Definition of Terms
Black Thursday: The term refers to October 24, 1929, which marked the onset of the most significant crash of the trading markets in the contemporary history of the United States. The events of this day initiated the Great Depression. It was largely associated with the rapid expansion of the US stock market based wild speculation. That meant companies stocks were valued way above their actual amount in an economy that was on the decline. All that led to the crash of the stock market.
National Recovery Admin (NRA): The NRA was a bureau instituted by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933. The government established the agency with the primary objective of getting rid of “cut-throat competition.” The agency would achieve this objective through the unification of the industry, labor, and the government to design codes of “fair practices” and determine prices for commodities.
Huey Long: He was a passionate and charming Louisiana politician who moved up the ladder from an early and young age. Acknowledged as an agitator and revolutionist by his competitors, and famous for brushing off conventional procedures to procure political victories, Long commanded an enormous political camp in the name of courting proletariat and poor electorates. Long made an authentic contribution with an elaborate initiative of public works and welfare laws in a state the state government dismally abandoned its road network and social welfare due to control by the wealthy upper class.
Social Security Act: It is a law passed in 1935 to establish a framework for the transfer of payments in which youthful, working individuals support elderly, retired individuals. The legislation came into force during President Franklin D Roosevelt’s administration. Before the act was passed, many of the senior citizens would often slip to poverty in their old age. Under the act, they were provided with old-age insurance and other welfare programs. Ever since its passage, it remains to be one of the most successful programs.
The Four Freedoms: The Four Freedoms refer to the elaboration of global social and political goals by defined by the then U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt when he addressed congress on January 6, 1941, in his message contained in the State of the Union speech delivered to Congress. Against this background, Roosevelt outlined four essential fundamental freedoms upon which he deemed suitable for basing the post-war domain: freedoms of speech and expression, worship, want, and fear. Roosevelt insisted that the Four Freedoms were achievable through measures such as a global reduction of ammunition to such levels that at any given time, no country would enjoy the upper hand to engage in any form of physical assault directed at any of its neighboring nations or any other nation in the world.
Question 1: The New Deal
The New Deal was a sequence of initiatives and projects set in motion during the Great Depression by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. These measures sought to reinstate the prosperity of the once-raging American economy. Roosevelt’s administration was characterized by a more significant role that the federal government fulfilled in tackling the country’s economic and social challenges. The role entailed the enactment of banking improvement legislations, emergency relief initiatives, work relief projects, and agricultural initiatives (Hardman). All these projects and initiatives created jobs, fostered economic development, and established a federal Social Security system. Furthermore, the New Deal established a precedence for the federal government to play a more proactive role in the lives of American citizens.
Among the principal outcomes of the New Deal was a shift in how the government correlated with the nation as a whole. The New Deal rode on the presumption that both levels of government, the federal and state, not only had the power to but were obliged to intervene in and control the economy, as well as openly assist those in urgent need. Although Europe already had this idea from the 19th century, it acquired some momentum in the United States at the height of the Progressive Era. Still, it was Roosevelt’s determination and his New Deal that executed it on such a large scale (Hopkins). A variety of social aid initiatives, including social security, the FDIC, the FCIC, and the SEC, still in existence today in the United States, had their origins in the New Deal period. These programs endeavored to underwrite the needs of the broader public with several criteria for appropriateness.
The Social Security structure persists as the most significant and publicly notable social welfare initiative initially developed by New Deal legal provisions. In the same manner, provisions safeguarding labor that are presently an assumed characteristic of the American lifestyle are on account of the New Deal. Although such events as an outlawing of child labor, daily and weekly greatest working hours, and least rates of pay had been mentioned or even initiated to a lesser degree on a national level in the Progressive Era, nonetheless, it was the New Deal legal provisions that assimilated them into federal law.
Moreover, the New Deal had a direct impact on the American economy. In specific looking at some of the programs that were initiated by President Roosevelt, they were aimed at reforming the economy, which had taken a hit during the great depression. A good example is the National Recovery Administration, which was put in place to ensure there was fair competition in the market and that workers had rights such as a minimum wage and working hours. As well, the role of agriculture in the economy was addressed through the enactment of the agricultural adjustment administration. It was a bill that was aimed at offering subsidies to the farmers in exchange for the reduction of the production levels for certain crops. In that way, the prices of that crop would rise. In addition to the above, the plight of workers in the economy was also addressed through the use of the Wagner Act. The passage of this bill ensured that workers in private companies were able to organize in terms of unions and use that power for collective bargaining.
Roosevelt’s administration also played an essential part in reshaping the role of the executive arm of government, presenting much more significant authority to both the president of the nation, as well as the federal government. Under a lot of federal bodies and initiatives, the government controlled the economy, comprising, for instance, industrial associations in some sectors. Therefore, several groups of citizens obtained support and protection under the law. These concepts influenced the next generations of American reformists. They set the stage for progressive presidents and their notions, in particular, President Lyndon B. Johnson’s, as well as his Great Society schema.
In conclusion, The New Deal redesigned the function of the government, prompting the larger part of everyday Americans to believe that the government was obligated to intervene in the economy and also safeguard and provide direct assistance to American citizens. Additionally, the New Deal put in place measures to curb greed and other unfair trade practices in Wall Street, which had led to the crash of the stock market and the consequent start of the great depression.
Question 2: The Ugly Side of the “Good War.”
The vast majority of people perceive the Second World War as the “good war,” a fight against autocracy and democracy. However, a close examination of the events that took place in the Second World War reveals that the United States has nothing for which to be proud. The U.S and its confederates fought to safeguard or strengthen their empires. According to Smith, during the war, the U.S. deserted the Jews, disregarded democracy, incited a race war against Japan, and reinstated Nazi war perpetrators to utilize as American operatives following the war. By triumphing in the Second World War, the U.S. gained a foothold as the world’s greatest and most ominous superpower.
Following Germany’s defeat, the confederates then tussled for the domination of Asia. Once it was an indisputable fact that the United States would subdue Japan, President Harry Truman’s major preoccupation was to make sure that no other power would infringe on U.S. jurisdiction. The United States bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki to assert itself as the superior power in Asia and to drive Russia away, swiftly igniting the two Japanese cities.
Truman alleged that if he did not resort to bombing, he would have been required to decree a massive assault on Japan, endangering the lives of two million Americans (Smith). These claims were invalid. In reality, Japan was on the brink of collapse. The economic siege had shut off its provisions. Before the bombing, the Japanese had effectively presented terms of surrender.
As the war progressed, the Confederates were no longer focused on combating fascism than they were about upholding democracy (Bess). The United States and its future confederates demonstrated their fondness for fascism over workers’ uprising during the Spanish Civil War. When the Spanish imperialists revolted against the democratically elected government of Spain, the supposed antiauthoritarian powers sat tight and allowed democracy to go up in smoke. Therefore, the capitalist governing class endorsed the fascists’ assault on the laborers of Italy, Germany, and Spain (Smith). Furthermore, even after the imperialists jeopardized their territories with an invasive war, the Confederates’ initial reaction was to accommodate Germany and Italy. The allies were determined to escape fighting Hitler and believed they could entice him by presenting him with parts of Europe.
However, the ultimate proof that the confederates were not dedicated to battling fascism was the abandonment of six million Jews to the Nazi genocide (Smith). The Confederates were not concerned with the affairs of the Jews; not only did they not direct any efforts to prevent the genocide, but they also impeded efforts to save Jews. At foremost, the United States was fully aware of the intensifying brutality the Nazis carried out against Jews in Germany. According to Smith, from 1933 onwards, the New York Times published articles of Nazi assaults on the Jews that varied from accounts of trivial persecution to mass shootings, murders, and even the establishment of detention camps.
However, Roosevelt and Secretary of State Cordell Hull impeded every effort to take in Jewish immigrants, rejecting the opening of U.S. borders to hopeless Jews. The latter waited in line in the numerous American embassies across Europe. The administration even went ahead to appoint a famous anti-Semite, Breckinridge Long (Smith), to take command of immigrants. Being swayed by apprehensive delusions, he was dubious of Jewish refugees as being either communists or operatives for Hitler! As such, they long exercised all kinds of statutory traps to deny access to thousands of Jews.
In conclusion, it is evident that although the Second World War is critically acclaimed as the “good war,” there were multiple atrocities that were undertaken by the U.S and its allies under the guise of fighting for democracy. It is hard to ignore the bombing that was done by the US in Japan or the fact many desperate and hopeless Jews were rejected from making entry to the US. While some actions of the US and the allies are justified as a “means to an end” they were nonetheless destructive, and hence they should not be swept under the rug.
Works Cited
Hardman, John. “The Great Depression and the New Deal.” The Great Depression and the New Deal, web.stanford.edu/class/e297c/poverty_prejudice/soc_sec/hgreat.htm.
Hopkins, June. “Progressive Values: The Seedbed for New Deal Policies.” Social Welfare History Project, February 4 2015, socialwelfare.library.vcu.edu/eras/civil-war- reconstruction/progressive-values-the-seedbed-for-new-deal-policies/.
Smith, Ashley. “World War II: The Good War?” International Socialist Review, www.isreview.org/issues/10/good_war.shtml.