The New Deal Essay

The New Deal Essay

For the initial post, pick two (2) of the following (any program and/or act of the New Deal).  Reflecting over the weekly reading and lesson video The New Deal Coalition (also linked in the Required Resources), address the following for your selections:

Consider workers, immigrants, and African Americans. Explain how minorities were represented by the New Deal.

Analyze to what extent you think that the New Deal effectively ended the Great Depression and restored the economy.

Programs – The New Deal Essay

Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC)

Public Works Administration (PWA)

Civil Works Administration (CWA)

Works Progress Administration (WPA)

Farm Security Administration (FSA)

Acts – The New Deal Essay

Emergency Banking Relief Act

Economy Act

Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA)

Tennessee Valley Authority Act (TVA)

National Employment System Act (Wagner-Peyser Act)

Home Owners Loan Act

National Industrial Recovery Act (NIA)

Glass-Steagall Act (Banking Act)

Securities & Exchange Act

Emergency Relief Appropriation Act

Resettlement Administration (RA)

Rural Electrification Administration (REA)

National Labor Relations Act (Wagner Act)

Social Security Act

Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)

The New Deal Essay

The New Deal

The New Deal was identified as a host of programs or legislations enacted during President Roosevelt’s era. These laws and programs were a response to the great depression, which had a weighty impact on Americans. According to Schlesinger (2003), while the programs and legislation were focused on addressing the evident economic crisis, they diversely affected different groups, i.e., minorities. This paper explores the impact of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and the National Labor Relations Act or Wagner Act on African Americans, immigrants, and workers during the New Deal period.

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The CCC was a program developed to offer jobs to young men. It was a relief program that successfully employed millions of young men to work in natural resources projects, i.e., national parks, soil erosion prevention, and conservation of natural resources (Katznelson, 2013). However, the inclusivity for minorities was limited. Like many programs developed during the New Deal, programs experienced racial segregation as African Americans faced inequality dissemination and limited opportunities for advancement (Schlesinger, 2003). Despite the discrimination of minority groups, the CCC program offered economic relief as the majority of young men had some income, hence an improvement in individual livelihoods. But in a larger view, the program was a failure to address the systematic disparities, i.e., racial disparities in their American community.

On the other hand, passed in 1935, the Wagner Act was legislation to protect workers’ rights via labor unions. This was a landmark moment for labor movements in the US. Regarding the representation of minorities, the ACT had a profound impact on workers, including immigrants and African Americans (Katznelson, 2013). This is because the Act allowed them to join unions that advocated for better pay and working conditions. However, some unions limited the inclusion of African Americans. In terms of effectiveness, the Wagner Act strengthened the country’s labor positions, as through unions, workers could secure improved pay and working conditions, which boosted the workers’ economic status (Schlesinger, 2003). However, despite improving worker-related issues, the legislation had limited success in alleviating ethnic and racial inequalities.

Including the explored new deals above, the new deal policies offered a notable relief to the American economy and for workers who could find work and address economic hardships from the Great Depression. However, the news deals didn’t fully end the depression and systematic discrimination that minority groups faced. In summary, while the New Deal offered a new dawn to millions of people, the success was uneven, such as not meeting the needs of minorities and inequalities.

References

Katznelson, I. (2013). Fear itself: The New Deal and the origins of our time.
Labor: Studies in Working-Class History of the Americas
, 10(3), 61–78.

Schlesinger, A. M. (2003).
The coming of the New Deal, 1933-1935
. Houghton Mifflin.