From War to Prosperity, and Depresion

    From the start of the First World War once thought to be the war that would end all wars, the United States  wanted to stay neutral, but after two and a half years of staying neutral by efforts of Woodrow Wilson, the time had come to enter the war.Even though he kept it a secret at first by sending supplies to by boat. Germany knew this and in 1917 decided to start an all out submarine warfare destroying all commercial; ships headed to Britain. This with the publication of the Zimmermann Telegram caused hysteria among Americans which caused Wilson to asked Congress for "a war to end all wars" that would "make the world safe for democracy" and so on April 6, 1917 Congress voted to declare war.
    As the war ragged, steel companies who had seen losses in the recession of 1914-1916 began to see an increase of production as more demand for tools of war made of steel. Bethlehem Steel in particular took advantage of this increase demand for steel by working with independent customers abroad; but after the declaration of war these companies that were able to indulge in unrestricted commerce were now subject to price controls created by the U.S. Trade Commission. Still by the end of the war in 1918 Bethlehem Steel had produced 60% of the American weaponry and 40% of the artillery shells used in the War. Even with price controls in place meaning a lower profit. the profits from war time sales expanded the company into the third largest manufacturing company in  the country. Bethlehem Steel became the primary arms supplier for the United States and other allied powers again in 1939.
    The business of war is profitable to those companies that have the necessary  products needed. No one knows this better than Lockheed Martin one of the biggest defense contractors.They make a wide range of products which include aircraft, missiles, unmanned systems and radar systems. It received $36 billion in government contracts in 2008 alone, more than any company in history. In 2011 Lockheed Martin sales were 36.3 billion, the company arms sales compromise 78% of the total sales in 2011.Other companies include Boeing, and Northrop Grumman which receive much of the defense spending which in 2011 the U.S. defense budget was approximately $712 billion.
 

When the war ended in November 11, 1918 most of Europe was left in ruins while the Treaty of Versailles
demanded that Germany take full responsibility and pay war reparations.This lead to the 1920s which came to be known as the roaring 20s. This decade was a decade of economic growth and widespread prosperity. A boom in construction, and and growth in consumer goods like automobiles and electricity. The U.S. Economy transitioned from a wartime economy to a peacetime economy with returning soldiers with money to spend cause a  boom in capital. However not all sectors grew, sectors like farming and mining remained slow with not much growth. While the U.S. dollar was adopted and the main currency for the world they were able to give loan for reparation to a devastating Europe who didn't manage to fully recover and bloom till about 1924. As the economy grew the need for high taxes that were implemented for the war were rolled out. The roaring twenties grew and culturally many aspects of life changed, people now had the money necessary to buy things like electronic goods for the home. But as everything grew more and more things were bought on credit and a feeling of never ending growth was felt but ended September 17, 1929 better known as black Tuesday. This crash of the stock market cause a depression felt world wide because of the influence the American economy had on the world. In 1933 the U.S. Senate passes the Glass-Steagall Act which mandated a separation between commercial banks, which take deposits and extend loans, and investment banks, which underwrite, issue, and distribute stocks and bonds.
    The hope for relive from the depression came in 1932 when Franklin Delano Roosevelt was nominated something. In no surprise FDR won in a landslide. He finally took office on March 4, 1933 and by that time the country was at the lowest of the low.

 by Democrats to run for president. Hoover was almost completely different from Roosevelt because Hoover believed the government should not intervene and that the economy would fix itself. This was not what people wanted to hear especially when people were fighting for trash bags in from restaurants trash. Plus it didn't help that very poor people that had lost everything lived in spots called Hoover Villes. Roosevelt's campaign pledged a "New Deal" for the American people, no one knew what it would be but they promised that the government would do
    FDR's New Deal required the Federal Government to invest, but first he had to fix the banking system which when he took office was on the verge of collapsing. He put in place regulations that kept malpractice from bankers and to bring back confidence to the people that banks were now safe he implemented the FDIC. It was hard to convince people that they were now protected and there money was now backed up by the government because when the banks went down the money they had was the money they gave back and once it ran out you just lost it. FDR then went to another area of extreme crisis which was the nations agriculture. In 1933 20,000 farms were lost to foreclosure. Americas agriculture was failing do to over producing of crops because since the crops were not worth much farmers grew more to make more overproducing and creating an excess of food. This doped prices to rock bottom.To alleviate this the Agricultural Adjustment Act were designed to cut production and raise crop prices.The only down side was owners of farms reeked all the profits wile sharecroppers were forced of the land.
 

  FDR also attacked unemployment since millions of people were out of work he needed something that would help all different kinds of people all over. The most famous Program was the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) which put young men ages 18-25 to work, they lived in government camps and worked on conservation-related activities like reforestation. An even bigger program was the Works Progress Administration which hired unemployed workers to work on bigger projects like building dams, hospitals, bridges and more. Many would question these programs because of there effectiveness since some people got government jobs but some never got one. The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 helped give workers the right to form unions and freed them from employers harassment over creating unions.
    FDR had many things to do, his plan was to provide Relief, Reform, and Recovery but most of what he was doing showed a good response but still far from total recuperation. As part of his plan to provide a safety net so even if you lost your job or were injured and unable to work you would not starve. The Program came to pass with the Social Security Act of 1935. This program would serve the elderly, disabled, women with dependent children and unemployed by given them monthly pensions.Money to run the program would be derived through payroll taxes paid by the employer and employees. This was a landmark act since it dramatically expanded the federal governments roll in day to day life. Other reforms that mimicked this were Medicare and Medicaid programs in the 1960s.

WWII came and almost over night the depression was ended. War helped make jobs for military recruiters and women who had to stay and produce the necessary things for war. The new deal was something that no one could have done better than FDR he came with a willing mind to try new and different ideas to solve a problem no one seemed to have the answer to.