Franklin D. Roosevelt
When creating the federal government the founding fathers plan was to omit the powers of the government, but over the years the power of the federal government has expanded. Franklin D. Roosevelt is responsible for the expansion of powers of the federal government through the Social Security Act. The Social Security Act went against of the constitution by expanding the powers of the General Welfare Clause by going against what the founding fathers meant which was welfare for everyone and not just for certain people. The act went against the principle of federalism by going against the delegated powers listed in the constitution. For these reasons Franklin D. Roosevelt is responsible for the expansion of the powers of the federal government.
During the 1930s the United States went through an economic crisis known as the Great Depression. The Great Depression was an effect of what is known as the roaring twenties. During this time the wealth of the United States doubled within nine years. The stock market was where everyone from the super wealthy to janitors invested their savings into stocks. In the summer of 1929 the consumption of goods began to slow down which also slowed down factory production.The Great Depression began in October of 1929 after the crash of the stock market. Many investors were nervous the market was going to crash and began to sell their stocks at a
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very high price. After the market crashed many people that borrowed money for investing ended up losing everything. Spending plummeted which led to slow production and millions of people
losing their jobs. President Hoover and his administration constantly assured the people that everything would be ok, but things continued to be worse. By 1930 four million Americans were
unemployed. The number of unemployment rose to 6 million just a year later. In 1932 the election for presidency ended with Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt winning. Franklin immediately got to work in trying to fix the broken economy. On the day of his inauguration all banks that were still open were forced to close to end the banking panics. There wasn’t enough money in the U.S. Treasury to pay the workers of the banks, but Roosevelt made sure to keep everyone calm and stay optimistic. He is famously known for saying “the only thing to fear is fear itself” (history.com editors). To fix the economic disaster going on in the U.S. Roosevelt multiple programs known as the New Deal (KENNEDY 251). A part of the new deal was the Social Security ActThe act made Franklin Roosevelt responsible for expanding the powers of the federal government.
The Social Security act was one of the many programs linked with the New Deal. The purpose of the act was for states to make accommodations to help the elderly, blind, disabled children, and maternal and child welfare. The act gave permission to raise revenue to compensate for the unemployment of the people that fall under those categories(US Const. preamble). The Social Security Act was passed with intentions of helping, but in actuality it was going against the constitution. When the founding fathers created the constitution they created the general welfare clause. The clause had the power to lay and collect taxes in order to provide for the
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general welfare (US Const. art. I, sec. 8).The Social Security act went against the constitution by expanding the powers of the General Welfare Clause. When the founding fathers created the clause they wanted everyone to be benefited, but the Social Security act only benefited a certain group of people. The act was taxing everyone only to give for the benefit of a certain group of people. Roosevelt made the act seem like it was for the well being of the country, but in actuality he was using the Social Security act to expand the powers of the powers of the federal government.
The Social Security Act undermined what the founding fathers wanted by going against the principle of federalism. When creating the constitution the founding fathers wanted to have a federalists government. They wanted federalism to prevent a person from taking over the federal government. The Social Security Act goes against the principle of federalism by going against the delegated powers listed in article 1 section 8 of the constitution. The powers listed in article 1 section 8 of the constitution include the power to coin money, raise and maintain armed forces, regulate commerce, declare war, and establish a post office (ushistory.org). The constitution never gave the federal government the right to tax people for the purpose of taking the money and giving it to other people because it their unemployment. For this reasons the Social Security Act goes against the principle of federalism.
In conclusion Franklin D. Roosevelt is most responsible for expanding the powers of the federal government through the Social Security Act. The act expanded the powers of the General Welfare Clause by only providing for a certain group of people and not providing for the welfare
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of everyone. It also went against federalism by passing an act although it never said in article 1 section 8 they had the power to do so.