🔴| New Deal Essay

Question 1

Paragraphs

3

Answer 1

• Banking
• Agriculture
• Society

Question 2

Introduction - Background

Answer 2

• BG: In the late 1920s, America was plunged into a period known as the ‘Great Depression’ after experiencing an economic boom throughout the decade. The depression was triggered by various factors, one of these being Wall Street Crash.
• BG: President Hoover was limited in the help he could give America due to his own belief in self-help, and the policies he did introduce can be summed up as too little, too late. The USA was only saved when Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected as president in 1932 and implemented his ‘New Deal’ to solve America’s problems.

Question 3

Introduction - Factors & LOA

Answer 3

• Factors: Roosevelt’s New Deal did help America’s problems because struggling sectors, namely banking, agriculture and society, were aided by different acts and agencies to help them prosper again in the aftermath of the Great Depression. However, it can be argued that the New Deal didn’t solve America’s problems due to the controversy of Roosevelt’s interventions – many were unhappy with how involved the Government were becoming in the American people’s lives and saw it as a form of dictation.
• LOA: Despite this, I do believe that the New Deal did help solve America’s problems and my essay will argue this.

Question 4

Banking:

KU

2

Answer 4

• Firstly, the 1933 Emergency Banking Relief Act aimed to restore confidence in banks and encourage people not to withdraw all their savings. Banks were closed for four days in March 1933 to allow for inspectors to check accounts and ensure they were sound enough to reopen.
• Secondly, the 1935 Banking Act established the Federal Bank Deposit Insurance Corporation which insured deposits up to $5000, and later $10,000.

Question 5

Banking:

Analysis

Answer 5

• These acts therefore attempted to solve America’s problems because by the end of 1933 many of the insufficient small banks had closed or were merged, and most depositors regained much of their money.
• The restoration of public confidence in banks alongside the $1 billion invested into banking seemed to cause stability.

Question 6

Banking:

Analysis+

Answer 6

• However, it can be said that these acts did not solve America’s problems. The 500 banks failing per year in the 1920s had decreased to only 10 in 1933, and although this seems like a positive statistic economists of the time claimed that those banks that had survived in 1933 were the, by definition, stronger ones remaining after closures.
• Therefore, naturally the number of bank closures would be less because there were less banks.

Question 7

Banking:

Evaluation

Answer 7

Overall, the new deal was a huge development in solving problems in America in terms of banking. Some would argue against this as it could be said that the banks that survived the culling would have done so on their own.

Question 8

Banking:

Evaluation+

Answer 8

• But, I think that the Government action of regulating and restoring the banking system was beyond important.
• For example, the stock market shares increased by 11% on the days that the banks reopened which shows the overwhelming confidence in the system leading to economic growth.

Question 9

Agriculture:

KU

2

Answer 9

• Firstly, the Agricultural Adjustment Act helped farmers by keeping prices steady and limiting overproduction. To do this, farmers were paid to produce less food, take land out of production or reduce livestock.
• Secondly, the Farm Credit Union was established to continue helping farmers by providing low interest loans to help farmers through financially hard times – this meant that a lot of farmers were saved from losing their farms.

Question 10

Agriculture:

Analysis

Answer 10

• These acts therefore attempted to solve America’s problems because the important production of agriculture goods could continue as farmers were now in much better financial circumstances.
• Attempts to limit overproduction were successful in raising prices and therefore farmer’s incomes doubled between 1933 and 1939.

Question 11

Agriculture:

Analysis+

Answer 11

• However, it can be said that these acts did not solve America’s problems because Roosevelt’s influence on agriculture was limited.
• The AAA was one of the agencies ruled to be unconstitutional, so laws affecting agriculture could only be made by the individual states where the agriculture was happening – this made intervention much harder.

Question 12

Agriculture:

Evaluation

Answer 12

Overall, the New Deal was an important step to solve America’s problems in terms of agriculture. Some would argue against this because Roosevelt’s action towards helping agriculture was marginally blocked by the supreme court.

Question 13

Agriculture:

Evaluation+

Answer 13

• But, it can be evidenced that despite this the agriculture industry still prospered due to the New Deal’s influence which helped many Americans.
• For example, 30% of the USA’s workforce were employed in agriculture, and increasing their income allowed such workers to spend more which proves that America’s problems were indeed being solved by the New Deal.

Question 14

Society:

KU

2

Answer 14

• Firstly, the Federal Emergency Relief Administration was established. The administration spent $500 million to help the poor by setting up soup kitchens and providing money for clothes and school costs.
• Secondly, the 1935 Social Security Act provided a state pension scheme for elderly people and widows, as well as providing help for the disabled and poor children of America.

Question 15

Society:

Analysis

Answer 15

• These acts therefore attempted to solve America’s problems because finances were redirected to help people in need via the mentioned relief programmes, ensuring a more equal society.
• This can be evidenced by the Economy Act which cut wages of state employees by 15% and cut the budgets of Government departments by 25% to be able to spend savings on poor relief.

Question 16

Society:

Analysis+

Answer 16

However, it can be said that these acts did not solve America’s problems because it was perhaps more problematic to take money from state employees’ wages’ budget to use on poor relief as wages would be lowered and potentially put such employees under financial hardship, meaning they would not have a steady income to spend in shops and subsequently not boost the economy as other acts had planned would happen.

Question 17

Society:

Evaluation

Answer 17

Overall, the New Deal did solve many of America’s problems within society. Some would argue against this as help for the poor stemmed from using finances from other sources who arguably needed this just as much.

Question 18

Society:

Evaluation+

Answer 18

• But, as a whole the living and working conditions of the American people were improved significantly which was incredibly important.
• For example, the Works Progress Administration of 1935 launched a programme of public works across America and by 1938 provided employment for three million men and some women, demonstrating improvement of conditions due to more job opportunities as created by the New Deal, showing how it solved problems.

Question 19

Conclusion

LOA, Argue Other Side, Argue LOA

Answer 19

• Overall, I believe that Roosevelt’s New Deal was successful in solving America’s problems because the most prominent areas of America who suffered in the aftermath of Great Depression were aided by interventions to help improve them once more.
• Some would argue that limitations within some New Deal interventions made it an unsuccessful approach to America’s problems, like Roosevelt’s intervention on agriculture being ruled unconstitutional and money for poor relief being sourced from budgets for state employees and Government departments to help America.
• However, I would still argue that the New Deal was successful because these limitations didn’t have any dire impacts on the great help provided to the people. Intervention in the agriculture industry still occurred and helped raise farmers’ wages and security in their business, and finances from other sectors were well-used in poor relief interventions like soup kitchens and school funds. I have therefore shown that the New Deal was successful in solving America’s problems.