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HISTORY

Subject : History
(For under graduate student.)

Paper No. : Paper-VII

History of USA

Unit, Chapter & Title : Unit- 2

Chapter- e
America between the two World
Wars

Topic No. & Title : Part 1

America between the two World
Wars

COMING OF A NEW AGE: F. D. ROOSEVELT AND THE

NEW DEAL IN THE INTERWAR PERIOD

AMERICA IN THE INTERWAR PERIOD

America slipped into the Great Depression of the 1930s from

the surging prosperity of the 1920s, an era commonly
designated as the “Roaring Twenties”. (Lindop, 2009 pr.5).
The depression brought along with it many evils like
unemployment, decline in social welfare, sanitation and living
standards. A large number of Americans were rendered
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homeless. President Hoover was unable to handle the crisis

and America slipped into a hopeless situation where the stock
market crashed and poverty escalated. Discontent against
Hoover‟s Presidency ran so high that homeless encampments
began to be named as Hoovervilles and empty pockets turned
inside out were dubbed as Hoover flags (Lindop, p.17).
Professor Palit thinks, it was the outcome of the World War I
that was responsible for this situation, because whatever
investments the United States had made in the continent had
not been repaid, and American goods could not be sold in the
continental market either.

The American system that had been working since the days
of Washington was gradually fading. “Capitalism, it seemed to
many, had spent its force; democracy could not rise to
economic crisis.” (Schlesinger Jr., p.3). The first problem that
needed attention was the widening gap between the „plenty
and poverty‟. Professor Palit has shown, that this was a
common problem in the United States. There had been
previous episodes of conflicts between the poor and the
plutocrats, and now it had raised its ugly face again. Some
people were exceedingly rich while the majority were poor.
This was the foremost predicament that had to be sorted out
by whoever would be coming as the next president.
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The second problem that plagued America in the inter war

period was the ever-present contest between industry and
agriculture. There was a yawning gap between industrial
production and that of the agriculture. Food shortage was
bound to rise if the gap was not bridged soon and an efficient
President was needed to carry it out.

The third area that had to be tackled, according to Professor

Palit was that the public had to be assured that they were not
going to be marginalized, particularly the women, children,
old people and poor labour. The new President had to
convince the people of America that they would be safe and
their rights would not be violated in the escalating turmoil
following the depression of the 1930‟s into which America was
sinking.

ELECTION OF F.D. ROOSEVELT

“There is nothing more difficult

to carry out, nor more doubtful

of success, nor more dangerous

to handle, than to initiate a new

order of things.”-Machiavelli.
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The election of F. D. Roosevelt to the White House came at a

time when the nation lay engulfed in an impasse. When he
assumed office, he had no illusions about the condition of
America. He knew that, “this nation asks for action and action
now….We must act, and act quickly.” (Schlesinger Jr., p. 1).
In keeping with what Machiavelli had said, F.D. Roosevelt did
indeed face a very hard time in maneuvering the situation
and bringing about changes during this period of uncertainty
and depression.

When F. D. R came to the office, he found that faith in a free

system was plainly waning. He realized that “the only hope
lay in governmental leadership of a power and will…”
(Schlesinger Jr., p.3). He knew that in order to save America
he had to rise to the occasion and that a new order had to be
brought, whether in the face of unanimity or of severe
opposition. His past experiences undoubtedly helped him in
this conviction. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, was a veteran
politician, and a democrat by conviction and ideology. He
hailed from an aristocratic family of New York and was
educated at the Harvard University. He had served as the
assistant secretary of the Wilson cabinet which had provided
him with plenty of experience. He had also been the leader of
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the federal legislature for quite some time. His erudition and
experience thus aided him in tackling the task ahead.

By far the most pressing problem facing F. D. R on assuming

office was the restoration of the economic stability of the
nation, which would then serve to heal the social and political
problems that faced America. The measures that he adopted
to deal with the situation were christened as the New Deal.
American economy suffered severely owing to the
unrestrained growth of capitalism. Free play of market,
(following the Adamsonian period), had created a monster
unto itself, and pushed America gradually onto the edge of
revolution. As General Hugh Johnson later reminisced, “how
close were we to collapse and revolution. We could have got a
dictator a lot easier than Germany got Hitler.” (Schlesinger
Jr., p.22). But F. D. R‟s New Deal averted the worst and
steered the nation once again in the direction of stability. “At
the end of February,” wrote Walter Lippmann, “we were a
congeries of disorderly panic-stricken mobs and factions. In
the hundred days from March to June we became again an
organized nation confident of our power to provide for our
own security and to control our own destiny.” (Schlesinger
Jr., p.22).
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The first step he took was to improve the condition of the

farmers, who were hit hardest by the depression (barring the
African-Americans who were even worse off). Edward A.
O‟Neal, the head of the Farm Bureau Federation, warned in
January 1933, that “Unless something is done for the
American farmer we will have revolution in the countryside
within less than twelve months.” (Schlesinger Jr., p.27). With
the help of his new Secretary and Assistant Secretary of
Agriculture, Henry Wallace and Rex Tugwell, respectively, he
introduced a new bill in the Congress for agricultural reform,
known as the Agricultural Adjustment Act. “The essence of
the bill, as they saw it, was “agricultural adjustment,” by
which they meant not simple curtailment of output but an
attempt to achieve balance by shifting production out of
surplus lines.” (Schlesinger Jr., p.39). Domestic allotments
through benefit payments were ensured too with the help of
this bill. So, with the help of this legislation he solved, if not
entirely, the problem of the farmers.

Industrial, commercial and monetary problems were sought

to be solved and a series of experiments were adopted with
this objective. However, these were long term policies and
could not be expected to take effect overnight. In the
meantime the number of people dependent on the
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government for relief was increasing by the day. All the

earlier loan policies under the Emergency Relief and
Construction Act had failed. It was under such pressure that
F. D. Roosevelt realized that loans were not the answer to the
problems of the people. Thus, with the help of Harry L.
Hopkins, head of Roosevelt‟s Temporary Emergency Fund in
**New York, he developed the FERA, who paid those on relief
pay substandard wages but could finance only state activities.
In 1934 he developed the Federal Surplus Relief Corporation
whose work was “to acquire surplus commodities with the
double purpose of helping the farmer by removing price-
depressing stocks from the market and of helping the
unemployed by giving them food.” (Schlesinger Jr., p.278).
FERA also developed a Rural Rehabilitation Division which was
charged with the responsibility of relief for the countryside,
termed as “rehabilitation in place”, i.e. providing loans to
farm families for seed, fertilizer, livestock or farm tools
(Schlesinger Jr., p.280).

These measures were adopted by F. D. R keeping in mind the

Progressive legacy of the land. Under the New Deal regime,
Roosevelt tried to strike a balance between prosperity and
poverty, between agriculture and business and between
abandonment of poorer people, their marginalization and
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their restoration. So he was very much in line with the

Progressive movement in bringing in social justice. Though
his opponents claimed that he adopted these measures for
personal gain, which was not the case. Professor Palit draws
our attention to the fact that if one considered the bleak
situation in the United States at that time, some kind of state
intervention was necessary because it was getting from bad
to worse. No light could be seen at the end of the tunnel, and
if matters were allowed to drift any further then there was the
possibility of the United States breaking down as it were. So
even the American citizens thought that some federal action
was necessary and somebody should be wise enough to stop
the rout.

However, the success of his measures was short-lived. They

were soon rejected by the Supreme Court, as it considered
the idea of federal intervention as dictatorial and
megalomaniac. F. D. R was re-elected soon after this for a
second term in office. Soon after his re-election removed
most of his opponents from the Supreme Court. There had
been a rumour earlier that social securities had not been
properly audited, so during his second term he paid great
attention to this and had the social securities properly
audited. Trade unionism was on the rise, as workers were not
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happy with F. D. R‟s arrangements. In order to appease

them, he invited the American federation of Labor, Knights of
Labor organizations and held discussions, promising workers
that he would put the floor under the wages and ceiling above
the hours of work. The trade unions were satisfied with these
assurances and withdrew their agitations.

The New Deal met with favourable success not merely within
the boundaries of America but far beyond that. The latter
development became possible due to the outbreak of the
World War II. Initially America maintained an isolationist
policy. F. D. R made it very clear that “the United States
cannot take part in political arrangements in Europe.” (The
Courier-Mail, p.12). It was only when Japan bombed Pearl
Harbour on 7th December 1941 that America got involved in
World War II. The U.S, according to Professor Palit had
always had a heavy stake in continental economics. During
the World War I it had given loans to many of the Allied
powers, and these loans had to be retrieved at any cost.
Further America required the continental market in order to
sell the huge surplus of industrial goods and military
hardware they produced. Last but not least they were
interested in restoring democracy in the world, and the
balance of power between democracy and totalitarianism.
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With the rise of Hitler and his aggressive expansion, there

was every reason for the United States to feel apprehensive.
So there was an ideological commitment towards protecting
democracy on the part of America. This explains the context
in which Roosevelt put into practice his New Deal agenda of
making the world safe for democracy. Whatever his other
considerations may have been, there is no doubt that F D
Roosevelt‟s prime concern was the survival of democracy by
preserving the tacit balance of power that existed in the
world. Thus, he not only applied the New Deal at the
international level, he also used it to give everyone a fair and
square deal.

CONCLUSION

The New Deal era thus wrought several changes in American

life. The changes that came about did not merely ease the
pressing problems of the Americans. The New Deal did not
mean merely easing the pressing problems, but more than
that, it meant „a new world‟ (Harold Ickes) The New Deal
gave back America its sense of power, its nationhood and
above all it gave back America its identity. Fighting against
many odds Franklin Delano Roosevelt strove to give America
back its Americanism, maybe not along the trodden path but
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along a better path, no doubt. Anne O‟Hare McCormick rightly

designates the era of New Deal as an era demarcating “the
rising of a nation.” We may conclude by saying, in the words
of Winston Churchill “Roosevelt is an explorer who has
embarked on a voyage as uncertain as that of Columbus, and
upon a quest which might conceivably be as important as the
discovery of the New World.” (Churchill, 29 December 1934).