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The new deal had many different features, but an underlying foundation beneath the entire Idea, was the idea that the federal government had and should thus use Its power to actively Intervene In the economy and do what It could to Improve the standard of living in America. It was a break with the past and an end to the previous Republican belief, that if income of tax revenues fell, then expenditure must also be cut to immediately balance the budget. Roosevelt idea was one very dissimilar, he believed that by spending public money on a huge scale, this would inject demand onto the economy, create Jobs and put the U.
S. A back into work. In the first 100 days of his presidency, he and his government took special power to deal with the immediate crisis. He introduced the Emergency Banking relief Act, which closed all banks for four days, in order to quieted things down and if they had enough funds to operate, they were allowed to re-open. Banks were then promptly banned from investing in the stock market, this increased confidence in banks, which is fundamental for a capitalistic economy. He also Introduced the F. E.
RA, which revived $500,000,000 Immediate relief to the poorest victims of the depression. By introducing these measures in the first 100 days, he showed to the American public, that he unlike the former president Hoover believe in active government to change and improve lives. By introducing these, along with weekly fire-side chats where he used the radio to communicate to the public, he restored confidence to the people. Over the period of his presidency, he Introduced several other acts to further build on the Idea of helping the country through government intervention.
Among the ore successful of the deals, were how he tried to help agriculture, a sector which had been in depression since the 1 ass’s. Prices for food were very low, that so little profit was made on the grain, that farms turned to over-production in order to try and make more money, only worsening the problem, by lowering prices further and draining the soil of so much nutrients, which destroyed the land and caused “dust- bowls”, meaning the soil was blown by the wind Into the alarm and In turn ruining farms.
In order to stop over-production, he Introduced one of his nicknamed Alphabet Agencies”, the AAA to help farmers. They were encouraged to switch to new crops and stop the overproduction of others, this increased farm Income, but was criticized for wasting good at a time when millions were starving. Probably the most successful of all projects, was the the TVA, which paid people to build a series of damns to control floods on the Tennessee River, a poor and backward area in which 50% were dependent on government relief for survival.
This provided temporary employment and then once they were built, the Land could be irrigated and farmed ND thus damns were also used to provide hydro-electricity, which provided plentiful energy to an area previously so poor and backward in it, where previously less than 2% of farms were served by electricity, now all had easy access to electric power. This further attracted industries such as Aluminum smelting and paper making, further regenerating the area. He also created camps to give work to young Americans, which but only 8,000 women. He also introduced the N. R.
A, of which there were two parts, one was the P. W. A, which began major building schemes, which provided Jobs and the Blue Eagle, which was introduced to try and improve wages and working conditions for workers. However this was only recommended, not enforced on companies. But those companies who worked under these conditions, were allowed to print the blue eagle on their products and were more likely to be chosen for government projects. He also gave all workers the right to Join trade union and set up a basic system of welfare including old age pensions, unemployment and sick pay.