Surname 1

Name
Instructor
Class
Date
US Economic History
Response 1.
The Great Depression and Roosevelts New Deal
The Great Depression is arguably the worst, deepest, or even longest-lasting economic
downturn the western industrialized world has ever known. A crisis that started like any other
normal recession turned into one of the bleakest moments for the American stock market. Stock
prices skyrocketed while consumer spending and investments declined until on October 1929
when Wall Street crashed (Robbins). As a result, industrial output dropped and unemployment
soared as companies laid off their workers. The situation worsened so much that by 1933, half of
Americas banks had failed, and 15 million citizens were jobless (Robbins).
During the same period of depression, a Democrat, Franklin D. Roosevelt won the presidential
election by a landslide. His first task as a sitting president was to bring back the economy back
on its feet. This decision was contrary to his Republican predecessors who maintained that
government was not to interfere in economic activities. Roosevelt formulated policies that
greatly reformed the financial, industrial, and agricultural and welfare sectors of the economy
(Robbins). Most importantly, though, he managed to restore public confidence. This event
teaches us that governments intervention and preventing panic attacks in the face of adversities
can really help in avoiding financial meltdowns.

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Response 2.
The first person I would want to introduce in my list of the most significant personalities
to the development of the present day, United States is George Washington. He is one of the
Founding Father of the United States. He literally led the Independence War that liberated the
New World from the British Colonial rule. Though, himself not a very informed man,
Washington was very optimistic, resilience, and persuasive man, who led Americans into one of
the most taxing war imaginable (Whitney). He also found a way to cure smallpox.
Abraham Lincoln is probably the most outstanding personality in the entire history of
America. He redefined the New Worlds founding philosophy as a land of the free and fair, in
the renowned American Civil War. Though, the Revolutionary War gave the country its
independence, it is the Civil War that determined whether the country was to remain united as
one nation, or to exist as just some small independent states (Whitney). Abraham also fought to
secure a free and fair America, free from human bondage and discriminations.
Finally, the third person to consider in this list is a Reed College dropout, Steve Jobs.
Jobs was an innovator and a computer genius whose inventions have revolutionized the
technological and the computer world. Since America technically relies on technology and
manufacturing facility its key economic drivers, Jobs can be counted as one of the most
contributors to the development of that technology. Through his Apple Foundation, Jobs invented
various products such as the revolutionary Mac, Apple series and the I series that now forms
part day to day American life.
Response 3.
The period between late 1940 and mid-1970 was a turning point in the economy of the
United States. The economy was just making a recovery from the Great Depression, and a

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number of policies were being formulated with an intention of reforming the financial,
manufacturing and agricultural sectors. During and after the World War II that followed the
Depression, America had established itself as an industrial giant. The world depended on it for its
supply of manufactured goods, and so its economy bloomed. Employment rates went high, there
were remarkable technological advancements, and investments yielded high returns.
Response 4.
No, on the contrary, I believe the 17th century and todays immigration have their equal
share of benefits and problems, though, I equally believe that the pros of immigration have
always outweighed its cons. In the Medieval America, immigration brought with it African
slaves, cruel as it was, slavery helped in building the countrys present day economy and also
opened the eyes of its people to the benefits of diversity, and a subsequent need for equality.
Presently, immigration continues to bring with it different ideas, technologies and labor. Though,
it also brings terror and related vice, and intense competition for job opportunities.
Response 5.
My most intriguing part of the reading we had in class was the Cold War. Much as it is
clear that the war was merely a battle for supremacy, I still do not get what the impacts of Cold
War to both countries were. The two countries were always in a race to be the first one to
develop or invent something. This can be seen in their rush to make the first trips to space and
the moon. They turned nations against one another and strove to impose their national ideologies
to foreign states. They have threatened or used tactics of intimidation on one another, yet I still
do not get what benefits this war conferred.
Response 6.

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By the time President Roosevelt took the oath of office, the Banking sector had
deteriorated to a point of crisis, as a consequence of the Great Depression. His first initiative in
office was to reform the banking and financial industry. He, therefore, commissioned the banking
system to a compulsory closure. This holiday was meant to shield the only banks that were
operational at that time from incurring any further losses while government formulated
Emergency Banking Act (Robbins). The new Act was meant to restore public confidence in the
banking institution by insuring their deposits. It also passed long-term legislations that were
intended to curb unscrupulous and scandalous banking practices that heightened the banking
crisis.
Response 7.
The Roosevelt New Deal was a series of programs and policies that were enacted during
the years 1933 to 1938, were designed to lessen the effects of the Great Depression. Of utmost
importance was the Social Security Act of 1935 (Robbins). The Act conferred pensions to
millions of Americans, brought up a system of insurance for the unemployed, and started welfare
programs for the poor and disadvantaged. Another important act was the Works Progress
Administration, an ambitious initiative that gave jobs to millions of unemployed Americans.

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Works Cited
Robbins, Lionel. The Great Depression. Transaction Publishers, 2011. Print
Whitney, David C., and Robin Vaughn Whitney. American Presidents: Biographies of the Top
Executives from Washington through Clinton. Reader's Digest Association, 1996. Print