From 1929-1933, unemployment in the U.S. increased from 4% to 25%, manufacturing output reduced by approximately a third. Prices fell causing a deflation of currency values, which made the repayments of debts much harder.

Upon accepting the 1932 United States Democratic Party nomination for president, Franklin Roosevelt promised "a new deal for the American people."

Throughout the nation men and women, forgotten in the political philosophy of the Government, look to us here for guidance and for more equitable opportunity to share in the distribution of national wealth... I pledge myself to a new deal for the American people. This is more than a political campaign. It is a call to arms.

The "First New Deal" of 1933 was aimed at short-term recovery programs for all groups. The Roosevelt administration promoted or implemented banking reform laws, emergency relief programs, work relief programs, agricultural programs, and industrial reform (the National Recovery Administration), a federal welfare state, as well as the end of the gold standard and prohibition.

A "Second New Deal" (1935-36) included labor union support, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) relief program, the Social Security Act, and programs to aid farmers, including tenant farmers and migrant workers. The Supreme Court ruled several programs unconstitutional; however, most were soon replaced, with the exception of the NRA.

Roosevelt asked Congress to expand the number of justices on the Supreme Court so as to allow him to appoint members sympathetic to his ideas and hence tip the ideological balance of the Court. This proposal provoked a storm of protest.

In practice the New Deal ended with World War II.

• LEGISLATIVE: The United States Congress is the legislative branch of the federal government with the exclusive power to declare war, to raise and maintain the armed forces, issue patents and copyrights, and to admit new states to the Union. It is bicameral, comprising the House of Representatives and the Senate.
• EXECUTIVE: The Executive branch consists of the President and delegates. The President is both the head of state and government, as well as the military commander-in-chief (only when called into actual military services), chief diplomat and chief of party.
• JUDICIAL: The Supreme Court is the highest court in the federal court system. The court deals with matters pertaining to the federal government, disputes between states, and interpretation of the United States Constitution, and can declare legislation or executive action made at any level of the government as unconstitutional, nullifying the law and creating precedent for future law and decisions.

1. civil liberty, as opposed to subjection to an arbitrary or despotic government.
2. political or national independence.
3. a particular immunity or other privilege enjoyed, as by a city or corporation.
4. personal liberty, as opposed to bondage or slavery.
5. state of being at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint.
6. exemption from external control, interference, regulation, etc.
7. power of determining one's or its own action.
8. Philosophy the condition of the will as the volitional instigator of human actions; relative self-determination.
9. absence of or release from ties, obligations, etc.
10. exemption or immunity; freedom from taxation.
11. exemption from the presence of anything specified (followed by from): freedom from fear.

1. freedom from arbitrary or despotic government, or, often, from other rule or law than that of a self-governing community.
2. freedom from external or foreign rule, or independence.
3. freedom from control, interference, obligation, restriction, hampering conditions, etc.; power or right of doing, thinking, speaking, etc., according to choice.
4. freedom from captivity, confinement, or physical restraint: the prisoner soon regained his liberty.
5. the freedom or right of frequenting or using a place, etc.
6. unwarranted or impertinent freedom in action or speech, or a form or instance of it.
7. at liberty...
   • free from bondage, captivity, confinement, or restraint.
   • unoccupied or disengaged.
   • free, permitted, or privileged to do or be as specified.

• Federal Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI)
• Unemployment benefits (UI)
• Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
• Health Insurance for Aged and Disabled (Medicare)
• Grants to States for Medical Assistance Programs (Medicaid)
• State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP)
• Supplemental Security Income (SSI)

• By dollars paid, the U.S. Social Security program is the largest government program in the world and the single greatest expenditure in the federal budget
  • 20.9% for social security
  • 20.4% for Medicare/Medicaid
  • 20.1% for military expenditure (for comparison)

The Pledge of Allegiance to the United States flag is an oath of loyalty to the country. It is recited at many public events. It should be recited by standing at attention facing the flag with the right hand over the heart. When not in uniform, men should remove any non-religious headdress with their right hand and hold it at the left shoulder, the hand being over the heart. People in uniform should remain silent, face the flag, and render the military salute. The Pledge, written by Francis Bellamy, was first published in 1892.

The Star-Spangled Banner, a poem written by Francis Scott Key during September 3-16, 1814 and later set to the tune of a popular British drinking song, is treated similarly. On March 3, 1931, President Herbert Hoover officially made it the national anthem of the United States of America.