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Essay / United States History from 1919 to the Present
The United States during the period from 1919 to the present has been an interesting time with most of the major events that have dramatically shaped the modern era and which occurred during this period. Some of the biggest eras from this period that truly shaped American history were the end of the Roaring Twenties and the Great Depression. During this period, America and the rest of the world faced the greatest economic crash the world had ever seen, bringing about the best. The economy America has ever known, created in part by the end of the Great War, became the worst economy virtually overnight. Another extremely important period during this time was the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s. During this time, we had massive protests for the civil rights of black Americans, such as the Birmingham protest and the march on Washington. A final period is the end of the Cold War and the new century with events such as the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union and the September 11 attacks which led to the War on Terror and the struggle against the masses. surveillance that we have today. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essayThe Great Depression was a period between 1929 and 1942. Many factors led to the Great Depression, including the collapse of actions. market, as well as economic weakness due to undeveloped land and failed banks, as well as Europe having less and less need for American-made products as it recovered from the war, before the beginning of the depression, Herbert Hoover was elected president, but due to his poor response to this. Due to the economic downturn, he lost the next election by a landslide to FDR who did everything he could to cure the depression. In 1928, Herbert Hoover was elected president with 83.6% of the electoral vote and 58.2% of the popular vote, losing only 8 of the 48 states. The following year, the depression began, and as the global economy had never experienced such a severe economic downturn, the economy was unable to cope with the collapse, causing a series of events in which the Germany failed to pay its reparations, forcing France and Britain to stop paying their debts. America, causing the banks to fail, which meant people couldn't get their money and the prices of everything fell, so people couldn't make money, which led to employers to lay off most, if not all, of their employees because they were unable to pay them. “Since 1929, gross national product has fallen by a third, prices have fallen by nearly 40 percent, and more than 11 million Americans – 25 percent of the workforce – have been unable to find work. » (Foner, p.637) With many people unable to pay their homes or rent, they were evicted and forced to live on the streets and many formed slums called Hoovervilles, named after the president. In 1932, about 20,000 Great War veterans marched in Washington to demand their early pay they were due to receive in 1945, but they had to be chased away by federal troops. During these early years of the depression, several other protests also took place, such as the farmers' blockade. roads to prevent food from reaching markets and others protesting people being evicted from their homes. Many people have considered the answerHoover as "inadequate and uncaring" (Foner, p. 640) with several of his advisors, mostly wealthy people, telling him that this was a normal part of capitalism and that it was the people's fault. they were poor, and they should tighten their belts and work. “In 1931, Hoover quoted former President Grover Cleveland four decades earlier: 'The government should not support the people...Federal aid...weakens the strength of our national character.' (Foner, p. 640) In an attempt to raise public confidence, he kept trying to tell them that "the tide had turned", but people saw this as proof that he was out of touch. of what people were facing. In 1932, Hoover finally admitted that voluntary action did not work and created the Reconstruction Finance Corporation which provided loans to many businesses and homeowners and he created public works projects such as the famous Hoover Dam. In 1932, the next elections were held and this one was not in favor of Hoover like the one in 1928. In the elections, Hoover faced FDR who received 88.9% of the electoral votes and 57.7% of the votes. popular votes, leaving only 6 states for Hoover. FDR was able to win with such a majority because he promised massive government intervention while Hoover did nothing until the end of his term to help resolve this economic crisis. Just days after officially being inaugurated president, FDR faced the banking crisis and declared a holiday, temporarily shutting down all bakery operations and rushed to pass the Emergency Banking Act to convey funds to banks in need and shortly thereafter created the Glass-Steagall Act. to prevent this from happening again. During his first hundred days, Roosevelt quickly created agencies such as the NRA, the AAA, and the CCC. The NRA (National Recovery Administration) was to help businesses by setting standards for everything from production to prices to wages. Unfortunately, the NRA codes were written by large corporations who wrote codes in their favor, to the detriment of small businesses. Even though it didn't really help the economy, it showed that the government was going to do something about this crisis. The CCC was created to allow young men to find employment to help improve things such as national parks, earning about $30 a month in 1933, compared to about $565 today. Several other agencies were created in an effort to help end depression. Along with these programs, the 20th and 21st Amendments were created and passed, the 20th moved the presidential inauguration to January 20, and the 21st Amendment repealed Prohibition. In 1935, the Supreme Court, led primarily by conservative justices, ruled that the NRA and the AAA were unconstitutional because the NRA regulated local businesses that were not part of interstate commerce and the AAA for the use of power of Congress over the local economy. By 1934 many Americans were unionized and participated in strikes across the country, with more than 2,000 strikes that year alone. Due to the midterm elections giving Democrats more seats, FDR began the Second New Deal, which focused more on economic security, while the First New Deal focused more on economic recovery. This second new agreement created things like Social Security and Welfare. Alongside his work on the new agreement, Roosevelt had "fireside chats" on the radio: "At a time when his political opponents controlled most of the newspapers, he exploited..