how did the new deal help the great depression essay

• History Classics
• Your Profile
• Find History on Facebook (Opens in a new window)
• Find History on Twitter (Opens in a new window)
• Find History on YouTube (Opens in a new window)
• Find History on Instagram (Opens in a new window)
• Find History on TikTok (Opens in a new window)
• This Day In History
• History Podcasts
• History Vault

By: History.com Editors

Updated: March 28, 2023 | Original: October 29, 2009

The New Deal was a series of programs and projects instituted during the Great Depression by President Franklin D. Roosevelt that aimed to restore prosperity to Americans. When Roosevelt took office in 1933, he acted swiftly to stabilize the economy and provide jobs and relief to those who were suffering. Over the next eight years, the government instituted a series of experimental New Deal projects and programs, such as the CCC , the WPA , the TVA, the SEC and others. Roosevelt’s New Deal fundamentally and permanently changed the U.S. federal government by expanding its size and scope—especially its role in the economy.

New Deal for the American People

On March 4, 1933, during the bleakest days of the Great Depression , newly elected President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered his first inaugural address before 100,000 people on Washington’s Capitol Plaza.

“First of all,” he said, “let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

He promised that he would act swiftly to face the “dark realities of the moment” and assured Americans that he would “wage a war against the emergency” just as though “we were in fact invaded by a foreign foe.” His speech gave many people confidence that they’d elected a man who was not afraid to take bold steps to solve the nation’s problems.

Did you know? Unemployment levels in some cities reached staggering levels during the Great Depression: By 1933, Toledo, Ohio's had reached 80 percent, and nearly 90 percent of Lowell, Massachusetts, was unemployed.

The next day, Roosevelt declared a four-day bank holiday to stop people from withdrawing their money from shaky banks. On March 9, Congress passed Roosevelt’s Emergency Banking Act, which reorganized the banks and closed the ones that were insolvent.

In his first “ fireside chat ” three days later, the president urged Americans to put their savings back in the banks, and by the end of the month almost three quarters of them had reopened.

The First Hundred Days

Roosevelt’s quest to end the Great Depression was just beginning, and would ramp up in what came to be known as “ The First 100 Days .” Roosevelt kicked things off by asking Congress to take the first step toward ending Prohibition —one of the more divisive issues of the 1920s—by making it legal once again for Americans to buy beer. (At the end of the year, Congress ratified the 21st Amendment and ended Prohibition for good.)

In May, he signed the Tennessee Valley Authority Act into law, creating the TVA and enabling the federal government to build dams along the Tennessee River that controlled flooding and generated inexpensive hydroelectric power for the people in the region.

That same month, Congress passed a bill that paid commodity farmers (farmers who produced things like wheat, dairy products, tobacco and corn) to leave their fields fallow in order to end agricultural surpluses and boost prices.

June’s National Industrial Recovery Act guaranteed that workers would have the right to unionize and bargain collectively for higher wages and better working conditions; it also suspended some antitrust laws and established a federally funded Public Works Administration.

In addition to the Agricultural Adjustment Act, the Tennessee Valley Authority Act and the National Industrial Recovery Act, Roosevelt had won passage of 12 other major laws, including the Glass-Steagall Act (an important banking bill) and the Home Owners’ Loan Act, in his first 100 days in office.

Almost every American found something to be pleased about and something to complain about in this motley collection of bills, but it was clear to all that FDR was taking the “direct, vigorous” action that he’d promised in his inaugural address.

Second New Deal

Despite the best efforts of President Roosevelt and his cabinet, however, the Great Depression continued. Unemployment persisted, the economy remained unstable, farmers continued to struggle in the Dust Bowl and people grew angrier and more desperate.

So, in the spring of 1935, Roosevelt launched a second, more aggressive series of federal programs, sometimes called the Second New Deal.

In April, he created the Works Progress Administration (WPA) to provide jobs for unemployed people. WPA projects weren’t allowed to compete with private industry, so they focused on building things like post offices, bridges, schools, highways and parks. The WPA also gave work to artists, writers, theater directors and musicians.

In July 1935, the National Labor Relations Act , also known as the Wagner Act, created the National Labor Relations Board to supervise union elections and prevent businesses from treating their workers unfairly. In August, FDR signed the Social Security Act of 1935, which guaranteed pensions to millions of Americans, set up a system of unemployment insurance and stipulated that the federal government would help care for dependent children and the disabled.

In 1936, while campaigning for a second term, FDR told a roaring crowd at Madison Square Garden that “The forces of ‘organized money’ are unanimous in their hate for me—and I welcome their hatred.”

He went on: “I should like to have it said of my first Administration that in it the forces of selfishness and of lust for power met their match, [and] I should like to have it said of my second Administration that in it these forces have met their master.”

This FDR had come a long way from his earlier repudiation of class-based politics and was promising a much more aggressive fight against the people who were profiting from the Depression-era troubles of ordinary Americans. He won the election by a landslide.

Still, the Great Depression dragged on. Workers grew more militant: In December 1936, for example, the United Auto Workers strike at a GM plant in Flint, Michigan lasted for 44 days and spread to some 150,000 autoworkers in 35 cities.

By 1937, to the dismay of most corporate leaders, some 8 million workers had joined unions and were loudly demanding their rights.

9 New Deal Infrastructure Projects That Changed America

The Hoover Dam, LaGuardia Airport and the Bay Bridge were all part of FDR's New Deal investment.

How a New Deal Housing Program Enforced Segregation

In the 1930s, the FHA refused to insure houses for Black families, or even insure houses in white neighborhoods that were too close to Black ones.

Did New Deal Programs Help End the Great Depression?

While the New Deal did have a lasting impact on the U.S. economy, other significant factors contributed toward ending the Great Depression by June 1938.

The End of the New Deal?

Meanwhile, the New Deal itself confronted one political setback after another. Arguing that they represented an unconstitutional extension of federal authority, the conservative majority on the Supreme Court had already invalidated reform initiatives like the National Recovery Administration and the Agricultural Adjustment Administration.

In order to protect his programs from further meddling, in 1937 President Roosevelt announced a plan to add enough liberal justices to the Court to neutralize the “obstructionist” conservatives.

This “ Court-packing ” turned out to be unnecessary—soon after they caught wind of the plan, the conservative justices started voting to uphold New Deal projects—but the episode did a good deal of public-relations damage to the administration and gave ammunition to many of the president’s Congressional opponents.

That same year, the economy slipped back into a recession when the government reduced its stimulus spending. Despite this seeming vindication of New Deal policies, increasing anti-Roosevelt sentiment made it difficult for him to enact any new programs.

On December 7, 1941, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and the United States entered World War II . The war effort stimulated American industry and, as a result, effectively ended the Great Depression .

The New Deal and American Politics

From 1933 until 1941, President Roosevelt’s New Deal programs and policies did more than just adjust interest rates, tinker with farm subsidies and create short-term make-work programs.

They created a brand-new, if tenuous, political coalition that included white working people, African Americans and left-wing intellectuals. More women entered the workforce as Roosevelt expanded the number of secretarial roles in government. These groups rarely shared the same interests—at least, they rarely thought they did— but they did share a powerful belief that an interventionist government was good for their families, the economy and the nation.

Their coalition has splintered over time, but many of the New Deal programs that bound them together—Social Security, unemployment insurance and federal agricultural subsidies, for instance—are still with us today.

Photo Galleries

Sign up for Inside History

Get HISTORY’s most fascinating stories delivered to your inbox three times a week.

By submitting your information, you agree to receive emails from HISTORY and A+E Networks. You can opt out at any time. You must be 16 years or older and a resident of the United States.

More details : Privacy Notice | Terms of Use | Contact Us

Essay: Rights and the New Deal

The year 1929 ushered in the Great Depression. The stock market crashed; businesses failed, homes were foreclosed, banks closed, and unemployment rose to unprecedented heights across the nation.

Historians and economists debate the causes of the Great Depression. Some blame inadequate demand from consumers and decreased capital investment by companies; others blame the recently-created Federal Reserve’s monetary policies that led to “easy credit” and inflated prices. Historians and economists also debate whether the national government’s responses helped end the Great Depression, or made it worse.

Herbert Hoover was president when the stock market crashed in 1929. While history books sometimes portray Hoover as an advocate of laissez-faire policies, his administration actually took numerous bold steps to intervene in the economy. He encouraged businessmen not to cut production or lay off workers. He asked farmers to voluntarily cooperate to raise prices, while also increasing federal farm subsidies. He called for an international moratorium on debts. He asked Congress to increase spending on public works projects and to increase funding for banks to prevent mortgage foreclosures. He also oversaw the creation of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation. He repealed existing tax cuts and increased top tax rates from 25 percent to over 60 percent.

President Herbert Hoover

But these efforts by the federal government did not stem the economic disaster. One out of every four people was out of work, and homeless people lived in shanty-towns called “Hoovervilles” in many cities. The Gross National Product had fallen from a high of over $100 billion in 1929 to $55 billion.

Challenging Hoover in the presidential campaign of 1932 was the Democratic nominee, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He projected a positive, energetic image, promising the American people a “new deal.” Roosevelt easily won the election in November with almost sixty percent of the popular vote. In his First Inaugural Address, he encouraged the American people to find hope in their history of overcoming obstacles: “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself…” Roosevelt praised the Constitution’s balance between executive and legislative authority. But he stated that if Congress failed to act, he would ask for emergency power:

“I shall not evade the clear course of duty…. I shall ask the Congress for the one remaining instrument to meet the crisis—broad Executive power to wage a war against the emergency, as great as the power that would be given to me if we were in fact invaded by a foreign foe” (Franklin D. Roosevelt, “First Inaugural Address,” March 4, 1933).

With a grant from Congress, domestic problems would be treated on a par with foreign invasion.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected to four terms and tried to end the Great Depression with the Progressive policies of the New Deal.

In the first hundred days of the new administration, Congress quickly approved a wide variety of programs known as the First New Deal. The National Industrial Recovery Act, along with the Agricultural Adjustment Act, were considered the major actions of the first hundred days. All significantly increased the size, reach, and administrative character of the federal government. After the 1934 election, FDR worked to extend New Deal reforms through measures designed to provide more benefits to some at public expense. Extensive public works projects, the Social Security Act, increased income taxes on the wealthy, and several programs intended to help farmers, laborers, and the unemployed made up the Second New Deal.

The National Industrial Recovery Act (1934) was part of the New Deal regulation of private enterprise.

At first, the Supreme Court struck down most of the new laws that made up the First New Deal as outside the constitutional powers of Congress. In response, Roosevelt proposed the Judicial Procedures Reform Bill of 1937. This law would have allowed the President to appoint a new justice to the Supreme Court for every sitting justice over the age of 70. This would allow the President to appoint up to as many as six new members of the high court. Speaking to the American people in one of his radio broadcast “fireside chats”, Roosevelt warned that a failure to pass sweeping laws would leave everyone vulnerable to economic ruin.

“National laws are needed to complete [our recovery] program. Individual or local or state effort alone cannot protect us in 1937 any better than ten years ago” (Franklin D. Roosevelt, “On the Reorganization of the Judiciary.” March 9, 1937).

The bill was introduced in the Senate, which ultimately passed a version of the bill which did not authorize the president to appoint new members of the Court. Suddenly, Justice Owen Roberts switched sides and began voting to uphold New Deal programs, a move that became known as the “switch in time that saved nine.”

Delivering his State of the Union address during his third term as President, FDR said, “People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made.” The rights protected by our Founding documents, he said, had “proved inadequate to assure us equality in the pursuit of happiness.” (Franklin D. Roosevelt, “State of the Union Address,” 1944).

As a result, the American people had accepted a “second Bill of Rights” as a basis of security and prosperity. These new rights would be what was necessary, Roosevelt believed, to carry what be considered the higher aim of the State into effect:

Among these are:

• The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation;
• The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation;
• The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living;
• The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad;
• The right of every family to a decent home;
• The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health;
• The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;
• The right to a good education.

Roosevelt stated, “All of these rights spell security. And after this war [WWII] is won we must be prepared to move forward, in the implementation of these rights, to new goals of human happiness and well-being” (Franklin D. Roosevelt, “State of the Union Address,” 1944).

The “rights” in FDR’s list differ substantially from the rights in the U.S. Bill of Rights. The natural and inalienable rights in the U.S. Bill of Rights are mostly negative. This means that they stop interference by others or by the government with the individual’s freedom to act (e.g. believe, worship, speak, and publish freely, defend oneself, remain silent, acquire property, etc.). But they do not require the government to bestow material benefits upon the citizenry.

The new rights FDR proposed, however, were positive, such as the “right” to a well-paying job, a “decent home,” or a “good education.” Rather than protecting the individual’s natural freedom, FDR’s list of rights was a set of things people were owed—entitlements and services the government would, in theory, provide to certain individuals at the expense of certain others. In other words, the assurance of the “new” rights would come at the expense of the “old.” They would authorize the government to limit liberty.

Many believe that human dignity requires that we all have the responsibility to love our neighbors and care for each other with charity. But in the “Second Bill of Rights” FDR was advocating, rather, that these moral duties should be transformed from individual responsibilities into government-guaranteed rights. It would no longer be your family’s responsibility to ensure you had a decent home and good education, for example, but the government’s obligation, paid for by taxes.

The president is not a legislator; the most he can do is “recommend measures” or propose laws to the lawmaking body, Congress. The rights in Roosevelt’s “second bill of rights” were not taken up as constitutional amendments, but Congress attempted to secure many of them legislatively. In fact, some of those attempts were underway before the “second bill of rights” speech was given in 1944. By first recommending laws and then signing or vetoing them, the president has a very important share in law-making, even though he is not designated a legislator.

Roosevelt went on to be elected to a fourth term in 1944, after his already-unprecedented third term. He died in office in 1945. The Twenty-Second Amendment was ratified in 1947, limiting the number of times someone can be elected president to two. Here was another change in the original Constitution; Hamilton had given reasons in  Federalist No. 71  and  Federalist No. 72  for the indefinite re-eligibility of the president (Alexander Hamilton,  Federalist No. 71  and  Federalist No. 72 , 1788).

Roosevelt had observed in 1937, “Among men of good will, science and democracy together offer an ever-richer life and ever-larger satisfaction to the individual. With this change in our moral climate and our rediscovered ability to improve our economic order, we have set our feet upon the road of enduring progress” (Franklin D. Roosevelt, “Second Inaugural Address,” January 20, 1937).

Once the nation had finished fighting World War II, this progressive vision of government as existing in part to provide people with the tools for an ever-enriching life would be taken up again.

Related Content

Rights and the New Deal

Presidents Herbert Hoover and Franklin D. Roosevelt responded to the Great Depression by asking for - and receiving - much greater powers to intervene in the economy. Congress passed hundreds of bills and created dozens of new offices and agencies, dramatically expanding the size and power of federal bureaucracy. In his 1944 State of the Union address, FDR proposed a “second bill of rights.” The political rights in the 1791 Bill of Rights, he argued, had “proven inadequate” for the challenges of the times. While the natural and inalienable rights in the U.S. Bill of Rights are mostly negative in nature, the new rights FDR proposed were positive in nature. Rather than protecting the individual’s natural liberty so he would be free to pursue happiness, FDR’s list of rights was a set of entitlements and services to be provided to certain individuals at the expense of certain others.

.cls-1{fill:#0966a9 !important;}.cls-2{fill:#8dc73f;}.cls-3{fill:#f79122;}

Your support helps VCU Libraries make the Social Welfare History Project freely available to all. A generous challenge grant will double your impact.

The New Deal

President roosevelt’s new deal, by  catherine a. paul.

“I pledge you, I pledge myself, to a new deal for the American people.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt

The New Deal was enacted from 1933 to 1939 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to provide immediate economic relief from the  Great Depression and to address necessary reforms in industry, agriculture, finance, water power, labor, and housing. The New Deal was grounded in the belief that the power of the federal government was needed to lift America from the Great Depression (Library of Congress, n.d.). These programs signaled both an expansion of federal power and a transformation in the relationship between the federal government and the American people (Hopkins, 2011).

Many of the New Deal policies were enacted in the first three months of President Roosevelt’s time in office, which became known as the “Hundred Days.” Roosevelt’s first objective was to address widespread unemployment by establishing agencies such as the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) . Such agencies dispensed emergency and short-term government aid and provided temporary jobs, such as work on construction projects and national forests (New Deal, n.d.).

Before 1935, the New Deal’s primary focus was on revitalizing business and agricultural communities. The National Recovery Administration (NRA) shaped  industrial regulations governing trade practices, wages, hours, child labor, and collective bargaining. Moreover, the New Deal sought to regulate the country’s financial hierarchy to prevent another incident like the stock market crash of 1929 and the bank failures that followed. The Federal Deposit  Insurance Corporation (FDIC) granted federal insurance for bank deposits in Federal Reserve System member banks, and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) protected individuals from fraudulent stock market practices. The Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA) controlled the production of staple crops through cash subsidies to farmers in order to raise prices, and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) covered seven states to supply cheap electricity, prevent floods, improve navigation, and produce nitrates (New Deal, n.d.).

In 1935, the New Deal shifted its attention to labor and urban groups. The Wagner Act increased the authority of the federal government in industrial relations and gave further organizing power to labor unions under the execution of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) . In addition, one of the most notable New Deal programs, the Social Security Board (SSB) , was enacted in 1935 and 1939, providing benefits to the elderly and to widows, unemployment compensation, and disability insurance. Moreover, maximum working hours and a minimum wage were set in some industries in 1938 (New Deal, n.d.).

While many New Deal reforms were generally met with acceptance, certain laws were declared unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court, which stated that the federal government had no authority to regulate industry or undertake social or economic reform. In response, Roosevelt proposed in 1937 to reorganize the court. Ultimately, this effort failed, and the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the contested legislation (New Deal, n.d.). By 1939, the New Deal had improved the lives of Americans suffering from the Great Depression, set a precedent for the federal government to help regulate economic social and economic affairs of the nation, and insisted that even poor individuals had rights, (Venn, 1998).

This work may also be watched through the Internet Archive .

For Further Reading:

“1934: The Art of the New Deal,” courtesy of the Smithsonian

“New Deal,” courtesy of the National Archives 

“The New Deal: Primary Source Set,” courtesy of the Digital Public Library of America

“The New Deal,” courtesy of the National Museum of American History

References:

Hopkins, J. (2011). The New Deal. A Companion to Franklin D. Roosevelt (238-258). Oxford, UK: Wiley-Blackwell.

Library of Congress. (n.d.). President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the New Deal, 1933-1945. The Library of Congress . Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/event/New-Deal

New Deal. (n.d.). In Encyclopedia Britannica online . Retrieved from https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/united-states-history-primary-source-timeline/great-depression-and-world-war-ii-1929-1945/franklin-delano-roosevelt-and-the-new-dea

Venn, F. (1998). The New Deal . Edinburgh, SCT: Edinburgh University Press.

How to Cite this Article (APA Format):  Paul, C. A. (2017). President Roosevelt’s New Deal.  Social Welfare History Project.  Retrieved from https://socialwelfare.library.vcu.edu/eras/great-depression/the-new-deal/

0 Replies to “The New Deal”

Comments for this site have been disabled. Please use our contact form for any research questions.

Home — Essay Samples — History — The New Deal — The New Deal: An Analysis of its Impact on American Society

The New Deal: an Analysis of Its Impact on American Society

• Categories: The New Deal

About this sample

Words: 497 |

Published: Mar 8, 2024

Words: 497 | Page: 1 | 3 min read

Cite this Essay

To export a reference to this article please select a referencing style below:

Let us write you an essay from scratch

• 450+ experts on 30 subjects ready to help
• Custom essay delivered in as few as 3 hours

Get high-quality help

Verified writer

• Expert in: History

+ 120 experts online

By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy . We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email

No need to pay just yet!

Related Essays

2 pages / 742 words

2 pages / 991 words

2 pages / 770 words

1 pages / 294 words

Remember! This is just a sample.

You can get your custom paper by one of our expert writers.

121 writers online

Still can’t find what you need?

Browse our vast selection of original essay samples, each expertly formatted and styled

Related Essays on The New Deal

In 1929, the Stock Market crashed, sending Americans into a panic. Franklin Delano Roosevelt won the presidential election of 1932, restoring people’s faith with his promise to end the Great Depression with his New Deal. FDR’s [...]

U.S. History. (n.d.). HISTORY. Retrieved December 23, 2020, from 3.

The 32nd President of the United States and serving the longest in American history, Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) has been called a great leader, humanitarian, skilled politician, and self-confident. The American people were [...]

The Alphabet Agencies were a series of government organizations established during the New Deal era in the United States. These agencies were created in response to the Great Depression to address various economic and social [...]

The new deal of the 1930s was seen as the radical action needed during the depression to help American people and the American economy. However, some people criticized it for not being radical enough as it didn’t help all [...]

In our world, the government will often want people to see the good things in their country instead of the details including poverty, racial discrimination, social and economic issues, and so much more. During the Great [...]

Related Topics

By clicking “Send”, you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement . We will occasionally send you account related emails.

Where do you want us to send this sample?

By clicking “Continue”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy.

Be careful. This essay is not unique

This essay was donated by a student and is likely to have been used and submitted before

Download this Sample

Free samples may contain mistakes and not unique parts

Sorry, we could not paraphrase this essay. Our professional writers can rewrite it and get you a unique paper.

Please check your inbox.

We can write you a custom essay that will follow your exact instructions and meet the deadlines. Let's fix your grades together!

Get Your Personalized Essay in 3 Hours or Less!

We use cookies to personalyze your web-site experience. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .

• Instructions Followed To The Letter
• Deadlines Met At Every Stage
• Unique And Plagiarism Free