The Roaring Twenties was a time of flappers, swing, and a good time, yet little did we know what would happen to end this celebration. During 1929-1939, America went through what was called The Great Depression, which was caused by the infamous Stock Market Crash on October 27, 1929. But, with the help of a new leader, America was able to rise from the ashes, literally. As New York Democratic Governor, Franklin Delano Roosevelt established a number of new social programs from 1929-1932. With the 1932 election and a quarter of the United States workforce unemployed, Roosevelt was inaugurated March 4, 1933. To help stabilize the economy, in FDR’s first term, Congress enacted the New Deal program, a large, complex interlocking set of programs designed to produce relief in government jobs for the unemployed, recovery of the economy, and reform or regulation of Wall Street banks and transportation, according to Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site. For relief, the day after his inauguration, Congress passed the Emergency Banking Act, which declared a “bank holiday” and announced a plan to allow banks to reopen upon their closing as everyone wanted to withdraw their money. To give Americans confidence back in the banks, Roosevelt signed the Glass-Steagall Act that created the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the FDIC, which is still effective today. The most popular of all New Deal agencies, and Roosevelt's favorite, was the Civilian Conservation Corps, the CCC, which hired 250,000 unemployed young men to work on rural local projects. Congress also gave the Federal Trade Commission broad new regulatory powers and provided mortgage relief to millions of farmers and homeowners. Reform of the economy was the goal of the National Industrial Recovery Act, NIRA, of 1933. It tried to end cutthroat competition by forcing industries to come up with codes that established the rules of operation for all firms
within specific industries, such as minimum prices, agreements not to compete, and production restrictions. Recovery was pursued through federal spending. The NIRA included $3.3 billion of spending through the Public Works Administration to stimulate the economy. Roosevelt worked with Republican Senator George Norris to create the largest government-owned industrial enterprise in American history, the Tennessee Valley Authority, TVA, which built dams and power stations, controlled floods, and modernized agriculture and home conditions in the poverty-stricken Tennessee Valley. The repeal of prohibition also brought in new tax revenues and helped FDR keep a major campaign promise. The Social Security Act established Social Security and promised economic security for the elderly, the poor, and the sick. While the First New Deal of 1933 had broad support from most sectors, the Second New Deal challenged the business community. During FDR’s second term, 1937-1941, the Minimum Wage Law of 1938 was the last substantial New Deal reform act passed by Congress. Although his third term was in the middle of World War II and the Pearl Harbor attack, he got the country through it and made it onto his fourth and final term as President until his death in 1945. As America’s 32nd President, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was able to bring the country out of The Great Depression and restore hope to citizens with his plan of relief, reform, and recovery. With the help of his cabinet and support of the country, FDR’s programs were a major contributing factor that rebuilt America.
Based on Homer’s The Odyssey, the Coen brother’s 2000 movie O Brother, Where Art Thou? takes place during The Great Depression. Ulysses Everett McGill and his trusty sidekicks, Pete and Delmar, are escapee convicts on the run from the law. Everett and the gang break out of jail on the search for hidden treasure, but in actuality there is no treasure to be found. Everett is on the hunt to win back his wife from a “bona fide suitor.” On his journey to find his wife, Everett, Pete, and Delmar pick up a hitchhiker named Tommy who has sold his soul to the devil in exchange for the skill to play the guitar. They hear of a man willing to pay money for original songs; they find him and record the song, “I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow.” They are given fifty dollars, which was valued at a lot more money than it is today, and, unbeknown to them, the song becomes an instant hit. Everett becomes somewhat famous and “bona fide” by the song, then is pardoned from his crimes, which ultimately wins back his wife. During the Depression, President Roosevelt and character Ulysses Everett McGill live up to their fate and become hero to the country and the hero to his wife.
Within The Great Depression, O Brother, Where Art Thou? and Homer’s The Odyssey, historical figures and central characters are able to overcome their struggles and ultimately become the hero. In Homer’s, The Odyssey, Odysseus and his son Telemachus are able to bring peace back to Ithaka, like it was before Odysseus left to fight in the Trojan War, by killing the suitors that were trying to marry his wife Penelope and take over his thrown. As Ulysses Everett McGill only prayed to God when his life was at stake, he believes that the flood saved them because of science. While Pete and Delmar see the obvious answers, Everett looks to science and believes that it was not “fate” that the water had saved them, because “they’re flooding the valley to hydro-electric up the whole durned state,” (not that God had anything to do with it). As it was Odysseus’ fate to return home and take back his land, so did Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Ulysses Everett McGill reach their fate.
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