The Success of the New Deal in Providing Relief and Rebuilding the Economy

Due to the Wall Street Crash in 1933 the New Deal was introduced. The New Deal helped the unemployment problem but did not solve it. The New Deal stopped things from getting any worse in the short term, however in the long term only World War two solved the unemployment crisis. Some historians believe that the New Deal was partly a success and partly a failure. In the opinion I think that the New Deal was a success.

The New Deal had aimed to provide relief through the Federal Emergency Relief Act (FERA), this aimed to provide direct cash to the needy. $500 million has been given to states to help the starving and homeless people. The money was also used for employment schemes, nursing schools (so parents could go out during the day to find a job), soup kitchens, and blankets. The FERA was up to some point a success, for this aim many things had to be provided, if the government had stopped providing money this aim wouldn't be a success.

The New Deal planned to re-build the economy by introducing the Emergency Banking Act, which aimed to solve the financial crisis after the Wall Street Crash. Every bank was closed for a four-day 'bank holiday' and only honest, well-run banks with enough cash were allowed to re-open. The Securities Act forced companies giving out new shares to provide full information about the company to the public. The New Deal never solved the underlying economic problems and the US economy took longer to recover than most European countries. Confidence remained low. Throughout the 1930s Americans only spent and invested about 75% of what they had before 1929. When Roosevelt cut the New Deal budget in 1937, the country had gone back into recession.

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The Civil Works Administration (CWA) also helped relief. This aim provided temporary work for four million men, school, airport, roads and even 150000 public toilets. The Public Works Administration (PWA) was given funds of $3300 million. It was used to buy materials and employ millions of skilled workers to build schools, housing, hospitals, bridges, courtrooms and dams. The PWA also built ten ships and 50 airports. But this solution was only short-term. The New Deal laws clearly dealt with the problem of poverty among black people and the poorest sector.

The Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) gave the government power to control the prices. They paid farmers to produce less and destroy some of the food they had already produced. They hoped that food prices would rise because there were short supplies. The idea worked-between 1933 and 1939, farmers' incomes doubled. However, the government was heavily criticized for this idea, the government was destroying food and forcing up prices to help farmers at a time when millions in the city were starving. The New Deal did a lot to help agriculture, however did have some problem it helped large firms the most and the problems of 'dustbowl' continued.

Projects such as the Tennessee valley authority (TVA) brought work and had improved peoples standard of living to deprived parts of the city. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was made to assure that all unemployed 18 to 25 year olds were given food and shelter in the countryside. They got paid 1 dollar a week they did conservation work-planted trees, dug canals, cleared footpaths and strengthened riverbanks against flooding. The Civilian Conservation Corps provided jobs for 2.5 million men. But the New Deal was blamed for giving jobs out for the sake of it, in 1941 6 million people were still left unemployed. Only when the USA entered the war the unemployment problem was solved.

The New Deal aimed to create a fairer society by using the National Recovery Administration (NRA), The NRA aimed to improve working conditions in the industry and strengthened the position of labour unions against industrial giants. The Wagner act forced all employers to allow trade unions to operate in their companies. The New Deal saw women achieving prominent positions. Eleanor Roosevelt became an important campaigner.

The Supreme Court thought that the New Deal did too much. They had to judge whether the New Deal was in line with the terms of the US Constitution. The judges in the court were conservative and did not like the way the New Deal allowed the government to become so involved in the economy. The judges found the National Industrial Recovery Act and the Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) unlawful. Roosevelt did not want the judges to dismantle the whole New Deal. A

After he was re elected in 1936 he tried to change the judges so the court was pro New Deal. This did not work, but the court realized they could not change the New Deal.

In conclusion I think that The New Deal was a success as the Federal Government got involved for the first time. As well as this acts such as the WPA and the CWA provided relief for the economy. The Banking Act and the Securities Act helped solve financial problems and the AAA helped agriculture. The NRA improved working conditions in industry and women became high achievers. However there were some failures the problem of 'dustbowl' continued, unemployment did not go away, most New Deal laws were designed to help women rather than men and the New Deal had a lot of opposition. It was the war that finally solved the problem of unemployment.

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