![]() Once FDR gets the banking system set up, he deals with the two fundamental sectors of the American economy-business and agriculture. The next thing he's got to do is prop up the agricultural economy because agriculture is where the vast majority of unemployment is. A third of the banks have shut their doors, have collapsed, so what FDR first has to do is to prop up the banks. People are taking out their savings because they don't trust the banks. So when FDR comes into office in March of 1933, he's got to deal with a banking system that is in shambles. And there's still poor, but the gap is narrowed. ![]() Capitalism and government for a united purpose that serves not only small vested interests or business interests or individual selfishness, but the common good. And his fundamental approach, what he will call this great national crusade, is to get business and citizens working together for the common good. What FDR fundamentally believes is that the Great Depression is as much psychological as it is economic and so what he wants people to believe is that it can get better. And so when the farm economy, which is almost 50 percent of the American economy at that point, goes into the toilet, that has a significant impact on people's ability to purchase, to buy goods and that has a huge impact on inventories which has a huge impact on manufacturing which has a huge impact on small business, has a huge impact on bank loans, and so it's a downward cycle. The Great Depression starts really the day World War I ends, not just because of the Treaty of Versailles but because the farm economy goes into the toilet. So you had a natural crisis, you had an economic crisis, and you had a great crisis of confidence. At the same time that this Fireside Chat will occur, the Midwest will have a horrific dust bowl. The day he takes the oath of office, the vast majority of farms in Mississippi were on the auction block. What they do agree on is that it's the greatest depression in American history. Now, historians disagree on how pervasive the Great Depression was. When FDR comes into office he is elected in November 1932, and he will not take office until March so there's a five-month dead time or political vacuum, if you will, where FDR's trying to get a handle on how best to deal with the great crisis in the country. The purpose of this is to show the American people that the Roosevelts care, that the economy is fundamentally sound and that what is just as important as solid government policy is their confidence in themselves and in the government to get through this, because America is the only society in the history of the world from the beginning of time-the history of the world-not to have a violent revolution and an overthrow of the government when their economy tanked. There's a great national crusade to destroy enforced idleness which is an enemy of the human spirit generated by this Depression." FDR believed that confidence and action were essential to confronting the Depression individually, collectively, and politically. ![]() He says, "Our responsibility is to all the people in this country. I think it's easier, really, to talk about when you look at this document, to look at the overarching goals that FDR had for the New Deal and what the problems were that he confronted when he came into office. You know, historians often talk about the first New Deal and the second New Deal as if there were clear benchmarks, that there were clear, like, highways down the middle that divided the two. We also look at how we clawed our way out of that gloomy time.It's a Fireside Chat given April 28, 1935, in the White House Diplomatic Reception Room, one of the 27 fireside chats that FDR gave and it's on the Works Relief Program, when he's really trying to force the Congress to address the issues that didn't get attention in the first two years of his inauguration. We explore mitigating factors including prohibition and military discernments. These worksheets look at the stock market crash and general causes that led to this desperate period of American and world history. Roosevelt are seen as the driving force that helped get the economy back on course. The policies and actions of President Franklin D. The failure of companies led to many people becoming unemployed. During the first four years, the stock market lost ninety percent of its value. This period lasted ten years until an economic shift came about. Over three hundred thousand companies failed during this era and were driven out of business. Over eleven thousand banks failed during this period leaving citizens with zero savings. ![]() With no one spending money on products and services companies began to fail. As a result panic spread through investors who were afraid to invest and consumers that were afraid to spend money. In October of 1929 the stock market experienced the worst crash in the history of its existence.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |