Franklin D. Roosevelt During the Great Depression

Franklin D. Roosevelt during the Great Depression

Franklin D. Roosevelt’s community dealt with many problems of The Great Depression. The people of the United States were unemployed, and businesses were closed down. After the stock market crash everyone panicked. However, others were saying to accept the New Deal.

During the twenties businesses opened for new production. It included kitchen items, automobiles, and other products. Jobs were opening and were available too many people and in order to earn money. In 1929, the stock market crashed. Prices on products and items decreased rapidly. This caused many businesses to close down and put people out of jobs. This time of crisis was called The Great Depression. It left families without shelter and they lived in poor neighborhoods. As quoted by Meridel Lesueur, “out of jobs in cities and suffering extreme poverty”.

According to Document C, President Roosevelt immediately issued the New Deal to aid the United States. The Washington Post drew Roosevelt trying to bring back the nation from the depression. The citizens expected the government to create more relief programs to mining, building bridges, railroads, and factories. Most workers disliked the wages and the hours they worked. It took them into a court cased called Schechter vs. United States. As it states in Document F, at the end, it ruled that the government had no such power of wages relating to interstate commerce.

Other plans that Roosevelt sent out was social security benefits. People who are sixty-five or older are eligible to receive monthly checks. (Document E) The federal government’s role changed to organize better economic system and prevent other dangerous things. From the 1930’s to the mid 1940’s the unemployment rates decreased by millions. (J) “The government as an instrument of democratic action in the future has also been strengthened” stated by the editorial in The New Republic. (H)

The following statements prove that President Roosevelt’s administration responded to the problems of the Great Depression. The reactions of the New Deal proved to be effective through unemployment and poverty. By providing labor work and jobs of various functions, people began to earn money and this made the government stronger.