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The Great Depression of the 1930 s was a great blow to America especially after the seeming prosperity of the twenties. The depression was a result not of false prosperity in the twenties, although the distribution of wealth was very uneven the affluence was very real, but rather from a lack of economic and political maturity to address the problems either before 1929 or as a cure post 1929. The Great Depression is often seen as a result of the twenties when rather it was a failure of the thirties. If the necessary policies had been drawn up in the twenties there would have been widespread hatred for these policies by the wealthy ruling class. This would have made them impossible to implement. It is only during the depression that they became a remote political possibility.
Since most of these measures were never tried by either Hoover or Roosevelt we can only speculate as to the level of political acceptance such measures would have encountered. Roosevelt's main measure in combating the Great Depression was the implementation of the New Deal. When Roosevelt excepted the presidential nomination he said I pledge you, I pledge myself, to a new deal for the American people. The New Deal, which was never clearly defined, became the label for the measures undertaken to combat the depression. This New Deal sparked off one of the most concentrated bursts of legislation in American history.
In 1933 Roosevelt took up office in the face of an economic crisis. Massive unemployment had swept the country and a banking sector in crisis. The New Deal was already in the oven, only half-baked, but it had to be served quickly it was perhaps for this reason that the barrage of legislation lacked a coherent philosophy and sometimes seemed rather opportunistic in its approach to the problem. It did however have some consistent facets, it showed a willingness to expand federal powers in order to achieve its goals, it also had consistent humanitarian objectives as well as a desire to reform certain institutions to prevent a depression on this scale from ever reoccurring. The policies of the New Deal can be broadly split into three categories for simplicity, relief, recovery and reform. In each of these types of legislation a vast array of government bodies were established all with acronyms, which are often likened to alphabet spaghetti rather than coherent legislation.
The relief policies led to the founding of many agencies between 1933 and 1935, these included the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (F. E. R. A. ), and Civil Works Administration (C. W. A. ).
There was also the Civilian Conservation Corps (C. C. C. ) and the Home Owners Loan Corporation (H. O. L. C) which helped thousands of lenders and property owners thought the depression.
One of the most important agencies was the Works Progress Administration (W. P. A). During its time it improved many hospitals and schools as well as giving funding to theatres and the arts. These relief agencies heralded an unprecedented level of government involvement in welfare.
These agencies helped millions and helped secure re-election for Roosevelt. Although these agencies helped a lot of people they did not nearly go far enough. The W. P. A only reached a fraction of those who were unemployed and only for short-term projects and for a very low wage. Those who could not work often received very little help from the state.
These measures were a partial success at best. The recovery programs of the New Deal concerned themselves with longer-term stability in employment, agriculture and business. Some of the key agencies were the Agricultural Adjustment Administration (A. A. A), the National Recovery Administration (N.
R. A) and the Public Works Administration (P. W. A). These were all set up during the 100 days of the special session of Congress in 1933. The A.
A. A tried to combat deflated agricultural prices by trying to convince farmers to cut back on production. It was thought that the reduction in the supply would drive the market prices up. To this end the A. A. A was successful, partly helped by droughts in Roosevelt's first term market price increased by fifty percent.
This however created problems for the consumer, with such widespread unemployment a large increase in basic food prices was the last thing the consumers needed. It also had repercussions for tenant farmers that were forced off the land. The N. R. A.
was an attempt at cooperation between the government and private business. Businesses were encouraged to sign a code of fair competition; these laid down guidelines for production, pricing and the rights of labour. After an initial surge the N. R. A began to lose some of its effectiveness, Unions argued that the courts negated the need for guaranteed labour rights and small businesses said that the legislation favoured large firms. By 1934 there was widespread evasion of the guidelines and recovery was slowed.
In 1935 the Supreme Court ruled that the N. R. A was unconstitutional saying that it represented unwarranted transfer of legislative authority to the president. Despite the problems with the New Deal the economy did recover slightly between 1933 and 1936. This helped gain Roosevelt another term in office.
Roosevelt then made the mistake of asking Congress to approve the placing of six new justices on the Supreme Court to replace those that found some of his measures unconstitutional. This brought resentment from Congress and so the willingness to push through any legislation that characterised Roosevelt's first term was gone. He began to find it much harder to get congressional approval. Perhaps the greatest blow to Roosevelt's attempts to combat the Great Depression was the economic recession of 1937. This wiped out much of the gains up to 1936. This was brought on largely by a vast reduction in public spending; the financial conservatism exposed the uncertainty that had characterised the New Deal fiscal policy.
It was not until 1939 and 1940 when defence spending rocketed in preparation for world war two did America really shake off the remnants of the Great Depression. Throughout the 1930 s the New Deal was opportunistic and worked with, rather than against large business and agriculture. It is not fair to say that Roosevelt did nothing of consequence, the New Deal brought in several important domestic reforms throughout the 1930 s. Among these were the Securities and Exchange Commission (S. E.
C) which began federal regulation of the stock exchanges, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (F. D. I. C) which helped prevent any further banking scares. These along with the Banking Act of 1935 did a lot to lessen the chances of a depression on the scale of the 1929 - 1939 depression. The Tennessee Valley authority was also a significant body to come out of the New Deal, they conducted soil experiments and manufactured fertiliser as well as building dams to control flooding in the basins served by the Tennessee River.
The New Deal also helped change the relationship between labour and management. The guidelines set out by the N. R. A helped influence the Unions into re organising and pushing for the Wagner Act 1935, which established the National Labour Relations Board which guaranteed the right for the workers to bargain collectively on equal terms with management. In 1938 supporters of the New Deal passed the Fair Labour Standards Act which gave a minimum wage and maximum hours to certain workers, it also abolished child labour. Although this act did not cover all workers it was a step in the right direction.
Another major accomplishment of the New Deal was the Social Security Act of 1935. This law involved the government in programmes for unemployment, pensions and disability. Although this law by no means encompassed every one and there were many flaws, it helped pave the way for the federally assisted social services. President Roosevelt's response to the Great Depression took most of its form in the New Deal, this was ill defined and at times seemed to lack any particular strategy. Some of the programs by the W. P.
A in conjunction with the fireside chats helped alleviate some of the panic associated with the depression, as well as bringing some modest economic improvement. These measures did not go far enough. The fiscal conservatism that characterised the New Deal hampered Americas recovery and in the case of the recession of 1937 actually helped reverse the good that had been done. Economically Roosevelt's response was of little consequence, Americas complete recovery can be put down to the increased tensions leading up to world war two, reversing the policy of fiscal conservatism into one of increased defence spending which brought a boom to many industries. Many of the gains of Roosevelt's actions are in the long term. Even though many of his government agencies ceased to exist some key reforms were made, especially with regard welfare and the banking sector.
The New Deal, though of dubious economic value, set in motion long-range trends toward governmental expansion and modernisation. Bibliography Burns, J. M. 1956, Roosevelt the Lion and the Fox 1882 - 1940: Volume One, Harcourt, Brace & World, New York Contain, P. H. 1968, The New Deal, Routledge American History, London. Graham, O. L. 1967, An Encore for Reform: The Old Progressives and The New Deal, Oxford University Press, New York.
Hill, C. P. & Fell, G. H. (eds), 1975, Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal, Edward Arnold, London
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