How radical was the New Deal?

Answer 1

The AAA (Agriculture Adjustment Adminstration) paid farmers across the USA to reduce their surplus goods in order to raise the price of crops for the future. This involved culling thousands of cattle and destroying many crops nationwide which had proven to be a controversial issue at the time - especially considering there were a large proportion of people starving and malnourished in areas of America.

The CCC (Civilian Corps Conversation) was established to provide millions of young unemployed men with basic unskilled employment throughout America such as planting trees, occasional maintenance and environmental work. This entailed a few dollars paid work but the alphabet scheme primarily intended to attract people off from the streets of poverty.

The PWA (Public Works Administration) targeted hundreds of thousands of skilled workers suffering the Great Depression to construct new roads, public buildings including hospitals, school, community halls, post offices and many other public units. This alphabet agency transformed into the WPA later in Roosevelt's second term of office in his Second New Deal and continued to attract a large percentage of people struck by the Depression. Additionally, the PWA & WPA can take credit for a high percentage of America's schools, hospitals and other public buildings standing today.

There were however many other points that illustrate Roosevelt's failures that continued to prevail through the Depression era. For example, unemployment had not been completely tackled with at least 4 million suffering without work before America joined the Second World War. At one stage, FDR cut government expenditure which resulted in another recession worsening the Depression once again. In terms of the cultural suffering, Black Americans had failed to prosper widespread across the USA suffering below the poverty line in agriculture, industry and commerce. Black rights had been persistently denied as Roosevelt feared the loss of support from senators in the South of America if he attempted to prohibit lynching and other discriminatory laws against the Blacks. The American Indian population continued to be suppressed from their traditions and values in certain parts of American and, in spite of the laws made for the American-Indian proportion, these people found little contention during the Depression. Many leading and prominent industrialists disfavoured Roosevelt's government, feeling that FDR had betrayed them of their laissez-faire principals, as high taxation and trade unions prevailed a common burden upon their wealth.The TVA (Tennessee Valley Association) was later declared unconstitutional for interfering with the free market by having an unfair advantage over other businesses. In addition, the NRA (National Recovery Administration) was later denounced by the Supreme Court for creating tension between businesses on the common market.

Answer 2

Never before had the nation experienced the problems of the Great Depression of the 1930s. The federal government had never been expected to supply economic relief to the nation's needy. Private organizations and churches had always handled help for the poor. Now the nation needed help. The New Deal was an experiment. Never before had so many federal agencies been created to try and solve the immediate problems of relief, recovery, and reform of the economic system. The greatest and perhaps the most novel idea found in the New Deal was that it helped create confidence in the American public that the federal government could help, and it made Americans more confident in their system of government and the American institutions that already existed. While the New Deal did not solve all the economic problems of the depression, the government would continue to try and prevent a future Great Depression. JFK's New Frontier, and LBJ's Great Society were outgrowths of the New Deal. The governmental agencies created to regulate and protect, were born with the ideas of the New Deal. The Peace Corps and other such agencies created to help domestically and in other nations also are part of the New Deal legacy.

Answer 3

very