The Great Dpression

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depression and redefined the government as one that was obligated to provide security for Americans in times of trouble. F.D.R. did this through three major aspects of the New Deal. One, the WPA (Works Progress Administration), two, the social security program, and lastly the New Deal's AAA (Agricultural Adjustment Act). These three major aspects of the New Deal helped make the government what it is today, and helped bring the depression to a stop.

Perhaps the single most important aspect of the New Deal was the WPA, an organization which provided jobs for the unemployed working on federally funded projects such as dams, bridges, and public buildings. As William Lloyd Garrison, Jr. noted, the government was spending "immense sums for public-works projects". The government was attempting to pump money back into the economy in the form of wages for the unemployed. This sippling many farmers. This system fortified the precedent set by such administrations as the WPA, and established the idea of a government that was responsible for the welfare of its people. Although the AAA was just another branch of the many-branched New Deal

tree (Document C) and may have befuddled and confused some, it was very clear to farmers that they now depended on the government for security when the nation hit times of "extreme poverty" (Document A). The AAA, among other things, was a crucial part of this effort to relieve

the pains caused by the great depression, and was also a crucial part of the "bureaucracy in Washington [which] grew by leaps and bounds (Document D." As is apparent through the AAA, the WPA, and the social security program of the New Deal, the government under F.D.R.'s administration was able to slow the effects of the Great Depression (although not reverse them, World War II would do this), and create a nearly entirely new system of government. The bureaucracy in Washington greatly expanded with all of the New Deal administrations and departments, and the federal government was turned into an essential insurance company, obligated by its previous actions to provide relief to America when the country encountered troubled economic times. Because the U.S. government created a system of near-parity, because it created social security, and because it gave jobs to those who didn't have any, it was expected to do this again in the future. Thus the government was transformed into an administration that was expected to provide for the entire country during times of trouble.

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