The Great Depression

            On October 24th, 1929 the ten-year party that Americans had enjoyed during the twenties came to a halting stop when the stock market crashed, and hundreds of Americans lost everything they had ever worked for. That day, now known as "Black Thursday," was a true reality check that caught the American public off guard and resulted in the first ever Great Depression of the 30's. However, the silver lining of this black cloud is that it finally made the federal government open it's eyes and develop an elaborate system of public works projects and social security to get the American people back on their feet. The "New Deal" platform, developed by Franklin Roosevelt encompassed a variety of these projects and was the main tool that slowly pulled America out of the depression. .
             From the moment Roosevelt stepped into office he made sure to let everyone know that his policy was going to be drastically different from the one applied by Hoover (ie. Hoover believed in letting the depression play out with minimum government interference). Roosevelt's plan "represented necessary modifications to ensure the preservation of the American political and economic system" (US. History p.202). His determination to keep America independent was also evident and illustrated in the fact that he refused to participate in the London Economic Conference who's purpose was to work on an internationally unified currency. Instead Roosevelt opted for a "Relief, Recovery, and Reform," approach for the U.S. economy that included "putting money into the hands of the forgotten man at the bottom of the economic system." During his first 100 days Roosevelt called for a variety of measures such as the Emergency Banking Act, which closed banks until "public confidence could restored," and also got the nation off the gold standard. New Deal measures such as the Civilian Conservation Corps, The Works Progress Administration, and the National Youth Administration, provided hundreds of jobs for out of work, destitute young men, jobless actors and painters, as well as high school students looking to make some extra cash to help out their families.