Why was Roosevelt so popular in South Carolina in his presidential campaigns?
CourseworkHelp Why did Franklin Rosevelt win the Presidential election in 1932?For the Ameican people the 1920s was a time of umlimited opportunities and wealth. America was the richest nation at this time and the wages ofmany ordinary people rose while the prices of goods did not. At this timethe president was Harding, a strong Republican. But in 1923, in the midst ofthis prosperous period Harding died and another republican-Coolidge becamepresident. This was when the American government started to set high tariffson all foreign goods entering America, which encouraged people to buy fromAmerca, as opposed to the rest of the world as this would be more expensive.People were encouraged to spend their money and this very prosperous periodwas built around luxuries such as the motor car. For example most Americanswere expected to own a radio or a washing machine as part of this time ofconsumer industry. The 20s was also a golden age of comedy and cinema. Forthose sections of society that were part of this boom life could not bebetter. However some people such as farmers and black people missed out onthis good life because they could not afford it. Often a way for whitefarmers to express their hatred for not sharing in America's boom was byjoining a secret group of criminals called the Klu Klux Clan. In 1919politicians were persuaded to ban alcohol which was known as Prohibition.But alcohol soon found its way into illegal bars and gangsters in thisbusiness such as Al Capone made a fortune. In 1929 Herbert Hoover becamepresident and promised this prosperity to increase. But that same year wasthe Wall street crash.For sometime share prices had been steadilly increasing and being sold tomany Americans. But an awareness that shares would surely soon fall causedpeople to start selling their shares which made other people follow as theylost confidence. So people lost not only their investments but also lifelongsavings because of banks and insurance companies going bust and on the 29thOctober there was a complete collapse. So every-one withdrew money fromtheir banks which caused even more to go bust. The 'Boom' was now over anddepression had come. Over twelve million Americans were unemployed and overone million of these people could not pay off their mortgages and weretherefore homeless. The starving were forced to form 'breadlines' providedby charities such as the salvation army and the homeless moved into shantytowns made of corrugated iron and cardboard known as 'Hoovervilles'. Farmersalso went bankrupt and they tried to make up for their loss of income bygrowing more crops but these now had to be sold at rock bottom prices. Thebiggest protest made in 1932 was by ex-service men known as the bonus army.These unemployed veterans stood outside the whitehouse in protest for monthswaiting for their promised payments, and made Hoover look heartless.Herbert Hoover who had worked hard after being orphaned at the age ofeight to become president in 1929. He was known to have little confidenceand when people realised that hi policies for dealing with the new deal weretoo late they also began to think that he held empty promises: he hadclaimed to provide 'a chicken in every pot'. People therefore lost hope inHoover and did not feel encouraged by him, as he once said: 'Nobody isactually starving(!)'.The majority of Americans actually blamed Hoover forthe Depression. Roosevelt by contrast was enthusiastic, optimistic anddynamically mastered. Frederick Delano Roosevelt was born in 1882 in amansion called Hyde Park. He was very well educated and was related to TeddyRoosevelt which would have impressed many. Tall, handsome and athletic hewas once described as 'A second-class interlect- but a first-classtemperament' He was strenthened by experience as he had already been asuccessful politician for a number of years. Roosevelt was paralysed fromhis waist downwards from polio but no-one knew this, which shows hisstrength and determination as he was once told that he would never walkagain. He caught the mood of voters with his New Deal promise and peoplewere prepared to risk the change in style of government-they had nothing toloose. Interfering with economy had never been done before and Rooseveltintended to create jobs by spending more money, whereas Hoover believed in'Self Help'. The people of America were now given a new hope from Roosevelt.In November 1932 Roosevelt was elected president and was welcomed by cheersand song from the hopefull crowds.2) Explain how Roosevelt's New deal attempted to solve America's economicand social problems 1933-38.According to the American Constitution Roosevelt was not allowed tobecome president until 4 months after the election. These months, duringwhich Hoover continued to govern America were known as the 'Lame Duck period'. Diring these months Hoover worked very hard but unfortunately his lameduck policies failed and the Depression grew worse and by March 1933 everybank in America was closed. During the first hundred days Roosevelt workedfuriosly hard. One of his first actions was to close the banks which stoppedthe panic and gave time for the accounts of all the banks to be inspected.Roosevelt managed to overcome the banking crisis with his 'fireside chats'over the radio. He persuaded people that it was now safe to use the banksand people regained their confidence and started to deposit money into themagain. Roosevelt was determined to pull America out of the depression and tostop people loosing their homes and as a result many new laws came floodingout of Washington. For exampleone of the most important of these agencies was the Agricultural Adjustmentagency (also known as the AAA) whose main aim was to over come problemsfacing farmers such as farm production and prices. This was successful as itmodernised farms a great deal. This 'Alphabet soup of laws' also includedthe Federal Relief Administration and the Civilian Conservation Corps whichwere also successful.The Tenessee Valley was a large area which cut through seven differentstates. Often the river flooded and there was also the problem of soilerosion. So Roosevelt set up the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) whichbuilt dams across the river. This organisation was vastly successful and notonly were the prople of this area's living conditions improved but also manyjobs were created.Roosevelt who was very much enjoying being president, was turning despairinto hope. The extreme measures that he introduced during his first 100 dayshad an immediate effect on America. Roosevelt now wanted his New deal to gofurther so he introduced the second new deal which begun in 1935. This wasnot quite as successful as the first term but it still managed to employ manyworkers for example through 'The Works Progress Administration' and socialsecurity benefits were provided for many. But unfortunately before longthe New Deal was meeting opposition from the Supreme Court and in May 1935it declared the New recovery act unconstitutional. There was also a sensethat the country had not yet totally returned to its prosperous days andpeople such as republicans started to turn against him as they thought therest of the country should be given a chance. It was also critisised by taxpayers because the new deal inevitably increased taxes. Roosevelt wassucessful to a large extent, but a small amount of problems still persisted,for exemple unemployment was not totally cured.If you still can't find any of the coursework that you are looking for, click here to look at over 30,000 GCSE, A-Level and University Level essays on Coursework.Info.
