Hope Vs Optimism: Is there a difference between hope and optimism? Can you have one without the other, or are they two parts of the same whole? What happens when you don’t have one? These questions found their answers back in the late 1920’s. This event was the start of The Great Depression, a devastating period of ten years where money was scarce in many families, and many just barely managed to scrape by, while others didn’t make it at all. The Great Depression left many Americans out of work and hungry. Even today, the Great Depression serves as an example of why we should consolidate power before recklessly spending. The Great Depression began on October 28th, 1929 when an event called the Stock Market Crash, or Black Tuesday, caused massive inflation rates across America. Thousands of businesses have gone …show more content…
Many people tried to be optimistic, but optimism was seemingly impossible in these trying times. Many people lost all faith and hope entirely, while those who held onto even the smallest shred of light eventually found their way through the dark. It was during the Great Depression that the 32nd president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, was elected. He was officially elected in 1933, just four years after The Great Depression began, and he stayed president until his untimely death in 1945, when he was 63 years old. He was a great president, introducing a series of economic programs aimed at providing relief, recovery, and reformation to America's citizens. These programs, more commonly known as The New Deal, included measures such as job creation, social security, and banking reforms; and while they didn’t put a stop to The Great Depression, they certainly helped in easing the tension and stress. The Great Depression officially ended in 1939 with the start of World War II. It was a boost to economics, and the government raised spending on military equipment, creating jobs, and restoring industrial
The era of the Great Depression was by far the worst shape the United States had ever been in, both economically and physically. Franklin Roosevelt was elected in 1932 and began to bring relief with his New Deal. In his first 100 days as President, sixteen pieces of legislation were passed by Congress, the most to be passed in a short amount of time. Roosevelt was re-elected twice, and quickly gained the trust of the American people. Many of the New Deal policies helped the United States economy greatly, but some did not. One particularly contradictory act was the Agricultural Adjustment Act, which was later declared unconstitutional by Congress. Many things also stayed very consistent in the New Deal. For example, the Civilian Conservation Corps, and Social Security, since Americans were looking for any help they could get, these acts weren't seen as a detrimental at first. Overall, Roosevelt's New Deal was a success, but it also hit its stumbling points.
The stock market crash of 1929 set in motion a chain of events that would plunge the United States into a deep depression. The Great Depression of the 1930's spelled the end of an era of economic prosperity during the 1920's. Herbert Hoover was the unlucky president to preside over this economic downturn, and he bore the brunt of the blame for the depression. Hoover believed the root cause of the depression was international, and he therefore believed that restoring the gold standard would ultimately drag the United States out of depression by reviving international trade. Hoover initiated many new domestic works programs aimed at creating jobs, but it seemed to have no effect as the unemployment rate continued to rise. The Democrats nominated Franklin Roosevelt as their candidate for president in 1932 against the incumbent Hoover. Roosevelt was elected in a landslide victory in part due to his platform called "The New Deal". This campaign platform was never fully explained by Roosevelt prior to his election, but it appealed to the American people as something new and different from anything Hoover was doing to ameliorate the problem. The Roosevelt administration's response to the Great Depression served to remedy some of the temporary employment problems, while drastically changing the role of the government, but failed to return the American economy to the levels of prosperity enjoyed during the 1920's.
Weize Tan History 7B 3/09/14. Chapter 23 1. What is the difference between a. and a. What were some of the causes of the Great Depression? What made it so severe, and why did it last so long? a.
Coming into the 1930’s, the United States underwent a severe economic recession, referred to as the Great Depression. Resulting in high unemployment and poverty rates, deflation, and an unstable economy, the Great Depression considerably hindered American society. In 1932, Franklin Roosevelt was nominated to succeed the spot of presidency, making his main priority to revamp and rebuild the United States, telling American citizens “I pledge you, I pledge myself, to a new deal for the American people," (“New” 2). The purpose of the New Deal was to expand the Federal Government, implementing authority over big businesses, the banking system, the stock market, and agricultural production. Through the New Deal, acts were passed to stimulate the
Calvin Coolidge even said, "In other periods of depression, it has always been possible to see some things which were solid and upon which you could base hope, but as I look about, I now see nothing to give ground to hope—nothing of man." People were scared and did not know what to do to address the looming economic crash. As a result of the Depression’s seriousness and severity, it took unconventional methods to fix the economy and get it going again. Franklin D. Roosevelt and his administration had to think outside the box to fix the economy. The administration changed the role of the government in the lives of the people, the economy, and the world.
Franklin D. Roosevelt once asserted “I pledge you, I pledge myself, to a new deal for the American people,” in belief for a change, for a better nation, and for guidance to those who have lost all faith in humanity. During the Great Depression, The United States faced many different scenarios in which it caused people to doubt and question the “American Dream.” The Great depression began in 1929 and ended in 1939. In these ten years, people went through unemployment, poverty, banks failed and people lost hope. President Herbert Hoover thought it wasn’t his responsibility to try and fix such issues in the nation. He felt it was just something that everyone was facing and it will be over soon enough. However, years passed and nothing seemed to
The Great Depression of 1929 to 1940 began and centered in the United States, but spread quickly throughout the industrial world. The economic catastrophe and its impact defied the description of the grim words that described the Great Depression. This was a severe blow to the United States economy. President Roosevelt’s New Deal is what helped reshape the economy and even the structure of the United States. The programs that the New Deal had helped employ and gave financial security to several Americans. The New Deals programs would prove to be effective and beneficial to the American society.
In his presidential acceptance speech in 1932, Franklin D. Roosevelt addressed to the citizens of the United States, “I pledge you, I pledge myself, to a new deal for the American people.” The New Deal, beginning in 1933, was a series of federal programs designed to provide relief, recovery, and reform to the fragile nation. The U.S. had been both economically and psychologically buffeted by the Great Depression. Many citizens looked up to FDR and his New Deal for help. However, there is much skepticism and controversy on whether these work projects significantly abated the dangerously high employment rates and pulled the U.S. out of the Great Depression. The New Deal was a bad deal for America because it only provided opportunities for a few and required too much government spending.
Cecchetti, Stephen G. "Understanding the Great Depression: Lessons for Current Policy ." Monetary Economics (1997): 1-26.
Roosevelt became the U.S. president in 1932; he made an attempt to stop the Great Depression by The New Deal, which was based on the idea that the government’s money can save the economy. The New Deal gave jobs for people in governmental projects and also saved the banks from the chaos. However, the new deal didn’t overcome the unemployment issue and the jobs given to the people were only for a short period of time. Also, most of the government’s project created lost much more money than it gained. To be specific, Roosevelt created the Tennessee Valley Authority, which was based on building dams and hydroelectric power, this employed up to 8.5 million Americans; however, the projected costed a huge amount of money and the people were unemployed after the work was done. Franklin’s attempt to end the great depression wasn’t as effective as World War II’s boom in industry and
The Great Depression was one of America’s most trying times. It was the dark time following the good times of the Roaring Twenties. The Great Depression lasted from 1929 to the United States entry into World War II in 1941. The cause of the Depression was the panicked rush to get money out of the banks when the market crashed. When President Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected he created the New Deals to fight the Depression. It focused on relief, recovery and reform, setting out to fix the damage. Many people lost their jobs after the crash and were quickly losing their homes. Both of the New Deals had different programs to help America get back on its feet. Even though it wasn't a complete success, the New Deal did more good than bad because it significantly lowered unemployment rates, helped the Native Americans and helped feed millions of undernourished children. (Woodward, 4)
During the great depression, then President, Herbert Hoover disappointed Americans. America was therefore ready for a change. In 1932, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected as President. He pledged a “New Deal” for the country. According to Exploring American Histories, this New Deal would eventually “provide relief, put millions of people to work, raise price for farmers, extend conservation projects, revitalize America’s financial system and restore capitalism.”
The Great Depression hit America hard in the 1930s. Money was scarce and jobs were difficult to find. Franklin Roosevelt (FDR) was elected into office and took charge, leading the drive towards building America up again; he created the New Deal programs which aimed at improving the lives of citizens. These acts were successful but created controversy, some for and some against. Despite these disagreements, the New Deal was neither conservative nor liberal; it did just what was needed to help the country pull out of this Great Depression.
Millions of American citizens were starving. In 1929, the stock market had just crashed, causing the amount of unemployed people to rise by the millions. The Great Depression had just begun. A plan needed to be made as soon as possible to fix this predicament. Fortunately, the newly elected president of 1933, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, came up with a constructed plan to fix the dilemma facing the United States. He called his strategy the New Deal, and it was meant to provide jobs and bring America back to stability. There was a total of two New Deals during the Great Depression, each with their own programs. Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) was later re-elected in 1936. The Great Depression finally ended in
In 1932, after Franklin Delano Roosevelt accepted the Democratic nomination for presidency, running against Republican president, Herbert Hoover, he promised a “New Deal” to the American people. This New Deal’s sole purpose was to deal with the economic hardships caused by the Great Depression, as well as to help and improve the lives of the millions of Americans who had been affected. Roosevelt was swept into office in a landslide. In his inaugural address, Roosevelt brought a sense of hope to a vast majority of dispirited Americans, assuring them that they had “nothing to fear, but fear itself.” On March 5, 1933, just one day after his inauguration, Roosevelt began to implement his New Deal, beginning his focus on the failing banking