The Great Depression, which lasted from 1929 up until 1941, defines the time period when there was a financial and industrial collapse in America, causing unemployment rates to skyrocket, as well as the amount of homeless people. Caused by the constant speculation and buying on margin that took place so frequently in the stock market, the Great Depression left America in just that state of mind: depressed. Republican Herbert Hoover was elected president of the United States in 1928 after a race against democrat Al Smith. Hoover believed in three concepts that would contribute to the initiation of the Great Depression: rugged individualism, the belief that citizens should not rely on the government but themselves in order to create a well-lived
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Document 3 proves this as it depicts the growth of the total government debt over the course of twelve years. During Hoover’s presidency, the debt grew from $16.9 billion to $19.5 billion and once FDR took office, it only kept growing. Immediately, the expenditures, deficit, and overall debt were rapidly increasing, the total debt reaching an all-time high of $44 billion dollars. FDR’s programs only sunk the government further into debt, leaving behind yet another trail of stressors for the country to worry about. However, that just signified that he was putting in as much effort as he possibly could in order to renourish the nation. Document 4 also emphasizes the fact that the U.S was being thrown further into debt and that FDR’s programs were not quite doing the job. America was still in a record-breaking recession even with New Deal programs, so how much of a difference were they actually making? All of the job programs and changes to inefficient industries actually gave millions of Americans a place to start; those who found work were able to continue developing in a healthy way that would set up a stable foundation for their own life. Lastly, document 5 depicts the unemployment rates from 1933-1945 and that it took nearly a decade to bring the unemployment rate to under 5%. While it took that long to bring down the …show more content…
By creating a stable foundation, keeping an open mind, and sticking through with his plan to turn the country around, FDR’s response to the Great Depression exemplified the intent of the federal government much better than Hoover’s did. With more structure, effort, and optimism, FDR successfully restored the
Document 3 proves this as it depicts the growth of the total government debt over the course of twelve years. During Hoover’s presidency, the debt grew from $16.9 billion to $19.5 billion and once FDR took office, it only kept growing. Immediately, the expenditures, deficit, and overall debt were rapidly increasing, the total debt reaching an all-time high of $44 billion dollars. FDR’s programs only sunk the government further into debt, leaving behind yet another trail of stressors for the country to worry about. However, that just signified that he was putting in as much effort as he possibly could in order to renourish the nation. Document 4 also emphasizes the fact that the U.S was being thrown further into debt and that FDR’s programs were not quite doing the job. America was still in a record-breaking recession even with New Deal programs, so how much of a difference were they actually making? All of the job programs and changes to inefficient industries actually gave millions of Americans a place to start; those who found work were able to continue developing in a healthy way that would set up a stable foundation for their own life. Lastly, document 5 depicts the unemployment rates from 1933-1945 and that it took nearly a decade to bring the unemployment rate to under 5%. While it took that long to bring down the …show more content…
By creating a stable foundation, keeping an open mind, and sticking through with his plan to turn the country around, FDR’s response to the Great Depression exemplified the intent of the federal government much better than Hoover’s did. With more structure, effort, and optimism, FDR successfully restored the