Fdr New Deal
Essay by 24 • December 21, 2010 • 824 Words (4 Pages) • 1,449 Views
What do you do when an entire country is in an economic depression? You can count on FDR's New Deal to resolve it. FDR's New Deal is an expression that is used to describe the number of relief, recovery, and reforms programs aimed to fight off the Great Depression. These programs are also known as the alphabet agencies due to their acronyms. With New Deal programs such as the CCC, FDIC, AAA, WPA, and Social Security, FDR is able to improve the lives of millions of people suffering under the depression.
Unemployment was a major problem ever since the Great Depression started. Without jobs, people were not able to earn money to support themselves and their families. In 1933, thirteen million people are unemployed. To counteract this problem, FDR created alphabet agencies like the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps), the WPA (Works Progress Administration), the CWA (Civil Works Administration) and the TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) to promote jobs. In the CCC alone, the agency hired two hundred and fifty thousand young men to do conservation and construction work. These young men work really hard and in return, the CCC provided them with food, clothing, and shelter. Besides getting "three hots and a cot," (three hot meals and a place to sleep) the CCC also paid them thirty dollars a month: five dollars for themselves and twenty five dollars for their families. Besides promoting jobs, the jobs itself also benefits the community in some way. Every alphabet agency is created to serve a number of purposes. The CCC builds dams, roads, beaches, and planted seventeen million acres of new forests. The TVA helped provide inexpensive and reliable electrical power for farming areas, and created dams and hydroelectric power plants for the welfare of the people in the Tennessee River Valley.
Bank suspensions were another problem caused by the Great Depression. Bank failures were caused by a combination of unpaid loans and people rushing to make withdrawals from their accounts. These bank failures wiped out the savings of millions of people. With the help of the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation), it helps solve this problem by insuring bank deposits. If the bank is at the edge of bankruptcy, the government would return every penny in the account to the depositor. Due to this, Americans deposited more money in the account than withdrawing. The deposits allowed the bank to make loans that would help stimulate the economy and ensure that the bank would not go bankrupt. With banks reopen, people regain their lost faith in placing money in banks.
Farming or agricultural problems is another lasting effect that the Great Depression inflict upon. Many farmers lost their homes because of the low prices they received for their products and the rising taxes. To counter this, the AAA (Agricultural
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