New Deal Dbq

America was in a crisis. People panicked when they saw their money just fly out the window. However, one man was able to bring peace and harmony back into the lives of the American people. Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States, created a New Deal for the American people. It created new government programs to aid the unemployed and elderly, and it created a sense of unity. Although it did not seem beneficial at the time of the Great Depression, it created a path beneficial for the future in which America today still uses some of these government programs and their ideals.

One of the first victories Roosevelt had was reopening banks for the American people. On March 13, “the nation’s largest and strongest banks opened their doors; at the end of the day, customers had deposited more cash than they withdrew” (647). This was beneficial because it lead to the people gaining back their money to go out and buy some necessities for the home. However, it was not quite enough for them to buy even the most expensive

items such as automobiles, houses, and even some appliances. Although it was not quite enough help, business and banks started to emerge. In order to create electricity for these businesses and some states in need, Roosevelt passed the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) which created dams that controlled floods and produce electricity for seven states along the Tennessee River. “The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) proved to be the most successful and enduring of all Roosevelt’s New Deal measures” (648). More states began to follow giving America the electricity it needed to survive on.
Also, another benefit arose from the New Deal in 1934 called the Townsend Plan which was started by physician Francis Townsend.

It basically stated that people over the age of sixty could get a monthly pension of $200, but it must be spent within thirty days (653). More than ten million petitions endorsed this plan. However, Roosevelt had a different plan called the Social Security Act which passed in 1935. It had three major parts which included: providing for the old-age pensions, setting up a system of unemployment compensation on a federal-state basis with employees paying a payroll tax and each state setting benefit levels and administering the program locally, and finally providing for direct federal grants to the states for welfare payments to the blind, handicapped, needy elderly, and dependent children (654). Roosevelt saw the importance of aiding the elderly which in turn shaped America to this day when it comes to Social

Security.
The next beneficial act was the National Labor Relations Act, better known as the Wagner Act, which came into effect in 1935. It helped to create “labor-management relations and enable unions to engage in collective bargaining with federal support” (655). Women, including men, were now being given their rights after many labor unions started to emerge. With the help of the Committee on Industrial Organization (CIO) and the American Federation of Labor (AFL), the unskilled and skilled workers of automobile, textile, rubber, electrical, and metal industries were unionized. Afterwards, the Fair Labor Standards Act was passed to establish both minimum wages and maximum hours of work per week. It “provided for a minimum wage of 40 cents an hour by 1940 and a standard workweek of forty hours, with time and a half for overtime” (655). To this day, jobs all over America still use this “practice.” Some states even want to raise the minimum wage to $15.
Although these three acts of the New Deal aided many Americans, there were few that just did not help at all. One of these acts was the Agriculture Adjustment Administration (AAA) which only benefitted larger farms and ran the smaller farms out of business. Another act was actually relief programs for minorities. Harry Hopkins, director of relief programs, helped bring jobs to over one million blacks in 1939. “Overall the New Deal provided assistance to 40 percent of the nation’s blacks during the Depression” (658). However, other minority groups suffered far worse than African-Americans. Mexican-Americans wages dropped during the Depression and Dust Bowl era, and the Roosevelt administration cut off any further trade from Mexico by barring entry of any immigrant. This barring of entry still is in effect today causing some heated debate within the new presidential election. Also Native Americans suffered during the New Deal even though the Indian Reorganization Act passed giving Indians support for “tribal unity and autonomy instead of attempting to transform Indians into self-sufficient farmers by granting them small plots of land” (659). However, “the nation’s one-third million Indians remained the most impoverished citizens in America” (659).
In the end, the New Deal lasted five years and ended in the year of 1938. Even though minorities and small farms were not getting the help they deserved, America began to pick up the pieces and build a better and more beneficial community all around for years to come.