FDR: The New Deal

The Great Depression was the deepest and longest-lasting economic downturn in the world. In the US the Great Depression began October 1929. Until 1939 there were masses of families that were unemployed as failing companies laid off workers. The Great Depression did not only effect the US but the rest of the world in addition. The New Deal was a series of domestic programs enacted in the United States between 1933 and 1938. There were varying strengths and weaknesses when analyzing how effective FDR’s New Deal was. In Document 1 (the Second Fireside Chat) it states, “First, we are giving opportunity of employment to one-quarter of a million of the unemployed, especially the young men, to go into forestry and flood prevention work… Next, the Congress is about to pass legislation that will greatly ease the mortgage distress among the farmers and the home owners of the nation, by easing the burden of debt now bearing so heavily upon millions of our people.” This does not specify who they (the people) are being employed by. Nor does it say if they are minimum wage, high paying jobs, etc. And finally, young men are not the ones with families to support. Although it’s understandable as to why they would give the jobs to young men for this line of work, considering they are less likely to get injured it would have made more sense to give men with families/or others who depend of them as a source of income an opportunity to find employment. The text goes onto say, “This is a big task because it means feeding, clothing and caring for nearly twice as many men as we have in the regular army itself. In creating this civilian conservation corps we are killing two birds with one stone. We are clearly enhancing the value of our natural resources, and we are relieving an appreciable amount of actual distress.” Civilian Conservation Corps were public work