Key Events in US History: Impact of Laws on the Economy and Society

In this report we will discuss about laws and below are the summaries point:- The Smoot Hawley Act of 1930: Impact on the economy and global trade during the Great Depression. The 2001 Patriotic Act: Examining its effects and implications on society. Trade protectionism and its consequences: Understanding the negative effects on international relations and the economy.

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Events in the US History
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Specific events in the US history, example one from distant history, example 2 from
recent [past – 10 years
Laws are made so that the society can have rules and regulations that they should abide by.
In many cases, legislators pass good and bad laws that have their own impacts in the
society. These laws can be bad and have negative impacts on some people of the society. In
this case, close attention is paid to the Smoot Hawley Act of 1930 and the 2001 Patriotic Act.
According to economists, the Smoot Hawley Act of 1930brough a lot of changes to the
economic sphere. There was an increase in importation tariffs with an average of about 40
to 80 percent. As such, this is seen to be a factor which led to worsening of the Great
Depression Smooth Hawley in that year raised United States tariffs that were already seen
to be high especially on imports of foreign agricultural produce. This was with the sole aim
of promoting farmers that had been devastated by the Dust Bowl. This was seen as a factor
that could help the citizens. On the other hand, this did not actually do because the price of
food went up. This adversely affected many Americans that were facing the depression too.
It is also worth stating that these tariffs worsened relations between America and other
countries. For example, these tariffs retaliated with what these countries were accustomed
to. As a result, the global trade went down by 65%.
It is at this point that people understood the negative effect of trade protectionism. This
affects the already existing relations with other countries and leaders especially when they
deem it fit to have free trade agreements that boost the world’s economy apart from good
relations with each other.

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Before the economic depression, America was well known for a traditionally rich economy.
More than 25 percent of all Americans practiced farming. It was between the years 1915
and 191 that many people experienced the high process of food especially after recovery
from the World War 1. It was a matter of producing a lot of food to meet the high demand
that drove many people into farming. For this to happen, many farmers took loans so that
they could increase their farm yields. This made many farmers become bankrupt. On the
other hand, the farmers in England were having bumper harvests compared to the
Americans. This necessitated the drafting of regulations and laws that could protect
American farmers, especially from cheap imports. As such, Congress made proposals for bills
aligned with supporting subsidized exports and better food prices to be drafted. However,
many of the leaders had been vetoed by Calvin Coolidge. The second strategy to be adopted
entailed raising farm tariffs s that their levels could be similar to those from manufactured
goods. In the year 1922, the practice of raising tariffs had been successful especially with the
Fordney McCumber Tariff.
This bill was mainly opposed by business leaders, economists, as well as newspaper editors.
This was a create barrier to many trades especially the international trade. Other countries
could have retaliatory measures and also increase their import prices. Despite their efforts,
the bill was passed thus leading to the downfall of the stock market. In May 28th, 1929, the
stock markets fell to 191 points. Non-farm imports were also taxed heavily as and an
ultimate fall of stocks in 1930 as the bill was being passed. From this, Canada and Europe
swiftly retaliated and raised their own tariffs especially on goods being exported to the
United States. This led to the fall in exports in 1929 from $7billion to about 2.5 billion in the
year 1932. This also affected the entire global trade by 65%.

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The second law that imposed inequality was the 2001 Patriotic Act. This was passed soon
after the September 2001 attacks in the United States. This Act led to the initiation of
expansive surveillance by the government. The Acts advocated for the detaining of
immigrants especially those that were not charged with any form of crimes, (Bouet &
Laborde, 2018, 2276). As such, many provisions were struck out by the Supreme Court.
Certain powers were being given to the federal government hence making it have extreme
powers. As such, many powers were given to it so that it could carry out surveillance on
American citizens unknowingly. A good example of parts that were seen to “expire” was
section 215 which mandates for business records to be availed or surveilled. This tried to
link individuals who may have close relations with terrorists. From this, it was evident that
the government was more focused on the collection of phone records especially from
companies such as Verizon. It was however noted that section 215 made this act legal.
How law was used to create social change and rectify the problems created by the initial
laws
Creation of social change is also another aspect that the laws are tasked with. In the first
case, the government aimed at having subsidies and cushioning farmers against cheap
imports. This did not go well in the long run because of retaliatory measures put in place by
countries such as Canada and the United Kingdom, (Moshe, 2018, 10). These aspects,
therefore, arise as a result of social change. The Patriotic Act, on the other hand, led to mass
demonstrations especially against illegal tapping and collection of phone records from
unsuspecting citizens. Through this, legislators are able to rectify the problems by amending

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the existing laws so that they can conform to legal standards that are not harmful to both
the government and the electorate.
Assessment of multiculturalism- how was this factored into the evolutionary process of
these events
The existence of different cultures leads to multiculturalism. Laws that are being passed
have to take into consideration different backgrounds that people come from. This includes
nationalities, religions and cultural groups. In this context, the coexistence between nations
for a long time has taken shape especially with these nations focusing on productive
bilateral relations. Trade is a key factor between nations and to facilitate this, friendly laws
have to be put in place. This includes the use of friendly tariffs and friendly trade laws so
that there is understating between each other. For this to be achieved, legislators have to
understand international concepts that seek to avoid conflicts between nations thus
promoting multiculturalism.

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References
Bouët, A., & Laborde, D. (2018). US trade wars in the twenty‐first century with emerging
countries: Make America and its partners lose again. The World Economy, 41(9),
2276-2319.
Moshe, M. (2018). Celebrating Patriotism: The Representation of Patriotism in Celebrity
Culture. Handbook of Patriotism, 1-15.