Week Seven - The Great Depression and a New Deal
Share an idea or two from this week's reading. What was most interesting to you? What was most strange? How does the reading this week fit into issues and discussions we have had in this class?
Week Three - The Rise of the City and the Battle for Reform
Share an idea or two from this week's reading. What was most interesting to you? What was most strange? How does the reading this week fit into issues and discussions we have had in this class?
The National Recovery Administration focused on enforcing better labor restrictions. This appeared nicely to consumers. However, the National Industrial Recovery Act from which it was derived allowed large businesses to take advantage of limited supervision over market control, effectively seizing power over market prices and production levels, hurting consumers. Obviously, this was not FDR's intention in passing the NIRA, and Congress eventually overruled his efforts. However, Agricultural Adjustment Act served as a prime example of the benefits to come if FDR's New Deal programs were to be treated as intended. AAA boosted the agricultural market because it was used properly. It was just unfortunate that not all New Deal programs could be treated the same way.
ReplyDeleteFDR was an outstanding president. He was a distant cousin of Theodore Roosevelt and that proved him to be another person to look up to. I found it interesting that his mother would not give him privacy until he had gone to preparatory school. He went to Harvard and in the winter of his first year his father died, leaving his mom a widow and lonely. I found it shocking when his wife found out about him having an affair with one of his employees through love letters. Franklin did not want to file for divorce because that would cause a scandal and would prevent him from getting and inheritance from his mother. He led the country during WWI and the Great Depression. It was sad to read that he got sick and him losing the ability to use his legs with out the help of metal braces. He came up with a New Deal and that deal was placed for the people establishing the FDIC which insures deposits against bank failures. This was one of the problems that america faced because everyone chased to get their money out of the banks but could not because their money was gone.
ReplyDeleteIn 1929 our country was facing a depression. There wasn't any money and very few jobs were opened to the public. The Great Depression began when the stock market crashed. People who invested their money in stock began to lose all their money. They couldn't pay their bank loans or personal bills. In 1933 FDR became president and he promised to get everybody back on their feet. Millions of people were back working again. Young men participated in the CCC and they were given clothes and their paychecks were sent back home to their family.
ReplyDeleteThis weeks reading fit right into our lecture. FDR's New Deal set up so many programs, some of which we discussed in our lecture, and made reform that if not passed, would have crippled us to the point where we might not be here today. The programs FDR put in place to get us back to work was really cool because the majority of the programs made things that are still cherished today. I think this was a way better alternative than Huey Long's idea, that would make our country essentially socialist. Like really, cap the annual income of people to $1 million? America was founded on the fact that the sky is the limit, and we should be able to make as much as possible. These radical ideas of Huey Long is probably why he got assassinated and why he lost the election to FDR. It didn't surprise me that he had so many supporters however, because due to the state of the economy at the time people were desperate and were probably willing to try anything to fix the country. I found it interesting that FDR had so many relevant ideas we still use, like the FDIC. Overall, FDR was a good president and helped saved the nation from the worst financial disaster we saw at the time, and possibly ever (compared to 2008 recession).
ReplyDeleteThe Great Depression proved to be a very devastating time in America's history. This issue needed a solution and needed one fast. President Franklin Roosevelt combated this issue with his New Deal. He created jobs for many, directly impacting the high unemployment rates. I thought it was really cool how this one man kind of led America out from under the horrible conditions caused by The Great Depression. It's no wonder he is regarded as one of the greatest presidents of the United States of America. His success as a president should be examined and studied by future presidents.
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