With the entire nation feeling the effects of the depression, it was going to take a miracle and many years for the United States to recover. So how did it happen? How did the Great Depression end? Did it happen overnight? Who was at the forefront of ending the depression? Why aren't we still in a depression? And last but not least, does the Depression still affect us today? Those are all very important questions that must be answered to completely understand the Great Depression. What I hope to accomplish is to answer as many questions as possible pertaining to the depression and recovery from the depression. Hang in there with me.

Many things occurred to lead us out of the depression, there was no one single person, event or change in public policy that caused the recovery. It was a number of different things.

One of those things was The New Deal. The New Deal involved changes in public policy, with the main goal of creating social change throughout the country. The New Deal consisted of creating jobs, instead of using welfare. It was driven by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The WPA built roads, buildings, airports and schools. All of these projects created jobs and opened up doors to make the country move forward.

These jobs, however, were all for laborers -what about the actors, writers, musicians and painters? How would they get jobs? Well, three more projects were launched: the Theater Project, the Federal Art Project and the Federal Writers Project. All of these gave jobs to actors, painters, musicians and writers. A little bit later came the National Youth Administration; this project created part-time jobs for youth. It also established training programs and provided aid to unemployed youth. The new jobs sound so nice and sweet, but the entire Work Progress Administration only included about 3 million jobs at a time. By the time the WPA was abandoned, it had helped about 9 million people. It didn't solve everyone's problem, but it was a lot better than nothing.

What some people call the backbone of the New Deal is the Social Security act of 1935. This act created an insurance system for the aged, unemployed, and disabled. People would pay taxes that went to a national social security account, and then this money would go to people over the age of 65. It also went to disabled people and the unemployed. Another reason why social security was formed was to create more trust in the government. This happened on the state level, but more importantly on the federal level. Without citizens' trust in government, how else would the country mend itself?

With the Social Security Act, many changes came. For example, homes for the elderly were built so that elderly could have caregivers to take care of them. Huge institutions were built for the mentally disabled of all ages. People who were physically disabled received assistance like medication, nurse aides and places to live because they weren't able to work. This whole idea was a different way of looking at society. In the past, people who couldn't work were looked at as a menace to society. Now the government looked at the problem as a situation that could be dealt with in a positive way to create jobs.

With the Social Security Act, many changes came. For example, homes for the elderly were built so that elderly could have caregivers to take care of them. Huge institutions were built for the mentally disabled of all ages. People who were physically disabled received assistance like medication, nurse aides and places to live because they weren't able to work. This whole idea was a different way of looking at society. In the past, people who couldn't work were looked at as a menace to society. Now the government looked at the problem as a situation that could be dealt with in a positive way to create jobs.

Even this thinking and the Social Security Act were blind to race and class levels. It was a lot harder for an African American to receive financial aid than a white man. There were also disputes as to whether Native Americans should receive social security. The argument on that was that they received Health Care and social services through treaties that had been signed. But the hard cold truth was most of those treaties were broken throughout the years, and invalid because Native Americans were moved all over the country. Even when they were in their original treaty lands, they rarely received social services if any at all.

Some people would call social security a failure because it is not going to work forever. Some say that by the years 2010 and 2019 social security will be bankrupt and be in a crisis. Regardless of what the future holds, we have to recognize that social security was one of the bigger parts of the New Deal, and the New Deal played a roll in getting the country out of its slump. You can look at in the context that the New Deal didn't do anything but invoke more trust in government. Or, you could look at the New Deal and say yes, it didn't solve the overall problem but it did play a roll in ending it. Part of that roll was to create more trust in the government as well as to provide jobs for the average American and assistance for the people who needed it.

As for the lasting presence of the New Deal and Social Security, they still affect us all today. For example, when you are born in this country you are given a social security number. These numbers are how the government of the United States recognizes who you are.This is how they keep track of how much money you have made and how much assistance you deserve when it's your turn to receive social security. So today when you go home, ask your mom, dad, grandma or guardian for your social security card. Then ask them if you're going to need that in your life, and how much they use it.

Nick

Please email me at: nick@ustrek.org