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Cause and effects of the great depression
The causes and consequences of the great depression
Explain causes and effects of the great depression
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When we look at the ways the New Deal compared to Populism and Progressivism, we must look at the three individually. We will also look at how the New Deal was effective and the most important legacies that spawned from it. Whether you agree with the New Deal, Populism, or the Progressivism movement we have to understand the increase of the poverty population due to the “gross national product declining 10 percent, 100,000 businesses going bankrupt, and nearly 5 million American losing their jobs” (Brinkley, 527).
When we look at the New Deal, it was considered to be the defining moment in America’s history that had a comparable impact to what was felt similar to the Civil War. “The history of relief during the New Deal began with hope for
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a national program to tackle poverty as a social disease” (Brock 1988). Never in the history of America was there ever a change in the government’s legislation and policies that they produced, this political process became what is known as the center of the American political authority. What made this change so unique was the fact that it occurred during a major time in the collapse of the economy. In the past during crises, the government placed a restriction on the reformation and reduced any spending in order to balance the budget and provide some form of stability to help the economic progression. The New Deal changed that pattern in the effort to lift the country out of the hard times but in the process it changed American social and economic policies forever. Populism was a movement that occurred during the late 1800’s.
It is believed that “the ultimate cause of the populist movement was quite varied and can include a wide range of both economic and cultural issues” (Abbott 2008). But the chief main goal for this movement was to help the under privileged by making the ability to obtain credit much easier. Populism also created a way for farmers could deposit their crops in warehouses and “borrow money from the government at low rates of interests until the price of their goods increased” (Brinkley, 451). The populism movement was also remembered as the time when silver was made into coins. And finally, the populism movement was a time when populist were able to have several candidates put into power at the state level although none ever made it to be elected as …show more content…
president. Progressivism was a movement considered to be moralistic in terms that the primary goal was to take the poor and uplift them into the middle class by ways of reform. This movement produced child labor laws, passed prohibition or at least tried, and led the formation of many consumer reforms such as the Food and Drug Act. The Progressivism movement allowed women to establish themselves in many professional positions such as “physicians, lawyers, engineers, scientists, and corporate managers” (Brinkley, 480). It was believed that many presidential candidates had some form of progressive elements in their campaigns, such as Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson. How did were the three different in aspects?
The New Deal was started by the federal government, and populism and progressivism began more at a local level. But all three of these movements demonstrated how the American thought process shifted from a hands-off approach of handling the economic poverty to more of an active role of trying to uplift the people. Populism and Progressivism both failed in the fact the conditions of the country improved but all the leaders worried about was the increase dependency the people needed from the government. What we have to understand is how American politics are similar to a pendulum in the aspect that as the country tries to shift leftwards, we always end up correcting it back to the right. Even though all three of these movements didn’t occur one after another, they all show how our society and government will attempt to help out the growing numbers of people in poverty in this
country. As far as the New Deal is concerned, many people believe it failed because people believe it was headed in the same direction as communist countries. But we must look at the legacies that spawned from it. First of all the New Deal brought about many progressive ideas and its primary goal was trying to help the poor achieve the same status as the middle-class. Roosevelt designed the program to try and help “impoverished Americans survive until the government could revive the economy” (Brinkley, 580). The New Deal also created and provided pensions for the retired people and created a public works project. The New Deal brought about a relationship where in the first time in history the government felt as if it were part of the everyday lives of Americans. Despite some fails, the New Deal was able to change America from a political focused nation to one who offered more in the way of welfare and national planning.
In his book, A New Deal for the American People, Roger Biles analyzes the programs of the New Deal in regards to their impact on the American society as a whole. He discusses the successes and failures of the New Deal policy, and highlights the role it played in the forming of American history. He claims that the New Deal reform preserved the foundation of American federalism and represented the second American Revolution. Biles argues that despite its little reforms and un-revolutionary programs, the New Deal formed a very limited system with the creation of four stabilizers that helped to prevent another depression and balance the economy.
The New Deal sought to create a more progressive country through government growth, but resulted in a huge divide between liberals and conservatives. Prior to the New Deal, conservatives had already begun losing power within the government, allowing the Democratic Party to gain control and favoring by the American people (Postwar 284). With the Great Depression, came social tensions, economic instability, and many other issues that had to be solved for America’s wellbeing. The New Deal created a strong central government, providing the American people aid, interfering with businesses and the economy, allowing the federal government to handle issues they were never entrusted with before.
When populism was first used in the United States in the late 1800s, it was geared towards the farmers. The focus on farmers showed the interest the Populists had toward working class people, who made up the majority of the nation. Even though there were more working class people than wealthy, it was the wealthy business owners who ruled society. They ran political machines and monopolies and did not provide the best working and living conditions for their employees. William Jennings Bryan said, “There are two ideas of government...those who believe that if you just legislate to make the well-to-do prosperous that their prosperity will leak through on those below. The Democratic idea...if you legislate to make the masses prosperous their prosperity
This led to numerous viewpoints on the New Deal and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Critics on the left begged for relief and an expansion of New Deal programs where, those on the right argued that the poor did not deserve their money because they didn’t prepare well enough prior to the Great Depression and that they would take advantage of it. Criticisms originating on the left side of the political spectrum range from pure anger to arguments that are more supported. The arguments of the poorly educated leftist critics are full of anger and express what they believe to be injustices.
The New Deal did not notably benefit the majority of people. Walter Procter, in a letter to FDR, wrote, “The American worker – manual or brain – is not a dumb brutalized self. He is a man…why should ‘opportunity’ mean only opportunity for ...
During the 1920’s, America was a prosperous nation going through the “Big Boom” and loving every second of it. However, this fortune didn’t last long, because with the 1930’s came a period of serious economic recession, a period called the Great Depression. By 1933, a quarter of the nation’s workers (about 40 million) were without jobs. The weekly income rate dropped from $24.76 per week in 1929 to $16.65 per week in 1933 (McElvaine, 8). After President Hoover failed to rectify the recession situation, Franklin D. Roosevelt began his term with the hopeful New Deal. In two installments, Roosevelt hoped to relieve short term suffering with the first, and redistribution of money amongst the poor with the second. Throughout these years of the depression, many Americans spoke their minds through pen and paper. Many criticized Hoover’s policies of the early Depression and praised the Roosevelts’ efforts. Each opinion about the causes and solutions of the Great Depression are based upon economic, racial and social standing in America.
In all the history of America one thing has been made clear, historians can’t agree on much. It is valid seeing as none of them can travel back in time to actually experience the important events and even distinguish what has value and what doesn’t. Therefore all historians must make a leap and interpret the facts as best they can. The populist movement does not escape this paradox. Two views are widely accepted yet vastly different, the views of Richard Hofstadter and Lawrence Goodwyn. They disagree on whether populists were “isolated and paranoid bigots” or “sophisticated, empathetic egalitarians”; whether their leaders were “opportunists who victimized them” or “visionary economic theorists who liberated them”; whether their beliefs were rooted in the free silver campaign of the 1890s or the cooperative movement of the 1880s; and finally whether their ideal society was in the “agrarian past” or “the promise of a cooperative future”. They could not agree on anything, over all Richard Hofstadter seems to have a better idea of the truth of populism.
Thesis The Progressive Era and the New Deal Era had a significant amount of similarities with policies and programs to reform the American society and improve lives and fight poverty in America. Although the Progressive and New Deal Era had many similarities, there were still differences between them. Both the Progressive and the New Deal Era’s main goal was to improve American society. Both of the Progressive and New Deal’s accomplishments were rooted in the economic depression and the need for change before the era, the Guilded age in the 19th century for the Progressive era, and the Great Depression for the New Deal era. As the Guilded Age was ending, and the Progressive Era was emerging, most American families had to live with the harsh reality of sweatshops, slums, child labor, corruption in government and businesses, disease, and racial prejudice.
Within the period of 1900-1920, many national reforms were rising to the top as Progressive Era reformers and the federal government heard the voices of the people. The effectiveness of Progressivism is a controversial subject for some, but the future was changed through the events of any actions a president made, the rights of people, and unfair treatment and conditions. This era brings changes to our society that also changes the future of it. These two decades brought forth successful times in bettering America.
An overview of the 1930's and how many Americans' lives were adversely impacted by the New Deal.
The New Deal was a set of acts that effectively gave Americans a new sense of hope after the Great Depression. The New Deal advocated for women’s rights, worked towards ending discrimination in the workplace, offered various jobs to African Americans, and employed millions through new relief programs. Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR), made it his duty to ensure that something was being done. This helped restore the public's confidence and showed that relief was possible. The New Deal helped serve American’s interest, specifically helping women, african american, and the unemployed and proved to them that something was being done to help them.
FDR’s goal for the New Deal was expressed in three words: Relief, Recovery, and Reform. This was the idea that the ND would hope to provide the relief from the poverty-stricken suffering during the Great Depression. Recovery planned to put the country back together and restore the market’s financial issues, the jobs or the people, and their confidence. Reform provided permanent programs to avoid another depression and to ensure citizens against an economic disaster. The Progressive Movement which targeted urban complications, there was a massive disparity between the wealthy and the poor and the goal was to bring equality into the nation. The movement aimed towards removing corruption and including American citizens into the political process. Additionally, to enforce the government to solve the social issues that were occurring in the late 1800’s and early 20th century, all while balancing impartial treatment into the economic
In response to the Stock Market Crash of 1929 and the Great Depression, Franklin D. Roosevelt was ready for action unlike the previous President, Hubert Hoover. Hoover allowed the country to fall into a complete state of depression with his small concern of the major economic problems occurring. FDR began to show major and immediate improvements, with his outstanding actions during the First Hundred Days. He declared the bank holiday as well as setting up the New Deal policy. Hoover on the other hand; allowed the U.S. to slide right into the depression, giving Americans the power to blame him. Although he tried his best to improve the economy’s status during the depression and ‘pump the well’ for the economy, he eventually accepted that the Great Depression was inevitable.
The New Deal period has generally - but not unanimously - been seen as a turning point in American politics, with the states relinquishing much of their autonomy, the President acquiring new authority and importance, and the role of government in citizens' lives increasing. The extent to which this was planned by the architect of the New Deal, Franklin D. Roosevelt, has been greatly contested, however. Yet, while it is instructive to note the limitations of Roosevelt's leadership, there is not much sense in the claims that the New Deal was haphazard, a jumble of expedient and populist schemes, or as W. Williams has put it, "undirected". FDR had a clear overarching vision of what he wanted to do to America, and was prepared to drive through the structural changes required to achieve this vision.
“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Franklin D. Roosevelt took charge in one of America’s most desperate times. The Great Depression was the fall of a great economic power, and with the fall of this power, our country was in desperate need of a political figure that would step in and help when needed. With the introduction of the New Plan, Roosevelt was able to strengthen the United States’ confidence through a system supporting Relief, Recovery, and Reform. Through Roosevelt’s plan, the Relief was aiding the unemployed and poverty stricken citizens. Recovery was waiting and attempting to help the economy return to the great power it once was, at any means necessary. Finally, the Reform section of his plan, was to prevent a growing and thriving economy from falling back into the depression era it once caused before. The New Deal ushered in an era of Democratic power in government, and pushed republicans to the side after the Great Depression found no resolve under President Hoover. Through Franklin D. Roosevelt’s plan, the United States was molded into a stronger, more progressive country that still thrives today.