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Split 14 Oct: Germany, from League of Nations Fled
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FDR’s New Deal aids US economy |
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In his first year as Democratic President of the United States, Franklin D Roosevelt honoured his pledge of ‘a new deal for the American people’. In March, he said in his inaugural speech that "the only thing we have to fear, is fear itself". Immediately after entering office, the great President worked quickly to counter the effects of the Great Wall Street Crash of 1929. On Sunday nights, he would make radio broadcasts to the people, known as fireside chats, to reassure the nation and explain his policies. Firstly, he tried to restore public confidence in the nation’s banks. People started depositing their money again. New life was breathed into the US stock market, and stock prices rose after the gold standard was abandoned. Roosevelt also started many other programs. The National Recovery Administration (eventually disapproved by the Supreme Court) enforced new rules including minimum wages and maximum hours. The Civil Conservation Corps hired young inexperienced men for environmental projects. The Agricultural Adjustment Act aided farmers. The Tennessee Valley Authority built hydroelectric dams and power plants. In these first months of his term as president (later known as the Hundred Days), FDR made an unprecedented (never before) amount of changes and new laws. It was he that established the system of an active federal (central) government in the USA, (rather than government bodies being active mostly only in their own states). |
