"Many historians have boiled the goals of the New Deal down to three concepts: Reform, Relief and Recovery. Watch the documentary clips and decide which of the three the New Deal emphasized."
The New Deal
Franklin D. Roosevelt composed a series of programs called the New Deal in an attempt to counteract the effects of the great depression. Historians believe the did this through the three R’s; Reform, Relief, Recovery. The most prominently seen in the New Deal is Relief. As part of this set of programs, Roosevelt focused on giving the working class of America a “breathing spell.” He did this through several acts that granted relief to different groups and classes. For the struggling farmers, he included the Agricultural Adjustment Act which paid farmers to not producing crops according to the set domestic allotments. For those who were unable to work, he included the Social Security Act which granted old-age pensions, unemployment insurance, and other benefits.
However, for those who could work, methods of funding work relief programs were included in the New Deal. Programs including the Public Works Administration and the Works Progress Administration which created tens of millions of jobs in America. For those still trading stock and interested in investing, the Federal Securities Act was included. It allowed the government to regulate the sale of stock to prevent another devastating crash. States also started their own relief programs and to help fund these programs, the Federal Emergency Relief Act was included in the New Deal. This particular act allowed the government to grant funds to states which had established relief programs of their own.
One goal Roosevelt had in creating the New Deal was to provide relief to people from all classes of society. To do this, he included acts that would grant relief to all these different groups. This gave America the economic breathing room it needed to begin to recover.
This is a great synopsis of the New Deal. It is very important that you mentioned that Roosevelt was trying to help the American economy recover by giving it some breathing room. That being said, a lot of people didn't like his programs because they believed that the programs were not thought out enough. Many were in discontent but his New Deal would later be reformed into the Second New Deal where he took into account the disagreements people had with the original document.
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