Ted Franciosi

Mr. Rooney/Ms.Walker

U.S History ll/ American literature

Thesis Paper

4/23/13

The New Deal The “roaring twenties” was known for prohibition, speakeasies and short hair, however the footprint it left behind was an economic crisis. Bank failure, installment plans, and the crashing of the Stock Market all led to the Great Depression. In 1932, Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected president of the United Sates during one of the hardest economic struggles in history. Herbert Hoover, the previous president to Roosevelt, believed that the depression would work itself out with the hard work and will of the people. In addition to his conservative beliefs, Hoover and was the epitome of a lassiez-faire president. The week after Roosevelt won the presidency, he started his plan of relief, recovery, and reform. Roosevelt so famously said, “A new era was ushered in, an era in which fiscal policy included government borrowing aimed specifically at lessening the effects of the depression”(Kelly, Martin). The creation of Roosevelt’s New Deal was to help the everyday struggle during the Great Depression. The cost of government rose with the organizations created to help ease the crisis, the size and power of the government grew, and presidents became less lassez-faire and more involved in the lives of its citizens. The Great Depression was the event that created the New Deal, a turning point in government involvement during an economic crisis.
This monumental catastrophe was attended to immediately, as Roosevelt quickly asserted himself to the Great Depression. The New Deal began in 1932 when in the first “One Hundred Days” in office; Roosevelt began the first step to recovery. At the end of his first one hundred days, he had fifteen major laws passed, gave 15 messages, and 10 speeches to Congress. Roosevelt held cabinet meetings twice a week (Hardman, John). Out of the fifteen major laws passed, several sent millions of people to work like the Civil Conservation Corps (CCC), and the Works Progress Administration (WPA). These programs were created to lower unemployment rates and to expand infrastructure as well as better the ecosystems throughout the states. From April 15 until October 31, 1933 the CCC cost the government a little more then seventeen million dollars just to cover the men’s wages. Equipment, clothing, and food created another tab to the program that racked up another fifteen million dollars (Porter, John A). This program was the largest and most successful out of all the recovery programs. It’s success is shown when author John A Porter states, “regardless of the cost of the Civilian Conservation Corps to the Government, no single Act of the administration has brought greater results than this great forest Army” (Porter, John A). The size and power of the government skyrocketed in order to sustain the New Deal. States across the United States did not have the money to aid their citizens and looked to the government for assistance. Suddenly, the whole country was dependent on the government as if they were children waiting for their parents to fix everything. John Ward was bold enough to state, “No president since FDR has presided over as rapid a growth in government when measured as a percentage of the total economy” (Ward, John). From Hoover to Roosevelt, the government adopted new roles that made the economy and life of the citizens the main priority. An important piece to the New Deal’s success was the Fair Standards Labor Act (FSLA). It created minimum wages and over time that pays one and a half more than regular pay. This government program was so paramount and influential that it still exists today. This displays the power the government gained forcing a set pay because of constant union disputes and strikes during the early 1900s. Roosevelt, during this economic struggle, was forced to unbalance the budget, which made him the first president to heavily rely government borrowing,