Secondary Source Research: United States Depression & the New Deal

The economic depression in the US during the early 20th century, commonly called the Great Depression, caused a severe shift in the economic and social paradigm. Unemployment and homeless skyrocketed, thousands of banks and businesses closed, and the national GDP was continually in the negatives. The standard of living that had been established in the 1920s was in a nosedive as the average family was having trouble paying for everything from mortgages to the next day’s meal.

Actions were taken by President Herbert Hoover and congress, mostly in the form of millions of dollars of “block grants” given to the state governments in order to be used for public projects. Block grants are sums of money given by the federal government to the regional government, and are regulated by the regional government. The block grants, given to state governments through actions like the Public Buildings Act, were fairly ineffectual and money was often used for alternative projects. Hoover also instated the “Smoot-Hawley” Tariff, which increased tariffs on thousands of imported goods. The result lowered the United States market even more. U.S. imports decreased by 66% and exports decreased 61%. Following the enactment and results of these acts, Herbert Hoover was defeated in a landslide by Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Roosevelt, who is often considered a Progressive president, began to put his New Deal acts in place in an attempt to pull the United States from its depression. Roosevelt implemented many morally ethical acts in attempts to strengthen the economy and create a social safety net for citizens of the United States. Political actions like the Homeowners Refinancing Act, which helped form the Homeowners Loan Corporation and prevented foreclosure, as well as refinancing mortgages, or the Emergency Banking Relief Act, which provided the reopening of banks as soon as they were considered financially secure. These, among many other actions taken by President Roosevelt and his cabinet, are non “laissez-faire” and would likely have difficulty passing if not for the nation being in a state of economic emergency. Political action taken by Roosevelt increased the standard of living and overall good of the nation, but largely due to the nation’s economy being in a downward spiral and actions of this caliber being considered acceptable given the circumstances.

Much of my research into the depression era & New Deal was found through the “History Reference Center.” I looked around through a few dozen articles, taking tiny details from each of them, before settling on one that did a good job of summing up the early depression and the end of Hoover’s presidency, as well as the first “100 Days” of Roosevelt’s presidency and their results.

Baron, Robert C., and Samuel Scinta. 20th Century America: Key Events in History. Vol. 1. Golden, Colorado: Fulcrum, 1996. Millennium 200. EBSCO. Web. 9 Mar. 2017.