Main Features of the New Deal

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Main Features of the New Deal

In 1932 Roosevelt came to power. He aimed to invest government money

in making America prosperous again after the depression years of

Hoover. Roosevelt's main aims were to reduce unemployment and get

Americans earning money again, to protect peoples savings, homes and

livelihoods, to provide relief for the ill, the elderly and the

unemployed and to get American industry and agriculture running once

again.

In his first hundred days in charge in charge Roosevelt worked

tirelessly to transform America, using new laws, acts and the full

power of the government to steer America out of the depression. His

first objective was to restore Americans confidence in their banks. On

his first day Roosevelt ordered that all banks had to be closed and be

checked by government officials. Four days later 5000 'trustworthy'

banks were allowed to reopen, some were even supported by government

money. Roosevelt also introduced new rules and regulations to prevent

another Wall Street crash from occurring. These measures were called

the Emergency Banking Act and the Securities Exchange Commission. He

spoke of the new regulations to Americans on the radio and he

encouraged them to put their savings back into the backs, many

followed his advice. These regular speeches became known as 'fireside

chats'.

One of Roosevelt next objectives was to help the poor. He tackled this

problem by introducing the 'Federal Emergency Relief Administration'.

They spent $500million on soup kitchens, blankets, employment schemes

and nursery schemes, which were all designed to help the poor.

High levels of unemployment were another prob...

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...or and some people felt that America was no

longer democratic. They were also upset that people who were working

hard were having their money taken away in taxes and given to the poor

who had not worked hard. They also launched smear campaigns about

Roosevelt's personal life. Roosevelt also found opposition from the

Supreme Court, many of which were Republicans and tried to block him

passing new acts and regulations.

Despite all these problems, failures and opponents of the New Deal, it

was a great success in general and the voters agreed. Roosevelt won

his second term in office in 1936 with the highest margin of victory

ever achieved in an American presidential election. Although not

everyone was helped, the vast majority were, and Roosevelt and the New

Deal were a huge improvement on the depression years of Hoover.

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