Question

• Describe FDR's "first hundred days": what were his priorities for economic recovery? Describe at least TWO early elements of the New Deal and how they attempted to ameliorate the economic problems of the Great Depression.
• Explain how/why the New Deal affected different social groups in different ways. Give at least TWO example

Answer 1

The economic condition had declared in the four months between FDR's election and his inauguration. Unemployment grew to over twenty-five percent of the nation's workforce, with more than twelve million Americans out of work. Upon accepting the democratic nomination, FDR had promised a "New deal to" to help America out of the depression, through the meaning of the program was far from clear.

The new deal created a broad range of federal government programs that sought to offer economic relief to the suffering, regulate the private industry, and grow the economy. The new deal is often summed up by the "Three Rs "

• Relief (for unemployment)
• Recovery
• Reform

THE FIRST NEW DEAL (1933-1934)

At the time of Roosevelt's inauguration on March 4, 1933 nation had been spiraling downward into the worst economic crisis in its history. Industrial output was only half of what it had been three years earlier, the stock market had recovered only slightly from its catastrophic losses, unemployment stood at a staggering 25 percent.

The first New Deal began in a whirlwind of legislative action called 'The First Hundred Days. From March through June 1933, at Roosevelt's behest, Congress passed legislation aimed at addressing the banking crisis, unemployment, and weak industrial performance, among other problems, through an '"alphabet soup" of new laws and agencies.

THE SECOND NEW DEAL(1935-1938)

The second phase of the new deal focused on increasing worker protection and building long-lasting financial security for Americans.Four of the most notable pieces of legislation included

The Works Progress Administration (WPA)

The Wagner Labor Relations Act

The Social Security Act

The Fair Labor Standards Act

Included southern whites, various urban groups, African Americans, and unionized industrial workers. all these groups supported the Democratic Party. As a result of the Wagner Act and other pro-labor acts, union members received better working conditions and increased bargaining power