by M.D. Hennessey

Created on: April 24, 2008   Last Updated: February 28, 2012

The Great Depression years of the 1930s called for extreme action by the government of the United States, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt's "New Deal" created many programs both successful and sometimes even unconstitutional to aid the people through the worst depression in US history.

Programs such as the Emergency Banking Bill, FERA, and the TVA were established to provide immediate relief. Programs such as the CWA, WPA, CCC, and NRA were established to provide economic recovery, and programs such as the SEC, FDIC, and the Social Security Act were established to ensure that a depression to the degree of the 1930s would never happen again in the US. New Deal immediate relief programs did not solve the depression, however the programs directed toward recovery and reform were extremely successful, and the US has yet to see a depression of the extent of that of the 1930s.

The Great Depression of the 1930s called for immediate and drastic government relief, and many New Deal programs were instituted to provide immediate aid. These programs ended up not being very effective because the US stayed in a depression until WWII, although many provided enough relief to keep American families' hopes alive.

The Emergency Banking Bill was passed to give $2 billion dollars to large banks in hope to have people invest in smaller banks again, thus stimulating the economy. Another New Deal program, the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) was established to aid unemployed men and their families, and in only two years FERA had given out over $3.1 billion dollars. FDR and the New Deal also constructed the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). TVA's purpose was to provide basic necessities to the Tennessee Valley area, a region hit hard by the Depression. The TVA provided electricity, fertilizer, flood control, navigation, manufacturing, and economic development to the area.

Many programs were created in the New Deal years to provide recovery and jobs to American families so a return to normalcy could be accomplished. A New Deal program created to provide recovery was the Civil Works Administration (CWA). The CWA was established to provide temporary manual labor jobs (i.e. dam building, forest clearing, and road construction); the programs main focus was to provide high wages so more money was circulated.

Another New Deal program established to help American families recover was the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The WPA was the largest New Deal program,

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>