Keep New Acts

Make New Acts but Keep the Old

As millions of people sat around their crackling radios, Franklin Delano Roosevelt said a simple sentence during his first Inaugural speech that resonated through radios throughout the country and a few brief words that resonate throughout history; “The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself!” (Brinkley, 684). FDR instilled confidence in the people ofAmerica, which was a new philosophy for government officials and although he started the New Deal, most of his programs weren’t new at all. Once again booming over the entirety of America through radio, Roosevelt once said, “I do not look upon these United States as a finished product. We are still in the making.” He did create new programs unprecedented in United States history, but most of theacts he started were gradual movements from past events. But, during the New Deal, programs regarding banks, agriculture, and society were also being put to work just like they had since 1789, but these programs also tried to reassure the people and to increase confidence in such a time of need. Also, during the New Deal, the government really intervened in the lives of Americans because they hadto, whereas beforehand, the government was only somewhat involved when they wanted to be. Extraordinary measures were called for extraordinary times.
There were many programs in the New Deal that were, in fact, completely new. There had been no other act, event, program, or court case that resembled some of the programs in the New Deal. Up until this point in history, the government’s only jobwas to create rules and regulate the nation. But now, the government really had to worry about reassuring America and regaining American confidence in the government. The characteristic of the New Deal that was so shocking to everyone was one of Radicalism. It was radical in the sense that the federal government took on a larger role and that it focused on helping the individual like never before.The Economy Act wanted to convince Americans that the federal government was in good hands, and proposed to balance the federal budget by cutting the salaries of government employees and reducing pensions of veterans (Brinkley, 684). The Securities and Exchange Commission also was created to help the nation restore their faith in the government and to let the government help them. It was new, maybebecause the Stock Market just then becoming a new item, but this act gave the government the right to police the stock market (Brinkley, 688). One way to ensure that the people would be willing to believe in the government was to help the peoples’ lives and to make day-to-day life easier. One of the major acts, The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) authorized the completion of the dam at MuscleShoals and the building of other dams to generate and sell electricity for farmers, which improved water transportation (Brinkley, 687). And Rural Electrification Administration worked to make electric power available for the first time to lots of farmers, which enforced their relationship with the government (Brinkley, 685). Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) provided cash grants tostates to prop up bankrupt relief agencies (Brinkley, 688). The Farm Credit Administration and the Frazier-Lemke Farm Bankruptcy Act both helped farmers regain and afford land. Even homeowners relied on the government through the Home Owner’s Loan Corporation and the Federal Housing Administration, which refinanced mortgages of homeowners and insured mortgages for new construction and home repair.The Townsend Plan, which stated that all Americans over the age of sixty could receive a monthly government pension of $200 (Brinkley, 689). All of these acts promised a future to the people of America from the government, which made Americans more reliant and faithful towards FDR’s cabinet.
There were many acts and programs that were similar to previous ones in U.S history but were put into...