The Great Depression
Recovery Efforts
As the Great Depression proceeded, Americans
strived for some sort of relief that would save them from the hell they were continuously enduring. Recovery came in the form
of various relief programs or at least relief efforts administered by the presidents themselves. Recovery efforts during the
Great Depression involved Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deals and Herbert Hoover’s efforts to withdraw from
using the government in his recovery efforts of the United States.
When Herbert Hoover was elected president in
1929, he expected the prosperity of the nation to continue. He felt the prosperity of America
depended on three factors: self – government, as far as possible, through local agencies; individual freedom to encourage
initiative, and equality of opportunity. Hoover felt the true role of government
was that of “an umpire instead of a player in the economic game.” Hoover
believed that once the federal government involved itself in the business field, democracy would be threatened. Herbert Hoover
had radiate optimism upon entering the White House. In his inaugural address, he states that the United
States would soon “be in sight of the day when poverty will be banished from the nation.”
He strongly believed that the federal government should help the people help themselves. Previously in a 1928 campaign, the
Democrats and Republicans had promised farm relief, but never made the effort to enforce it. Hoover
then proposed that the government set up their own organizations to market produce more efficiently. In 1929, Congress passed
the Agricultural Market Act that created an eight man Federal Farm Board which was furnished with 500 million dollars to help
existing farm organizations and to create new ones. After the First World War the government had a tremendous load of debts,
both domestic and international. These debts put heavy taxes on the American people, and also clogged channels of international
trade. Investors tried to keep the international trade alive by lending out money aboard. The borrowers couldn’t afford
to pay all the money lent to them, so this lead to a halt in American loans, and trade soon began to dwindle. (Bryant 1)
All together, installment plans lead to debt,
stock gambling lead to loss in money, and failure to curb the stock market crash only worsened the stock market crash. All
these events are known factors of the Great Depression. People started to lose their homes and their jobs. This all lead to
the formation of “Hoovervilles”, which were areas covered with shacks made of cardboard, scrap metal, etc. Their
name corresponds with Hoover’s lack of making the depression better. (Bryant
1) Hoover felt that if he left the economy alone it would right itself and he
argued that government assistance would only weaken the moral fiber of the American people. (Part II: War, Depression and
War) In the year of 1932, Congress had to set up laws that would help businesses. One of the laws was the Reconstruction Finance
Corporation, which loaned up to three million dollars to the states for relief. (Byrant 1) Hoover’s
efforts consisted of spending in order to stabilize the economy and promoting the “trickling down” of prosperity
to the poor American people. (Part II: War, Depression and War) Hoover felt he
had discouraged or failed the people. In 1932, they voted him out of office, only to elect a new president in the same year.
(Bryant 1) Hoover made an effort to help recover the American people from the
Great Depression, but still it wasn’t enough to save them.
In the election of 1932, President Roosevelt
was elected president as the people’s hope for recovery. They had already endured four years of hardship and they were
both worried and discouraged. Roosevelt had called his talk fireside chats. He spoke calm and collected,
which had helped him win over the American people. When coming into office, Roosevelt had no clear
idea of how he was going to resolve the crisis at large. In the first phase of the New Deal, he used his “try something”
philosophy. He felt action was better than inaction. The New Deal had three specific aims: recovery from the depression, relief
for its victims, and reform of the economic system. With in the first phase of his administration, Roosevelt and his advisers
had the idea that through a series of temporary expedients, they could boost up the economy and let it carry on by its own
momentum. (Bryant 1) In Georgia, however, the New Deal’s
implementation was stalled by Governor Eugene Talmadge. He did not approve of Roosevelt’s New
Deal, he felt it was an outside intrusion into the state’s local affairs. He did what ever he could to deflect the New
Deal from Georgia. Talmadge did nothing to address the economic
crisis within Georgia, so in 1936 E.D. Rivers was elected
governor. Rivers had helped in implementing reforms at the state – level, but during his second term his administration
faced problems of unpopular tax policies and charges of corruption. Talmadge was soon reelected, but there was already a stable
foundation of the New Deal planted by Roosevelt and Rivers. (Jamil 1)
People had begun to worry about their savings in those banks that hadn’t yet
failed. They were tempted to take their money out, but were too afraid that the bank would fail. The president soon closed
the banks. He had called the closing of these banks, a “bank holiday.” He then got Congress to pass an act that
would help the banks. Banks soon reopened and the president’s actions had ended the banking crisis. The “bank
holiday” had marked the beginning of the Hundred Days. (Bryant 1)
With in the first hundred days, Congress had
passed fifteen major laws. The New Deal had three main goals: to provide relief to the millions suffering, to improve the
economy, and to pass new laws so that the number of poor people would decline. People had referred to these as the three R’s.
One of the laws promoted the set up of the National Recovery Administration. Its job was to get businesses, workers and the
government together. (Bryant 1) The Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933, allowed the government to stimulate increased farm
prices by paying farmers to produce less. “Acreage Allotment” helped the largest and best capitalized farmers,
though it did little for small farmers. (Part II: War, Depression and War) One of the most important laws of the New Deal
set up the Tennessee Valley Authority. The TVA had provided millions of dollars to transform the economies of seven depressed,
rural Southern states along the Tennessee River. The program included dam building, electric power
– generation, flood and erosion control. It had provided high – wage jobs in construction in a region the president
called “the nation’s number one economic problem.” (Part II: War, Depression and War)
One
of the most important reforms was the Social Security Act of 1935. It had provided pensions to retired Americans. It also
set up a system of unemployment insurance. The New Deal had also helped a variety of people in the United
States. Under some of its programs immigrants from southern and eastern Europe,
women, African Americans, Latinos and Native Americans were given new opportunities. For instance, Frances Perkins became
the first woman to serve in the president’s cabinet. The President soon began to name African Americans to important
posts. For instance, Mary Mcleod Bethune went from being a simple educator in the south, to establishing a Bethune –
Cookman College in Florida.
Latinos and Native Americans were also helped by the New Deal. Many Latinos received the opportunity to work on government
projects and the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 set up by John Collier was used to help Native Americans preserve their
culture. (Bryant 1)
In 1935 a second New Deal was put into place
by Roosevelt. This New Deal attempted to end the depression by spending at the bottom of the economy
where the government funds attempted to turn non-consumers into consumers. Most of the programs lasted until the end of World
War Two, while others became permanent. The Works Program Administration was a huge federal jobs program that sought to hire
unemployed breadwinners for the purpose of strengthening their family’s well – being as well as boosting consumer
demand. As already mentioned, the Social Security Act of 1935 was also an important part of the Second New Deal. The National
Relations Act of 1935 was set up as a way to prevent employers’ uses of intimidation and coercion in breaking unions.
This act resulted in the formation of the Congress of Industrial Organizations whose auto worker and coal miner units soon
saw their wages increase significantly. (Part II: War Depression and War) In 1938, the Fair Labor Standards Act abolished
child labor. One of the most important parts of the second New Deal was the Temporary National Committee. It collected testimony
and evidence that revealed that some businesses were involved with price – fixing, creation of scarcity, and the abuse
of patent laws. (Bryant 1) Roosevelt used the New Deal as a way to build confidence between the people
and the government as well as bring forth recovery.
Recovery efforts of the Great Depression were
both disappointing and rewarding. Hoover’s determination to prevent government
intervention in recovery did nothing to help the American people. If anything, it only worsened the Great Depression. Roosevelt
on the other hand, knew what needed to be done and he did it. He administered the New Deal which uplifted the American people.
It brought them out of darkness and into daylight. Even though Hoover
didn’t succeed in helping the American people, both presidents made an effort towards peoples’ freedom from the
Great Depression.
Works Cited
Bryant, Joyce. “The Great Depression
and New Deal.” Yale – New Haven Teachers Institute. 2008.
17 May 2008. <http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1998/4/98.0 4.04.x.html#>
“Part II: War, Depression and War,
1914-1915.” 17 August 2007.
17 May 2008. <http://iws.ccccd.edu/kwilkison/Online1302home/20th%20Century/DepressionNewDeal.html >
Zainaldie S., Jamil. “The New Deal
and Recovery.” Georgia Enclcopedia. Online.
Georgia Humanities Council. 2004 -2008. 17 May 2008.
<http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-3540 >
