Franklin Roosevelt’s “optimism and Activism

Franklin Roosevelt’s “optimism and activism that helped restore the badly shaken confidence of the nation” (pg. 467 Out of Many), was addressed in the New Deal, developed to bring about reform to the American standard of living and its low economy. It did not only make an impact during the Great Depression. Although, many of the problems addressed in the New Deal might have been solved, those with the long lasting effect provide enough evidence to illustrate how great a success the role of the New Deal played out in America’s history to make it what it is today.

Although, the growth of business was booming and consumption was extremely high during the 1920’s employers failed to equally distribute the benefits to its industrial workers who got the short end of the stick and did not see any profit from productivity. Since there was no law at the time established on how many hours a person was to work and get paid, employers would overwork and underpay the laborers. This became a major problem because it brought about high unemployment rates, which for laborers, the shortage of jobs meant strong competition among each other for finding and keeping a job, and low wages, which brought down consumption.

Several of the policies created to specifically help the jobless during that time were, Emergency Relief Appropriations Act (1935) run by the Public Works Administration (PWA), designed for the construction of public building, roads, dams and other projects. Federal Project No. 1, also run by PWA, gave jobs to writers, musicians, and artist.

“The idea was to provide jobs and thus, stimulate the economy through increased consumer spending”. (pg 469 Out of Many)

The most benefited policies created through the New Deal for employment, one, the Social Security Act (1935), provides “old-aged pensions and unemployment insurance. A payroll tax on workers and their employers were created a fund from which retirees received monthly pensions after age sixty-five.” (pg 470 Out of Many) Second, National Labor Relations Act (1935), also known as the Wagner Act, gave Americans the right to form a union and bargain with their employers for better pay and working conditions. Third, and the most important one of all Fair Labor Standard Act (1938), it established a minimum wage and maximum hours for an employee.

Roosevelt’s first order of business as President was to put a halt on the banking system. Congress passed the Emergency Bank Act, which gave him leeway to all banking transactions and foreign exchange. Here is where he saw a major problem with the Banks, seeing as they were “revealed to be involved in stock manipulation, illegal loans and tax evasion” (pg 467 Out of Many), causing many banks to go bankrupt and leaving customers with no money in their accounts. Several of the