Mr. Raasch's Social Studies
Following the collapse of the stock market in 1929, the United States was in the grip of the worst economic depression it has every known. Bank failures, poor crop prices, natural disasters and wide spread unemployment devestrated the nation. The government and the people seemed powerless to stop the decline of one of the world's superpowers. No time since the founding of the nation and the Civil War has the US been so close to collapsing in on itself.
Unit 8: The Great Depression
Bonus Army, PBS
Franklin D. Roosevelt
FDR took office 3 1/2 years into the Great Depression, and his goal was to make a lasting impact on the nation through what he called the 3 R's: Relief, Recovery and Reform. FDR created hundreds of government programs designed to create jobs for the unemployed, give businesses a chance to because successful again and pass laws to insure that the United States never has to go through another economic crisis like that of the 30s again. While some of the New Deal programs failed, many were incredibily successful including several government programs that are still in function today, such as the FDIC and social security.
