the new deal great depression essay

Home — Essay Samples — History — The New Deal — The Great Depression and the New Deal: An Analysis

The Great Depression and The New Deal: an Analysis

• Categories: Great Depression The New Deal

About this sample

Words: 992 |

Published: Feb 9, 2022

Words: 992 | Pages: 2 | 5 min read

Cite this Essay

To export a reference to this article please select a referencing style below:

Let us write you an essay from scratch

• 450+ experts on 30 subjects ready to help
• Custom essay delivered in as few as 3 hours

Get high-quality help

Prof Ernest (PhD)

Verified writer

• Expert in: History

+ 120 experts online

By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy . We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email

No need to pay just yet!

Related Essays

2 pages / 1080 words

3 pages / 1157 words

2 pages / 712 words

2 pages / 770 words

Remember! This is just a sample.

You can get your custom paper by one of our expert writers.

121 writers online

Still can’t find what you need?

Browse our vast selection of original essay samples, each expertly formatted and styled

Related Essays on The New Deal

The 32nd President of the United States and serving the longest in American history, Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) has been called a great leader, humanitarian, skilled politician, and self-confident. The American people were [...]

U.S. History. (n.d.). HISTORY. Retrieved December 23, 2020, from 3.

The Alphabet Agencies were a series of government organizations established during the New Deal era in the United States. These agencies were created in response to the Great Depression to address various economic and social [...]

In 1929, the Stock Market crashed, sending Americans into a panic. Franklin Delano Roosevelt won the presidential election of 1932, restoring people’s faith with his promise to end the Great Depression with his New Deal. FDR’s [...]

The unemployment rate rose sharply during the Great Depression and reached its peak at the moment Franklin D. Roosevelt took office. As New Deal programs were enacted, the unemployment rate gradually lowered. ( Bureau of Labor [...]

The New Deal, implemented by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in response to the Great Depression, is often praised for its positive impact on the American economy and society. However, it is essential to also consider the [...]

Related Topics

By clicking “Send”, you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement . We will occasionally send you account related emails.

Where do you want us to send this sample?

By clicking “Continue”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy.

Be careful. This essay is not unique

This essay was donated by a student and is likely to have been used and submitted before

Download this Sample

Free samples may contain mistakes and not unique parts

Sorry, we could not paraphrase this essay. Our professional writers can rewrite it and get you a unique paper.

Please check your inbox.

We can write you a custom essay that will follow your exact instructions and meet the deadlines. Let's fix your grades together!

Get Your Personalized Essay in 3 Hours or Less!

We use cookies to personalyze your web-site experience. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .

• Instructions Followed To The Letter
• Deadlines Met At Every Stage
• Unique And Plagiarism Free

The Great Depression and the New Deal Phenomenon Essay

The Great Depression was a phenomenon that did significant damage to the American economy. Before that, the economy grew on an unseen scale under President Hoover, but the growth was marked by excess and inequity, which eventually caused the Wall Street Crash. Hoover, clinging to the laissez-faire policy, was completely unable to alleviate the depression; on the contrary, F. D. Roosevelt introduced numerous steps (which became known as “the New Deal”) and provided significant governmental assistance to the population, which allowed the country to recover from the depression.

The Great Depression came to the USA in October 1929, with the bloated stock market crash known as the Wall Street Crash. In the preceding years, the U.S. had experienced a major growth in its economy under the President Herbert Hoover, a Republican.

However, the growth was extremely intense. While the level of life of an average American increased significantly, the owners of businesses, especially large ones, benefited the most. With time, due to the highly unequal distribution of income, as well as to the depression in farming regions, the buying capacity of Americans decreased significantly; this led to the inability to purchase the goods present in the market. It meant that companies could no longer sell their products; the products accumulated in the markets, unsold.

The businesses also could not hire employees or pay them salaries, so the unemployment rose. Everything “exploded” with the Wall Street Crash; tremendous amounts of money were withdrawn from the banks, and the latter were not able to collect debts from stagnating European banks. Numerous investors were wiped out of the market, and many businesses went bankrupt, while the surviving ones introduced layoffs and salary cuts, deepening the depression further (Foner 800).

President Hoover response to the Depression was controversial. He listened to his advisers who stated that crises were a normal part of capitalism (which they are), and that people should “tighten the belt” so that the unproductive firms die out and the moral virtue among the poor is born in large quantities (which is a doubtful point of view, though it apparently does follow from the logic of capitalism).

It was not realized by the government that the lower and middle classes constituted a crucial part of the people’s buying capacity, and that without the “less fortunate” being able to earn money, the depression would be only likely to worsen. Hoover strongly opposed any governmental aid to the needy, and continued hoping that the situation would solve on its own, as a result of voluntary steps of the business.

The Republican Congress under Hoover took a number of unsuccessful attempts to resolve the situation (in 1932 such as increasing taxes, which only further reduced the buying power of Americans); finally, in 1932, Hoover admitted that his politics had failed, and took some steps to help businesses, but not the unemployed (Foner 802-803).

On the other hand, when Roosevelt won the election in 1933, he took numerous steps which were almost opposite to what Hoover proposed. Before the elections, he offered the Americans “a new deal”; even though the notion was vague at the time, his policy became known under that name.

FDR significantly changed the relationship between businesses and the government, limited the actions of banks, and introduced significant governmental help to the population. In the first 100 days of his rule, Roosevelt adopted a large number of laws and established various national agencies aimed at addressing the crisis (Foner 812-813).

Among the acts adopted by the Congress under FDR, there were AAA (Agricultural Adjustment Act) and NIRA (National Industrial Recovery Act). AAA provided subsidies for farmers for not planting crops on a part of their territory, and for killing excess domesticated animals, which would defeat the excess of the farming products in the markets and increase their price.

NIRA established NRA (the National Recovery Administration) which was to set standards “for output, prices, and working conditions,” so that “‘cutthroat competition’… would be ended”; still, corporations turned NRA to their advantage, so it did little to help the situation (Foner 813-814).

The Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) was an agency that provided states with finances to run relief programs and create jobs. In March 1933, CCC (the Civilian Conservation Corps) was created to employ young men in projects such as forest preservation or improvement of nature reserves, which allowed them to earn at least some wages from the government.

In November, the Civil Works Administration (CWA) was established to provide temporary jobs (such as construction of roads, tunnels, etc.) to larger numbers of unemployed people to help them survive the winter. CWA, however, became too costly to the government, and was dismissed in spring 1934 (Foner 813-815).

In 1934, FDR decreased governmental employment for the needy. In 1935, however, he restored his politics. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) was established; it provided jobs for nearly 3 million people who built bridges and buildings, organized art projects, etc.; WPA worked until 1943 and provided help to great numbers of people who were in the desperate need of a job (Foner 825).

To sum up, it should be stressed that the Great Depression came to the U.S. as a result of the highly unequal distribution of income, which meant that the population, the main purchasing power of the people, could buy not nearly enough products from the market, so the goods were left unsold, and the production stopped.

While the Hoover’s laissez-faire policy proved impotent in fighting the crisis, Roosevelt’s “New Deal,” which included numerous programs of social security, governmental jobs for the unemployed, etc., alleviated the situation and allowed the country to recover from the economic disaster.

Works Cited

Foner, Eric. Give Me Liberty!: An American History . Vol. 2. 4th ed. 2013. New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company. Print.

• Roaring 1920’s in the USA
• Frederick Douglass and His Incredible Life
• FDR Impacts on American Economy of New Deal
• FDR’s New Deal: Democratic Platform
• The Concept of Laissez-Faire Leadership Style
• American History From Reconstruction to World War I
• American Revolution: Reclaiming Rights and Powers
• Gilded Age and Progressive Era Freedom Challenges
• Women Status after the American Revolution
• Slavery and the Abolition of Slave Trade
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2020, May 4). The Great Depression and the New Deal Phenomenon. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-great-depression-and-the-new-deal-phenomenon/

"The Great Depression and the New Deal Phenomenon." IvyPanda , 4 May 2020, ivypanda.com/essays/the-great-depression-and-the-new-deal-phenomenon/.

IvyPanda . (2020) 'The Great Depression and the New Deal Phenomenon'. 4 May.

IvyPanda . 2020. "The Great Depression and the New Deal Phenomenon." May 4, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-great-depression-and-the-new-deal-phenomenon/.

1. IvyPanda . "The Great Depression and the New Deal Phenomenon." May 4, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-great-depression-and-the-new-deal-phenomenon/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "The Great Depression and the New Deal Phenomenon." May 4, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-great-depression-and-the-new-deal-phenomenon/.

• To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
• As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
• As a template for you assignment

IvyPanda uses cookies and similar technologies to enhance your experience, enabling functionalities such as:

• Basic site functions
• Ensuring secure, safe transactions
• Secure account login
• Remembering account, browser, and regional preferences
• Remembering privacy and security settings
• Analyzing site traffic and usage
• Personalized search, content, and recommendations
• Displaying relevant, targeted ads on and off IvyPanda

Please refer to IvyPanda's Cookies Policy and Privacy Policy for detailed information.

Certain technologies we use are essential for critical functions such as security and site integrity, account authentication, security and privacy preferences, internal site usage and maintenance data, and ensuring the site operates correctly for browsing and transactions.

Cookies and similar technologies are used to enhance your experience by:

• Remembering general and regional preferences
• Personalizing content, search, recommendations, and offers

Some functions, such as personalized recommendations, account preferences, or localization, may not work correctly without these technologies. For more details, please refer to IvyPanda's Cookies Policy .

To enable personalized advertising (such as interest-based ads), we may share your data with our marketing and advertising partners using cookies and other technologies. These partners may have their own information collected about you. Turning off the personalized advertising setting won't stop you from seeing IvyPanda ads, but it may make the ads you see less relevant or more repetitive.

Personalized advertising may be considered a "sale" or "sharing" of the information under California and other state privacy laws, and you may have the right to opt out. Turning off personalized advertising allows you to exercise your right to opt out. Learn more in IvyPanda's Cookies Policy and Privacy Policy .

• Roosevelt’s “New Deal” in Great Depression Words: 759
• Great Depression and New Deal Impact on Minorities Words: 947
• The Great Depression and the New Deal Farm Policies Words: 2044
• History: Great Depression and New Deal for Society Words: 945
• The Great Depression and Its Effects on Minorities Words: 1092
• Great Depression and Romanticism in America Words: 1461
• The Great Depression in the United States Words: 553
• The Great Depression vs. The Civil Rights Movement Words: 604
• John A Garraty on Great Depression Review Words: 1378
• The Impact of the Great Depression on Education Words: 830

The Great Depression and the New Deal

The Great Depression was among the most devastating events, which affected and severely hindered the US economy. It is important to note that Americans faced a wide range of issues, which included unemployment, homelessness, the collapse of international trade, deflation, economic output shrinkage, the banking system failure, stock market failure, and the loss of faith in capitalism (Amadeo). For example, it is stated that during the Great Depression, unemployment reached 25%, and despite the housing prices plummeting, homelessness was at its highest (Amadeo). In addition, the GDP of the United States was reduced by half, and international trade declined by 67% (Amadeo). In other words, many financial and economic elements of the country and its citizens were heavily hit by the Depression.

The government under the Roosevelt administration provided solutions in the form of legislation with the goal of stimulating recovery, creating more jobs, and stabilizing agricultural and industrial sectors (History.com Editors). The Securities and Exchange Commission or SEC was established to regulate the stock market, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or FDIC was put in place to protect accounts of deposits (History.com Editors). The New Deal was the cornerstone of the government’s solution, which included major infrastructural projects, such as the Tennessee Valley Authority or TVA, and employment programs, such as the Works Progress Administration WPA (History.com Editors). In addition, the Social Security Act was implemented to provide social security for the unemployed, elderly, and people with disabilities (History.com Editors).

It is important to note that the New Deal was effective at catalyzing the overall recovery of the nation from the Great Depression due to its aggressiveness and promptness. However, it still had major flaws, and it is stated that “the New Deal was never a coherent, interconnected effort to deal with the various dimensions of the Depression in a systematic way” (Winkler 1).

Amadeo, Kimberly. “The 9 Principal Effects of the Great Depression.” The Balance. n.d. 

History.com Editors. “Great Depression History.” History. n.d. 

Winkler, Allan M. “The New Deal: Accomplishments and Failures.” U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. n.d.

Cite this paper

• Chicago (N-B)
• Chicago (A-D)

StudyCorgi. (2022, September 18). The Great Depression and the New Deal. https://studycorgi.com/the-great-depression-and-the-new-deal/

"The Great Depression and the New Deal." StudyCorgi , 18 Sept. 2022, studycorgi.com/the-great-depression-and-the-new-deal/.

StudyCorgi . (2022) 'The Great Depression and the New Deal'. 18 September.

1. StudyCorgi . "The Great Depression and the New Deal." September 18, 2022. https://studycorgi.com/the-great-depression-and-the-new-deal/.

Bibliography

StudyCorgi . "The Great Depression and the New Deal." September 18, 2022. https://studycorgi.com/the-great-depression-and-the-new-deal/.

StudyCorgi . 2022. "The Great Depression and the New Deal." September 18, 2022. https://studycorgi.com/the-great-depression-and-the-new-deal/.

This paper, “The Great Depression and the New Deal”, was written and voluntary submitted to our free essay database by a straight-A student. Please ensure you properly reference the paper if you're using it to write your assignment.

Before publication, the StudyCorgi editorial team proofread and checked the paper to make sure it meets the highest standards in terms of grammar, punctuation, style, fact accuracy, copyright issues, and inclusive language. Last updated: December 7, 2022 .

If you are the author of this paper and no longer wish to have it published on StudyCorgi, request the removal . Please use the “ Donate your paper ” form to submit an essay.

• History Classics
• Your Profile
• Find History on Facebook (Opens in a new window)
• Find History on Twitter (Opens in a new window)
• Find History on YouTube (Opens in a new window)
• Find History on Instagram (Opens in a new window)
• Find History on TikTok (Opens in a new window)
• This Day In History
• History Podcasts
• History Vault

By: History.com Editors

Updated: March 28, 2023 | Original: October 29, 2009

The New Deal was a series of programs and projects instituted during the Great Depression by President Franklin D. Roosevelt that aimed to restore prosperity to Americans. When Roosevelt took office in 1933, he acted swiftly to stabilize the economy and provide jobs and relief to those who were suffering. Over the next eight years, the government instituted a series of experimental New Deal projects and programs, such as the CCC , the WPA , the TVA, the SEC and others. Roosevelt’s New Deal fundamentally and permanently changed the U.S. federal government by expanding its size and scope—especially its role in the economy.

New Deal for the American People

On March 4, 1933, during the bleakest days of the Great Depression , newly elected President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered his first inaugural address before 100,000 people on Washington’s Capitol Plaza.

“First of all,” he said, “let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

He promised that he would act swiftly to face the “dark realities of the moment” and assured Americans that he would “wage a war against the emergency” just as though “we were in fact invaded by a foreign foe.” His speech gave many people confidence that they’d elected a man who was not afraid to take bold steps to solve the nation’s problems.

Did you know? Unemployment levels in some cities reached staggering levels during the Great Depression: By 1933, Toledo, Ohio's had reached 80 percent, and nearly 90 percent of Lowell, Massachusetts, was unemployed.

The next day, Roosevelt declared a four-day bank holiday to stop people from withdrawing their money from shaky banks. On March 9, Congress passed Roosevelt’s Emergency Banking Act, which reorganized the banks and closed the ones that were insolvent.

In his first “ fireside chat ” three days later, the president urged Americans to put their savings back in the banks, and by the end of the month almost three quarters of them had reopened.

The First Hundred Days

Roosevelt’s quest to end the Great Depression was just beginning, and would ramp up in what came to be known as “ The First 100 Days .” Roosevelt kicked things off by asking Congress to take the first step toward ending Prohibition —one of the more divisive issues of the 1920s—by making it legal once again for Americans to buy beer. (At the end of the year, Congress ratified the 21st Amendment and ended Prohibition for good.)

In May, he signed the Tennessee Valley Authority Act into law, creating the TVA and enabling the federal government to build dams along the Tennessee River that controlled flooding and generated inexpensive hydroelectric power for the people in the region.

That same month, Congress passed a bill that paid commodity farmers (farmers who produced things like wheat, dairy products, tobacco and corn) to leave their fields fallow in order to end agricultural surpluses and boost prices.

June’s National Industrial Recovery Act guaranteed that workers would have the right to unionize and bargain collectively for higher wages and better working conditions; it also suspended some antitrust laws and established a federally funded Public Works Administration.

In addition to the Agricultural Adjustment Act, the Tennessee Valley Authority Act and the National Industrial Recovery Act, Roosevelt had won passage of 12 other major laws, including the Glass-Steagall Act (an important banking bill) and the Home Owners’ Loan Act, in his first 100 days in office.

Almost every American found something to be pleased about and something to complain about in this motley collection of bills, but it was clear to all that FDR was taking the “direct, vigorous” action that he’d promised in his inaugural address.

Second New Deal

Despite the best efforts of President Roosevelt and his cabinet, however, the Great Depression continued. Unemployment persisted, the economy remained unstable, farmers continued to struggle in the Dust Bowl and people grew angrier and more desperate.

So, in the spring of 1935, Roosevelt launched a second, more aggressive series of federal programs, sometimes called the Second New Deal.

In April, he created the Works Progress Administration (WPA) to provide jobs for unemployed people. WPA projects weren’t allowed to compete with private industry, so they focused on building things like post offices, bridges, schools, highways and parks. The WPA also gave work to artists, writers, theater directors and musicians.

In July 1935, the National Labor Relations Act , also known as the Wagner Act, created the National Labor Relations Board to supervise union elections and prevent businesses from treating their workers unfairly. In August, FDR signed the Social Security Act of 1935, which guaranteed pensions to millions of Americans, set up a system of unemployment insurance and stipulated that the federal government would help care for dependent children and the disabled.

In 1936, while campaigning for a second term, FDR told a roaring crowd at Madison Square Garden that “The forces of ‘organized money’ are unanimous in their hate for me—and I welcome their hatred.”

He went on: “I should like to have it said of my first Administration that in it the forces of selfishness and of lust for power met their match, [and] I should like to have it said of my second Administration that in it these forces have met their master.”

This FDR had come a long way from his earlier repudiation of class-based politics and was promising a much more aggressive fight against the people who were profiting from the Depression-era troubles of ordinary Americans. He won the election by a landslide.

Still, the Great Depression dragged on. Workers grew more militant: In December 1936, for example, the United Auto Workers strike at a GM plant in Flint, Michigan lasted for 44 days and spread to some 150,000 autoworkers in 35 cities.

By 1937, to the dismay of most corporate leaders, some 8 million workers had joined unions and were loudly demanding their rights.

9 New Deal Infrastructure Projects That Changed America

The Hoover Dam, LaGuardia Airport and the Bay Bridge were all part of FDR's New Deal investment.

How a New Deal Housing Program Enforced Segregation

In the 1930s, the FHA refused to insure houses for Black families, or even insure houses in white neighborhoods that were too close to Black ones.

Did New Deal Programs Help End the Great Depression?

While the New Deal did have a lasting impact on the U.S. economy, other significant factors contributed toward ending the Great Depression by June 1938.

The End of the New Deal?

Meanwhile, the New Deal itself confronted one political setback after another. Arguing that they represented an unconstitutional extension of federal authority, the conservative majority on the Supreme Court had already invalidated reform initiatives like the National Recovery Administration and the Agricultural Adjustment Administration.

In order to protect his programs from further meddling, in 1937 President Roosevelt announced a plan to add enough liberal justices to the Court to neutralize the “obstructionist” conservatives.

This “ Court-packing ” turned out to be unnecessary—soon after they caught wind of the plan, the conservative justices started voting to uphold New Deal projects—but the episode did a good deal of public-relations damage to the administration and gave ammunition to many of the president’s Congressional opponents.

That same year, the economy slipped back into a recession when the government reduced its stimulus spending. Despite this seeming vindication of New Deal policies, increasing anti-Roosevelt sentiment made it difficult for him to enact any new programs.

On December 7, 1941, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and the United States entered World War II . The war effort stimulated American industry and, as a result, effectively ended the Great Depression .

The New Deal and American Politics

From 1933 until 1941, President Roosevelt’s New Deal programs and policies did more than just adjust interest rates, tinker with farm subsidies and create short-term make-work programs.

They created a brand-new, if tenuous, political coalition that included white working people, African Americans and left-wing intellectuals. More women entered the workforce as Roosevelt expanded the number of secretarial roles in government. These groups rarely shared the same interests—at least, they rarely thought they did— but they did share a powerful belief that an interventionist government was good for their families, the economy and the nation.

Their coalition has splintered over time, but many of the New Deal programs that bound them together—Social Security, unemployment insurance and federal agricultural subsidies, for instance—are still with us today.

Photo Galleries

Sign up for Inside History

Get HISTORY’s most fascinating stories delivered to your inbox three times a week.

By submitting your information, you agree to receive emails from HISTORY and A+E Networks. You can opt out at any time. You must be 16 years or older and a resident of the United States.

More details : Privacy Notice | Terms of Use | Contact Us