New Deal: How Effective Was it?

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Hoover's presidency just wasn't cutting it for the plummeting U.S economy. The Great Depression was going on full fledge and they needed a new president to fix these problems. Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was elected as president of the United States in 1932, promised a New Deal for the people that would consist of many legislative reforms in the first 100 days of his office. His concept of the three R's (Relief, Reform and Recovery) finally brought a sense of initiative to the country. The New Deal was revolutionary for the United States of America.

The New Deal consisted of many reforms and some of them included:

1) Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)

2) Emergency Banking Act (EBA)

3) Social Security Act (SSA)

4) Work Progress Administration (WPA)

Emergency Banking Act (EBA): Relief

The Emergency Banking Act came immediately during Roosevelt's induction into presidency in 1933. Two days into his tenure, Roosevelt enacted a 'Bank Holiday' which would suspend all bank transactions from happening and during that period he would implement the Emergency Banking Act. This act would eventually deem which banks were fit to keep running and which banks needed help to get back on their feet.

Banks were divided into four separate categories from best to worst and surprisingly more than half the banks were permitted to go back into business (Category I). These decisions by the government regained the confidence of the U.S citizens to deposit their money into banks because they knew that the ones open were stable and reliable. Therefore, the amount of banks that were closed afterwards significantly decreased.

http://thegreatdepressionamericanstudies.wikispaces.com/Emergency+Banking+Relief+Act

Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA): Reform
The Tennessee Valley was in terrible shape during the Great Depression and was one of the worst regions in the United States. The lands were farmed too much, the crop yields were falling, and this lead to a decrease in income for the farmers. However, when the Tennessee Valley Authority was introduced it fixed all of these problems.

The Tennessee Valley Authority is a federally owned corporation made in 1935 providing benefits to the Tennessee Valley. These benefits included flood control, electricity generation and fertilizer manufacturing. These benefits proved to be so profound that the government decided to create similar projects in other regions of the country. These projects created many jobs for the unemployed and it helped the United States in one of the most momentous way. To this very day the Tennessee Valley Authority continues to provide these benefits and is also known as U.S's largest public power provider.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:TVA_water_supply_Wilder.gif

Social Security Act (SSA): Reform
In 1935, Roosevelt created the Social Security Act. Old age, poverty and unemployment was a big issue during this time in they all began to correlate with each other. This agency was made to insure that the older population would have enough money after they retire in order to carry out their lives without going broke.

Controversy flooded around this act and topics about how it would destroy jobs and how it excluded many women and minorities came about when it was first introduced. Republicans were also criticizing how this act related back to socialism and that it was an approach in the wrong direction for the United States to be heading in. However, this reform in society was proven to actually be very beneficial because of how it addressed the welfare of it's citizens long term. To this very day, Social Security is improving the lives of millions in the United States.

http://www.socialwelfarehistory.com/programs/problems-addressed-by-social-security-1936/

Works Progress Administration (WPA): Recovery
Jobs were of the essence during the Great Depression and it was a hard thing to come by to during that time. Unemployment rates were as high as 22% and people really needed jobs. The Works Progress Administration, a recovery program, addressed this issue by providing government jobs to citizens to create infrastructure throughout the United States.

77,000 bridges, 24,000 miles of sewers, 664,000 miles of road, 285 airports, 122,000 public buildings, 11,000 schools. These were the number of infrastructures created from 1935 to 1941 and it spent a total of $10.5 billion, while employing 3.8 million people. This shot down the unemployment rates down all the way to 10% and we could easily say that this was one of the best legislative reform that Roosevelt carried out during his tenure.

http://foundsf.org/index.php?title=W.P.A._Construction_in_San_Francisco_(1935-1942)

So was it effective? 
With all of these legislative reforms, the U.S economy was beginning to get back on its feet. Franklin D. Roosevelt has proved to all of us with his decisive actions that his leadership was what the country really needed. The New Deal addressed all of the problems of the Great Depression: ranging from the banking issues all the way down the unemployed and impoverished. All in all, this reform changed the outlook of the United States today and should go down in history as one of the most influential moves in history.




Citations:
http://www.nextnewdeal.net/social-security-act
http://www.nextnewdeal.net/works-progress-administration
http://www.socialstudieshelp.com/lesson_86_notes.htm
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/new_deal.htm
http://www.ushistory.org/us/49a.asp
http://www.shmoop.com/fdr-new-deal/summary.html
http://www.apnotes.net/ch34.html