The Great Depression In The 1920's

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The Great Depression The 1920’s were a decade often referred to as “the roaring twenties,” an era when successful businessmen were national heroes, land values were flourishing, and the hems on women's skirts were getting shorter than ever before! This was a period when the traditional morals of rural America were challenged - women were voting, driving cars, and gaining employment. The average American was busy buying vehicles, household appliances, and playing in the stock market, where big money could be made. On Black Tuesday, 29 October 1929, the stock market crashed, initiating the Great Depression, the worst economic downfall in the history of the modern industrial world. Banks failed, over 100,000 businesses closed, and more than…show more content…
“I pledge you, I pledge myself, a new deal for the American people.” Roosevelt’s goal was to preserve capitalism. The New Deal alleviated the financial burden of many and provided jobs through several programs. The programs also worked on railroads, forests, and improved the living standards in America. New Deal programs increased federal government regulation without altering the existing capitalist system or the distribution of wealth (657 Norton).” Such programs included the National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933 which attempted to stabilize prices and wages but the Supreme Court annulled the NRA of 1935 as too much US government power. The Agriculture Adjustment Act “established a national system of crop controls which offered subsidies to farmers who agreed to limit production of specific crops (Norton…show more content…
Banks separated from insurance companies, savings & loans, and mutual funds to prevent gambling --- aka Glass Stegall Act. We now regulate the stock market and bank accounts are insured by FDIC. Some provisions of the Act, such as Regulation Q, which allowed the Federal Reserve to regulate interest rates in savings accounts, were repealed by the Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act of 1980. It’s for those reasons that the new deal was a success in the long run. “The New Deal fundamentally changed the way that the U.S. government would deal with future economic downturns and with the needs of its citizens in good times and bad (Norton
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