Category Archives: The Great Depression

In his essay “The Past, Present, and Future of the American Left,” author Eli Zaretsky rebuts the claim that America does not need a political left. This claim is based on the idea that America is, by its nature, liberal, … Continue reading →

In his article “‘Work for others but none for us’: the economic and environmental inequalities of New Deal Relief” history professor Neil Maher examines both the social and environmental aspects of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) used during the New … Continue reading →

A common argument among historians is that FDR’s New Deal policies did not end the Great Depression; it follows that the immense government spending induced by the outbreak of war would lift America out of an economic downturn and set … Continue reading →

Although the Great Depression altered government action in the economy in American history, an interesting caveat appears in the agricultural business, where farmers had experienced tumultuous federal action for several decades prior. Legislation during the Civil War era such as … Continue reading →

Previously on this blog I discussed the manner in which America, as part of the global economy, failed to lead said economy into a new age of prosperity in the wake of World War I. This failure can be attributed … Continue reading →

When FDR took office in 1933, he immediately focused government attention the domestic crisis. Most every facet of the American economy was broken, and Roosevelt knew he had to prevent another such catastrophe from occurring while solving the current one. … Continue reading →

After his inauguration, FDR immediately took action to try and halt the Great Depression. In 1933 he urged Congress to pass the Emergency Banking Act, which would force American banks to close down and initiated his well-known “bank holiday” plan. … Continue reading →

In the previous part, I established the manner in which Hoover failed to prevent the Great Depression from happening; or at least, how he failed to mitigate it. As unemployment ran increasingly amuck and banks failed left and right, Hoover’s … Continue reading →

Republican President Herbert Hoover often takes much of the blame for the Great Depression. As president when the stock market crashed and the global economic recession hit, it seems easy to point to him as the primary cause of it … Continue reading →

The Great Depression caused something to happen that had never been seen previously in American history: it prompted the middle class to sympathize with the poor, lower classes, encouraging empathy across class lines and setting the stage for a new … Continue reading →