The New Deal was made to combat these tragic conditions and it did so through the means of welfare and government intervention. Indeed, the New Deal was a radical change to the way America had operated before, but radical times call for radical change. President Franklin D. Roosevelt had an outstanding impact on America in the 1930s and the years to come. His plan, the New Deal, restore confidence to the American banking system, started major labor reform, created and expanded infrastructure, gave help to rural areas, and influenced the way people thought for many years. The American banking system had completely collapsed in the early 1930s. There were runs on many banks. Furthermore, people stood in extremely long lines to take even a little portion of their remaining savings left. Many banks were failing. Suddenly, millions of Americans had no savings whatsoever. Moreover, businesses struggled to survive, and many had to close down. Herbert Hoover then established the Reconstruction Finance Corporation to help overwhelmed banks, but it was too little too late. In effect, the American people now had near to no confidence in the banking system anymore. When President Roosevelt came into office, he inherited these terrible banking conditions. One of the first actions he took when he gained office was tp call for a special session with congress. During this session, he called for a national banking holiday, which later
Cited: "A New Deal for Americans." Great Depression and New Deal Primary Sources. UXL-GALE, 2005. eNotes.com. 2006. 19 Dec, 2010 <http://www.enotes.com/great-depression-primary-sources/new-deal-americans> Bondi, Victor. American Decades: 1930-1939. Farmington Hills, MI, 1995. Print Dodds, Eric, and Kaplan. “An Enduring New Deal.” Time 6 July 2009. 36 Student Resoucre Center – Gold Web. 2 Dec. 2010 <http://find.galegroup.com/gps/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T003&prodId=IPS&docId=A161980014&source=gale&srcprod=SRCG&userGroupName=conc63834&version=1.0> Friedrich, Otto. “FDR’s Disputed Legacy. (Special Section) (Franklin Delano Roosevelt) (Cover Story).” Time 1 Feb. 1982: 26. Student Resource Center – Gold. Web. 2 Dec. 2010 <http://find.galegroup.com/gps/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T003&prodId=IPS&docId=A193469426&source=gale&srcprod=CPSN&userGroupName=conc63834&version=1.0> “New Deal.” Gale Encyclopedia of US Economic History. Ed. Thomas Carson and Mark Bonk. Detroit: Gale Group. 1999. Student Resource Center – Gold. Web. 3 Dec. 2010 <http://find.galegroup.com/gps/infomark.do?&contentSet=GSRC&type=retrieve&tabID=T001&prodId=IPS&docId=EJ1667500465&source=gale&srcprod=SRCG&userGroupName=conc63834&version=1.0> Rothschild, Daniel M. “Whitewashing FDR a New Deal apologia arrives just in time for Barrack Obama.” Reason April 2 2009: 55t. Student Resource Center – Gold. Web. 2 Dec. 2010 <http://find.galegroup.com/gps/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T004&prodId=IPS&docId=CJ192283897&source=gale&srcprod=SRCG&userGroupName=conc63834&version=1.0> “The New Deal.” Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. History: Government and Politics. Ed. Anne Marie Hadt and Dwayne D. Hayes. Detroit: Gale. 2008. Student Resource Center – Gold. Web. 3 Dec. 2010 <http://find.galegroup.com/gps/infomark.do?&contentSet=GSRC&type=retrieve&tabID=T001&prodId=IPS&docId=EJ3048400160&source=gale&srcprod=SRCG&userGroupName=conc63834&version=1.0>