The Success of the New Deal and Its Reasons

Subject: History
Pages: 3
Words: 558
Reading time:
2 min

Being implemented by Franklin D. Roosevelt as a package of social and financial projects, the New Deal was successful because it helped the United States to recover after the Great Depression. Moreover, the New Deal has influenced the environment and the social system of the country.

Explanation:

The set of anti-poverty and anti-crisis measures named the New Deal addressed several aspects of the situation in the USA in the 1930-es. One of them was poverty that resulted from the high level of unemployment. In order to tackle this problem, under Roosevelt Public Works Administration, a program that provided many unemployed citizens with different kinds of jobs was created. The work projects included building hospitals, airports, dams, hospitals, roads, etc.

At that time not only people who lived in cities but also farmers struggled with poverty. Several programs were intended to support the rural population of the USA. The measures taken included buying marginal lands, building roads to remote areas, providing schoolchildren with lunches, etc. The effects of the New Deal in that aspect were positive: the attempt to eliminate the problem of poverty was quite successful and the incomes of farmers rose greatly. To the successes of the New Deal obviously belongs the formation of the Civilian Conservation Corps, or CCC. This work program was aimed not only at the natural resources conservation but also at giving jobs to young men and encouraging them.

Thanks to this project, circa 3,000,000 young Americans, the participants of the camps, got a new view of the United States and believed that the future would bring good things with it. They benefited from the program emotionally, physically and financially, for the immediate financial help met the needs of their families. Speaking about the impact of the New Deal on nature, it is important to press the point that, due to reforestation and control over floods, many hectares of soil were saved from erosion. Moreover, millions of trees were planted and hundreds of parks created. So, it might be possible to note that the New Deal affected American citizens of that time in a positive way and made a huge contribution to the natural resources of the United States.

Other New Deal programs were meant to support recovery and make the economic situation more stabilized. In order to avoid another serious economic crisis, the concepts of the unbridled competition were developed. The Wagner Act gave workers the right to have talks with employees on their salaries and working hours and the Social Security Act provided old people with an opportunity to get retirement pensions. These measures held much significance and played a key part in the evolution of the United States.

In spite of the all above facts, it can’t be said that the New Deal ended the Great Depression at once. Some actions taken under Roosevelt had adverse effects, like the Social Security system. The payments were not planned until 1942, but money for this purpose was taken out of the budget before, thus not helping to normalize the economic situation. So, it might be noted, that some of the New Deal measures worked well, others did not. However, it is obvious, that the New Deal can be called a successful set of projects because it contributed to the US surviving the consequences of the Great Depression.