Legacy of the New Deal

Lasting Legacy of The New Deal

The New Deal did not end the Great Depression. Republicans of the 1930s and 1940s believed that it was because government spending would make Americans lazy and unwilling to work, but that is not the case. At the start of the Depression, unemployment was at 25% but by 1940 it was down to 14.6%. The New Deal didn't end the Great Depression, but the government spending during World War II did, so in a way, government spending was the answer.

The New Deal changed the structure of the American government, the perception of the role of the American government, and secured the democrats the vote of different American groups. Let's take a closer look at these changes.

The Legacy of The New Deal on American Society

Fig 2: Surplus Food Stand

The federal government didn't create welfare programs or regulate the economy. There was little regulation with the banks and none with the stock exchange. This created a system that was rife with corruption. The Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) was created in 1934 to address this issue. It regulated the banks and stock exchange. This program still exists today.

The SEC and AAA both addressed underlying issues that existed before the Great Depression but were exacerbated by it. After the New Deal, it became the role of the federal government to create welfare programs to assist the poor and regulate the economy. Not only did this become the role of the government, but it was expected by Americans. The Democrat party became associated with welfare programs.

Major Political Legacy of The New Deal

The New Deal earned the Democratic Party new voters. African Americans and Union workers benefitted from the New Deal. They switched from Republican voters to Democrats because the New Deal was created by Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the Democratic Party.

Workers were entitled to unionize under Section 7A of the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) but this was not enforced. NIRA was supposed to prevent unions by creating environments where the worker-manager relationship was healthy, and the workers had fair pay. NIRA had no real authority and couldn't establish this. The Wagner Act gave workers the right to form unions and enforced this right.

Negative Effects of The New Deal

The New Deal earned Democrats new votes, but was it fair to everyone? No, it was not. Though African Americans benefitted from the New Deal, many of the programs excluded them. The Social Security Act of 1935 and the Wagner Act excluded sharecroppers, tenant farmers, and domestic workers. These roles were often filled by African Americans, and thus they were denied the benefits.

Fig 3: Sharecropper

The AAA gave subsides to large farm owners, not to the sharecroppers or tenant farmers. The CCC kept white and Black workers segregated and would not allow more than 10% of its workforce to be African American. Black people did see some benefits; however Black people did not gain as much as white people did.

Women were also neglected by the New Deal. During World War I women joined the workforce but lost their jobs during the Depression. Many politicians felt that women shouldn't work anyway and made no effort to hire them. The CCC mostly hired white men because they believed women could not work labor jobs. Women made up 25% of the workforce and unemployment was at 25%, they argued that the jobs should be taken from women and given to men.

When women did receive benefits, it was because they were single mothers or their husbands' received benefits. If a woman's husband got benefits, then she did by extension. Women were valued by their connection to the family unit or to men.

African Americans and women were neglected by the New Deal. There were programs that benefitted them, but more could have been done to assist them during the Depression. African Americans were hit hardest but received fewer benefits than white people did.

Enduring Legacy of the New Deal

The legacy of the New Deal that still physically exists today, there are the projects created by programs like the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Work Program Administration. Bridges, hospitals, schools, fences, telephone wires, and more were created by these and similar programs. These structures can be found across America and will have a plaque describing the program that made them.

The New Deal forever changed America. Americans had new expectations for their government, African Americans and union workers became Democratic voters, and most importantly, the American government created programs to regulate the economy and assist low-income people.