The topic I have selected for Milestone 1 is “President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Domestic Program,” called the “New Deal” Choice” which was implemented following the Great Depression to restore confidence in the American economy after it terribly collapsed. This article explores President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Domestic Program called the “New Deal,” which was a series of sweeping executive and legislative initiatives that aimed to help millions of unemployed Americans following the Great Depression.
Introduction
President Franklin D. Roosevelt implemented the “New Deal” program after the banking crisis of 1929 to repair the economy and provide relief to unemployed workers and the poor segment of society. It included many programs that were specifically designed to help struggling Americans recover from the aftermath of the Great Depression so that they could restore confidence in the American economy.
New Deal – A Series of Sweeping Changes
The New Deal program was a series of sweeping changes that were implemented by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1930’s during the Great Depression after the collapse of the economy. The program was meant to promote government activism in the economy that could lead to greater regulation of increased business and government spending on public works projects in order to restore prosperity to the nation.
Important Social Programs
The New Deal Program included a number of important social programs that were designed to help vulnerable people to get back on their feet after the collapse of the economy. The programs included unemployment insurance and social security while building a national infrastructure that would help the country to rebound from the economic disaster that had struck it badly. To cope with that, Roosevelt included economic policies in the New Deal program to stimulate the economy and get people back to work.
Some of the important programs to stimulate the economy are curated below:
Establishment of Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
The first major and significant piece of the New Deal was the establishment of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in 1933 which was intended to protect individual depositors against losses. It also made it possible for Americans to start their own banks again. In the previous decade, several banks collapsed which led to the banning of the establishment of banks as it had been forbidden by the 1907 banking act.
Securities Act of 1933
The Securities Act implemented in 1933 helped establish a new regulatory regime for the security industry. This Act included the regulation of stock buybacks and initial public offerings to ensure investor protection and prevent market manipulation.
Agricultural Adjustment Act
One of the major pieces of the New Deal was Agricultural Adjustment Act which was designed to stabilize the farm industry. It was passed in 1933 following the Great Depression with the aim to reduce the burden of debt on farmers and lower the price of food for poor and needy people in society.
Glass-Steagall Act
Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 was a major piece of the New Deal with a wide range of measures that were intended to increase the stability of the banking system by separating investment banking and commercial activities.
Main Features of Roosevelt’s New Deal
President Roosevelt introduced and implemented a wide range of social and economic reforms designed to stimulate the American economy and restore prosperity for the American nation. These reforms included the creation of a number of new government agencies to restore Americans’ confidence in the government and economy. To achieve that, Roosevelt had large-scale public works projects which included:
Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
It was a program of the New Deal that employed over three million Americans during the 1930s. These men were put to work on a number of projects in various parts of the United States, including reforestation, building bridges, flood control, and fire fighting. The program worked with the aim to improve federal lands by planting trees, constructing dams, building trails, and building bridges.
Works Progress Administration (WPA)
The Roosevelt administration’s Works Progress Administration was a great initiative and a remarkable effort during the Great Depression to provide work for unemployed people in America. The WPA program like CCC aimed to provide education and jobs to vulnerable Americans and distressed farmers who were struggling when the economy collapsed.
Criticism of Roosevelt’s New Deal
Although the programs introduced and implemented in the New Deal following the Great Depression were generally popular at first, they eventually became a target of criticism by conservatives. Such critics thought those programs were an unwelcome intrusion into the lives of private citizens.
Conclusion
In a nutshell, the Roosevelt administration’s New Deal program established federal responsibility that reversed the downward economic spiral for the welfare of the American economy and the unemployed people of the United States. Despite criticism, the New Deal was a great effort of recovery, reform, and relief for those who were hardest hit during the Great Depression when the stock exchange crashed in 1929.
