FDRs NEW DEAL A SUCCESS
Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal programs for relief and works projects were beneficial to America's economic collapse while helping the nation as a whole. Before these programs, however, the nation was in a most needy state. On October 24th 1929 a day known as "Black Thursday" came. The stock market crashed and so did the economy. Unemployment ran rapid through the country whereas millions of Americans were out of work and money. The nation succumbed to one of the fiercest events in history- the Great Depression. Roosevelt, the governor of New York at the time, was well aware of the need for action and swept the election of 1932. In his inaugural speech he spoke of a "New Deal" for America and thus the New Deal was born. As soon as Roosevelt took office, help was on the way as he created many programs to take the nation out of hard times. The most important ones were FERA, or Federal Emergency Relief Administration, the CWA, or Civil Works Administration, and the WPA, or Works Progress Administration. Each one of these programs had an impact on the nation that aided in helping the people and the badly scarred economy. They also lifted the spirits and morals of the people. In addition, the lasting effects of the New Deal pr
John Gunther, Roosevelt in Retrospect (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1950) p. 285 The WPA had produced many positive results. The Grand Coulee Dam, a WPA project, was created through the efforts of the workers during the depression. Its construction, often called the "eighth wonder of the world", provided a tremendous boost to the regional economy during the depression years. The dam provided power for irrigation and it brought thousands of jobs and billions of federal dollars to the region. It served as an emblem of the New Deal's impact on the region as a whole. The WPA put up money to support a vast variety of public projects such as post-offices, libraries, schools, airports, and highways. All of these are still in use today, demonstrating that the WPA had a powerful and lasting impact on the nation. The WPA also encouraged tourism. It allowed for workers to create and improve large scale building projects such as dining lodges in Missouri state parks. The WPA made important contributions that benefited both the state and the nation. The 342 designated historic sites in the Ozarks bear witness to the profound role played by the New Deal that continues to enrich the lives of millions of visitors. The WPA was an active program that, like the CWA, supplied people with jobs. Three-fourths of all the WPA projects involved construction. Many public buildings were built such as museums, hospitals, and zoos- all of which did the public good. Workers improved 572,000 miles of rural roads, built 40,000 new public buildings, repaired 85,000 existing buildings, and built 78,000 new bridges and 24,000 miles of sidewalks. Indeed, the WPA improved society as a whole. All the projects promoted involvement in the community and gave the citizens money. Other WPA projects included: stuffing mattresses, canning peaches, surveying property boundaries, sealing mines, and creating books in Braille. All of these efforts benefited the entire nation. Safety was now a growing concept and the WPA served everyone as to promote safety. The WPA provided a work ethic- workers not just getting handed money, but actually working to be paid and, at the same time, America was drastically improved. Out from Under: A 'New Deal'. 19 Oct. 2000. 19 Oct. 2000. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/centennial/may/newdeal.html The CWA was adequate as a short-term solution, but many argued that a larger works project program was needed for a full recovery from the depression. The Works Progress Administration was then formed out of the CWA. It also was the most successful of all the New Deal programs, as it pulled over $10 billion into the economy within only three years, (1935-1938). There was a heavy emphasis on spending money on wages rather than machinery or materials- the use of human labor was valued. Roosevelt favored this program because it had an emphasis on creating jobs as a way of maintaining morale by de-emphasizing welfare-like payments. President Roosevelt declared to Congress that they must preserve not only the actual bodies of the unemployed from destruction, but also their self-respect, self-alliance, courage and determination. This is what would bring the economy out of the inferno of depression.
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Approximate Word count = 2285
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)
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