Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal

With the inactivity, and poor decision made by the previous president, Herbert Hoover. Franklin Roosevelt easily defeated Hoover in the reelection. With Roosevelt now in charge, all hope of Americans lay in his hands. In the end he did ease the hardships of The Great Depression, and became a hero.

"New Deal"

This term came from his speech, "I pledge you, I pledge myself, to a new deal for the American people." Roosevelt's "New Deal" was a series of solutions to the economic crisis. The first thing he did was declared the "Emergency Banking Act" March 9. With all the banks either bankrupted or closed down, banks are no longer stable. Banks were ordered to be closed down, and to be reopened only when it is stable.

Economy Act (March 20), cutting the federal costs, and cuts in salaries and veteran pensions.

Beer - Wine Revenue Act (March 22). President Franklin Roosevelt legalized wine and beer. Though with the legalization, wine and beer were also taxed.

Civilian Conservation Corps Act (CCC) (March 31). This is one of the greatest solutions created to solve the crisis. With the number of the unemployed sky high, this act is designed to lower the number of unemployed. For the first time in "The Great Depression," something was done in attempt to lower the number of unemployed. Furthermore, this proved to be very successful. Approximately 3 million people ages 18-25 were finally given work. Work in road building, forestry labor, flood control, etc.

Federal Emergency Relief Act (May 12). Distributing 500 million dollars to states and localities.

Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) (May 12). Another, very big change is this act. With the effects of "The Dust Bowl," now increasing, something has to be done to stop it. Farms all over the country effected by the storms, or the soil erosion, are either closed down, and stunned. Because of the overproduction of food in farms, the soil has totally worn out. This act was established to decrease crop surpluses by giving money to farmers who voluntarily decrease production. Although this act was frown upon, it did help in the long run. As for the food prices already high enough, since the farms were idle. Making this act, trying to cut down food surplus production angered the people.


Tennessee Valley Authority Act (TVA) (May 18). In this act, the government build dams and power plants. This was carefully planed to work with agriculture and industrial planning, to generate wealth, energy, and area development.

There are more of the acts, in response to The Great Depression. Though with the great changes, it would take alot of money. The big question is where did all that money came from? To fund all the new legislation, the government's spending rose. from 697 million dollars in 1916, to 9 billion in 1936. Modifications to taxes were made to tax the wealthy the most, raised tax, and borrowing money. The national debt spiked up.


1. How did the government emerge and what conditions led to its implementations?
The government emerged from the election of 1932, with the victory of Franklin Roosevelt, because of the inactivity of the previous president, with Franklin now president, all hopes were on him to fix the economic crisis. The new government focused all its resources and power, all to solve the hardships of The Great Depression. The triple Rs was the goal of this government at that time. Relief, Recovery, and Reform.

2. What social, political, and economic events shaped the activities of the government?
The stock market crashing, and the banks bankrupted, can only mean one thing, economy is crushed to dust. With the economy down, most of the new laws, and acts were designed to revive the economy. For example closing down all banks, stabilizing it before reopen. the TVA, the tax on beer and wine, the AAA, etc. The primary social problem that shaped the activities of the government was the number of unemployed, and the amount of poverty that exists at that time. The CCC proved to be immensely effective. Because of the huge number of unemployed, the CCC allowed the unemployed to finally have work to do, and most importantly, money.

3. Judge the effectiveness of this particular government in regard to its actions and agendas. The effectiveness was great, as the new acts greatly reduced the effects of the depression. The acts, CCC, AAA, TVA proved to be very effective. Although the government's actions did not totally heal the economy from the depression, but it eased alot of its effects.

4. What particular individuals played key roles? Franklin Roosevelt was like the hero. As his actions, implementations, and his decisions proved to be effective in healing the economy. As for proving Americans, that there was still hope in reviving the economy. As for saving America from The Great Depression, he became a hero. While the previous president, Herbert Hoover, was blamed for making everything worse. Some even blamed him for the stock market crashing. As for his inactivity, and his poor decisions made.

This political cartoon is displaying the government in the middle, surrounded by the legislative.








Sources used:
http://history1900s.about.com/od/1930s/p/greatdepression.htm
http://www.sparknotes.com/history/american/depression/section5.rhtml
http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1851.html
http://www.hyperhistory.com/online_n2/connections_n2/great_depression.html

The Great Depression

The Great Depression

Conditions of the "Great Depression," started out small, but as time goes by it got horrifyingly terrible, until Roosevelt was elected and solved the economic crisis. It all started when the stock market crashed. Stock markets seemed like a guaranteed way to become rich. The majority of Americans, invest in stocks. But in October 29, 1929, everything went south. In October 29, the event called Black Tuesday, was the day when the stock market crashed. Since so many people had invested in their stocks, and the stock crashed, there was a great loss of money. Masses of people stormed stock markets, in their desperate attempt to sell their stocks. The only problem about that is, they can't sell their stocks if no one is going to buy them. With the stock market crashed, the Great Depression had officially begun. With the stock market crashed, it had created an ugly chain of events. Since banks had also invested in large proportions of their client's money in stock market. Banks that did this, are forced to close, causing panic all over the country. Fear ran through the country. People were afraid they are going to lose their savings in the bank, people rushed into banks to withdraw their money. With the massive withdraw, banks eventually go bankrupted. Because of the massive withdraw of money, banks are now in debt. With the bank unable to recover it's client's money, additional banks went bankrupted, alongside the people who did not withdraw their money in time. The chain of events does not stop here, businesses and industry are also greatly affected by it. Having much of their money from the stock market, or the bank, they started to cut worker's wages. Customers refrain from purchasing goods, as the majority of the customers are now poor, leaving the industries, or businesses no choice. They either have to reduce the wages of the workers even further, hugely reduce the price of the goods, or close down. With the reduction of the wages, the bankruptcy, or the closing down of businesses and industries. Workers all over the country are left unemployed. In addition to the stock market crashing, there are other factors that contributed in the Great Depression. For example The Dust Bowl. Farmers are usually safe from depressions, or economic crisis, as for being able to feed themselves. With the constant overproduction in farms, soil in farms had lost it's fertility. Years of overproduction had turn soil into dust, the soil is totally worn out, unusable. Dust storms start to happen, destroying other farms. With many farms unable to produce, or destroyed by the dust storms, food prices spike high, and more workers are added in the unemployed list.


During the Great Depression, President Herbert Hoover was in charge. President Hoover spoke often of optimism. People blamed with for everything that is happening. Shantytowns are called Hoovervilles, as a reference to his name. Hoover Blankets, Hoover wagons, etc. With the inactivity, and the poor decisions made by Hoover, he was easily defeated by Franklin Roosevelt in the following election. America has high hopes and expectations, that President Roosevelt is going to solve all this chaos.

With Franklin Roosevelt now president, many changes were implemented. President Franklin Roosevelt closed all the banks, and only allowed them to reopen once they are stabilized. And the program know as "The New Deal," was established.

Sources used:

http://history1900s.about.com/od/1930s/p/greatdepression.htm

http://www.hyperhistory.com/online_n2/connections_n2/great_depression.html

http://www.sparknotes.com/history/american/depression/section5.rhtml

http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/snprelief1.htm

The Great Depression on Dipity.

Infographic Reflection Blog

Infographics are a powerful learning tool, in which viewers of the infographic quickly absorb and understand the information. It is kept very simple, and focuses pictures and short, simple sentences. It also focuses on the concept of, "The lesser the better." There is barely any writing, mostly pictures, yet the viewer can understand so much of the information. I think infographics are just very useful to use, especially for educational purposes. Even though i didn't know how the paper is spread, and its mass production, I understood it rather quickly, reading the infographic. 


My group and I decided to work on paper for the infographic. We divided the information into 6 sections, Before Paper, Invention and First Use, Spread and Movement, Mass Production, Paper Today, and Statistics. 


All of the group members were divided, each taking care of their sections. I was responsible for Before paper, and the invention and first use.  


The methodology of the process was simple. All research, citations, plans, and any bright ideas go on a google doc. In the google doc, we discuss, brainstorm, and combined research. Our group used Prezi to create the infographic. The problem is, only 1 person can create the infographic, a member volunteered, and all others give him all the pictures and information required. Creating the infographic took the most time, but the research was the most difficult. Often times, we find irrelevant information, or information that isn't reliable. Also, it was quite difficult to find the right pictures. Especially the graphs were hard to find. Since graphs are so hard to find, especially for the paper consumption, one of my members searched and found a website for creating graphs. 


The teamwork and collaboration of the group went rather smoothly. We faced challenges and obstacles, but with great communication in the google doc, we could overcome it easily. The work load was quite fair, everybody contributed fairly equal. 


I think, infographics are one of the best ways to present information right now. Back then was all essays, pictures, lectures, experiences. Infographics really showed me that technology makes everything easier, including understanding of things. Back then was all about writing, essays, lectures, pictures, etc. Infographics are a mixture of writing and pictures, and some animations, which only the computer can do. Also, it may only be done by technology, computers, and presented through the internet.


Everything worked out just fine, except when we get to do the actual infographic. Everyone tried to do the infographic all at the same time, but the result was terrible. Everything was completely laggy, and every action done on the infographic has a 10 year delay, everything was completely slow and inefficient. So a member volunteered to do the infographic, while we simplify all data, cite and collect pictures, and give it to him.


Because reading essays, paragraphs, listening, or looking at pictures are not the best way to understand something quickly. Because they take time to read the whole thing, or looking at pictures or just listening, doesn't make the viewer understand the information deeply. Infographics are not popular, because it does not take long to read, and it explains information rather well. Instead of reading something time consuming, infographics deliver quick, and simple key terms and facts.

Botanical Agents Tomatoes

Originating from South America, tomatoes was spread to all parts of the world, and later made had high demands for it. Demands for tomatoes rose, until they began to plant them in local farms. It was first thought to be poisonous, due to its color and its sour taste. But it wasn't long until they figured out, it is not poisonous, and is actually good for cooking ingredients. Since the discovery of tomatoes being used for cooking, the idea started spreading rapidly, soon rose the demand for it. Even today, we can see that all countries have tomatoes, even in food. Tomato sauce, tomatoes in Thai Som Tum even, tomatoes in burgers, or salads, etc. Tomatoes is now consumed and used all over the world. Originating from South America, and spread by various factors. Like trading, colonization, exploration, etc. Though what predicted to spread tomatoes the most was Spanish conquering South America, and the Columbian Exchange. With the Spanish colonizing the South Americas, tomatoes were distributed to its home country, and its colonies. Which is why the colonizing of South Americas were one of the main factors, contributing to the spread of tomatoes. The other factor is the Columbian Exchange. An exchange between all parts of the world, exchanging all sorts of things, but mostly agricultural items. Trades ranging form slaves, animals, varieties of plants, etc. Tomatoes was one of the exchange. With the constant, rapid spread, and the rising demands for tomatoes. Tomatoes quickly dominated the whole world. You can see tomatoes everywhere, all continents have it. Because of its durability, it was able to grow in just about any terrain, or any weather (except extreme cold, or hot of course). With the high demand, the supply of tomatoes was scarce. Since tomatoes are very durable and adaptive, people started planting them in local areas to avoid importing them. The impact of the spreading of tomatoes is great. They are just everywhere, it is almost impossible to miss. It is also used in many types of food, despite the cultural differences. For example, pasta, and pizza in Europe, burgers in central America, Som Tum, right here in Thailand, salads, etc.

Flooding

There are 3 main forms of flooding: Flooding from a dam, flooding from heavy precipitation, rise of sea level. For Thailand this year, they experienced the 1st and 2nd form. Flooding from a dam usually happens when either the dam breaks, or they had to release water from it. Due to political problems, the main reason why the flooding is that bad. Due to the yearly monsoons, heavy precipitation occurred, filling up the dam rapidly. The government was warned that they had to release some of the water, and that some parts of the country is going to experience minor flooding. They did not respond until they were forced to release huge amounts of water from the dam, causing total destruction almost all over the whole country. It was predicted that if they had released small amounts, over time the flood would not be as high, and wouldn't last that long.

Talking about the damage, this event is one of the worst, and the most damaging event in Thai history. The damage done, and the money needed to repair, and heal from this event is horrifying. The worst thing about this is that most factories are in the middle part of Thailand, which is the part affected by the flood the most. Most of the factories were flooded, and had to be temporary closed down. Only a few factories were lucky to survive the flood. Since the factories are down, the export and the money earn from it, manufactured goods, and other products were destroyed. This is a major problem, because money earned from export is one of the most valuable source of income for Thailand. Not only factories, but many of the rice fields and farms were also affected. Since rice is one of Thailand's greatest exports, and the source of food, Thailand is even more damaged. With the regions around Bangkok flooded, that was a wake up call for the government to do something. Instead, they waited to the last moment to build barricades, without any planning or consult from the scientists that worked on flooding. Again, they just made it worst. Scientist said, barricading was not a good option at all. Since water from the dam was massive, there is little to do, but to let it flood and spread the water out so it that it doesn't last that long. They also suggest methods, to improve the barricades, but again for the second time the methods and ideas were rejected and ignored. Finally, the flood reached Bangkok, where it did the worst. Businesses, schools, hospitals, tourism, more factories, the water and electricity stations, etc were damaged. Huge numbers of businesses either gets damaged or totally bankrupted. Schools were closed down, even some hospitals were affected. Tourism shoots straight down. The water station flooded, leading to temporary problems with access to clean water, some power stations were closed, the list continues. The very sad thing about this is that, more that 600 people died, due to electrocution, drowning, diseases, or from animals (crocodiles lose from the farm, snakes, centipedes, scorpions, etc). 

Population 7 Billion THE LIST

1. World population expected to be 9 billion on 2045: With the rapid population growth from all around the world. It is estimated that there will be 9 billion of us in 2045. Just with 7 billion alone, today we have huge problems associated with over population. If this keeps up, it is also predicted that food supply and natural resources will be our main concern.

2. Great medical Improvements: Over the past 100 years, medical improvements were spiking. New cures, vaccines, discoveries, prevention methods, etc. Great medical improvement has been 1 of the major factors, contributing to mass population growth. Because people are expected to live much longer, with these new medical improvements, death rate had decreased.

3. Overpopulation is going to cause huge problems: With the population rapidly increasing, resource consumption is increasing aswell. Natural resources are almost depleted, in addition the increased in population, huge problems will be created. 3 most important resources include food, water, and fuel. Already, in some countries both food and water are scarce, like for example in some parts of Africa. With the consumption growing, and not enough resources to support it, it is predicted to cause problems like: Wars over food and water, or fuel, starvation, depletion of fuel, etc.

4. Population estimated to grow by 80 million each year: Right now, 80 million each year is over the top. Population is growing way too rapidly.

5. Close to a billion people go hungry each day: Like the problems of overpopulation, already the beginning phase of starvation had already begun. With the rapid population growth, it is expected to be much worse in the future.

6. Educated women are more likely to have fewer children: It is predicted that, educated women marries much later than uneducated women, due to the fact that they have to go to school, college, or university. Also that fact that, poorer families wanted many children to assist them in work. 

7. Better sewage systems decreased deaths, and expand life expectancy: Better sewage system greatly decreased diseases, and the spread of diseases. With better, cleaner source of water, Cholera, and others, are almost eliminated. Though only in poorer countries, or regions, that sewage system still falls behind standards.

8. Food supply predicted to be unable to support population: With the constant, rapid growth of population. It is expected that the food supply will not meet the consumption of the massive population. Unless better agricultural technology emerges, or the population growth decrease.

9. China, home to a fifth of the world's population: China is currently home to 1 fifth of the world's population. China is 1 of the first to experience over population. They now enforces the famous "One Child Policy" law.

10. Developing countries will account for 95% of population growth in future: Specifically in Africa, average family sizes consist of about 5-6 children. Poorer countries like these, lack birth control, and sex education. With no sex education and birth control, population grows rapidly with the increase of HIV/AIDS. The population in Africa had increased over 50% in less than 50 years.

Dictatorial Regime

There are many types of dictatorship in the world, some good some bad, good ones great, bad ones devastating.

There are 3 types of dictatorship, Totalitarian, Authoritarian, and Benevolent. Totalitarian is a dictatorship, in which has complete control over the country, and tries to control the citizen's way of thinking. Looking at the pass totalitarian dictatorships, clearly, this type never seem to succeed. This type seems to fail, everytime, or gets defeated sooner or later. 2 good examples of this would be Adolf Hitler and "The Holocaust," Pol Pot and the "Khmer Rouge." Adolf Hitler envisioned, a society with 1 pure race. With that idea, he convinces people to eliminate all of the different people. For example Jewish people, homosexuals or the disabled. About 6 million Jewish people were massacred in this even. Another example, Pol Pot in Cambodia. Again, Pol Pot has envisioned a pure, perfect society. His first idea was that: The Khmer empire back in time, was at its greatest. We can become better, if we erase all that we have, and continued where the Khmer Empire fell. What he did was that he made a series of laws and a list of the types of people needed to be executed. Intellectuals, professors, religious people, ethnic, city people, were targeted. Technology was completely destroyed, leaving the rest of the people farming. With technology gone, and everyone needed it to farm, food supply dropped horrifically, death toll from starvation and disease was extreme. All of what these dictators do, it was usually useless, unnecessary, and completely outrageous and destructive. People affected by events like these, are driven to escape the country, and off to a better, more peaceful place. Refugee, and immigrants people are very high. Despite the border patrol, people were desperate to save themselves, that is why the amount of people leaving totalitarian dictatorship countries are quite high. Same goes for authoritarian dictatorship, though authoritarian dictatorship isn't as bloody as a totalitarian.

Differ from the rest of the other types, benevolent dictatorship is just simply, benevolent. The name says it all, "benevolent." Like the definition of benevolent, benevolent dictatorship is very good. For example Singapore, is a benevolent dictatorship. A benevolent dictatorship is a dictatorship established, truly for the good of the people and its country, with absolutely no desire for corruption. Singapore is actually quite developed today. In-fact, the population of Singapore is mixed with Chinese, and many of Singapore's neighboring countries. Differ from others, people are actually interested in coming to Singapore, rather than moving out of it.