The New Deal Dbq Essay

1044 Words3 Pages

The Great Depression, beginning in the last few months of 1929, impacted the vast majority of people nationwide and worldwide. With millions of Americans unemployed and many in danger of losing their homes, they could no longer support their families. Children, if they were lucky, wore torn up ragged clothing to school and those who were not lucky remained without clothes. The food supply was scarce, and bread was the most that families could afford. Households would receive very limited rations of food, or small amounts of money to buy food. This led to the starvation of families, including children. African-americans faced tougher challenges than most during the Depression due to discrimination. The classes hit hardest were middle-class …show more content…

This led to numerous viewpoints on the New Deal and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Critics on the left begged for relief and an expansion of New Deal programs where, those on the right argued that the poor did not deserve their money because they didn’t prepare well enough prior to the Great Depression and that they would take advantage of it. Criticisms originating on the left side of the political spectrum range from pure anger to arguments that are more supported. The arguments of the poorly educated leftist critics are full of anger and express what they believe to be injustices. One writer criticizes President Roosevelt for suggesting that citizens try to live on seven cents per day. Roosevelt is also criticized for indulging in luxuries such as cars, airplanes, and vacations. The same writer also states that the Roosevelts, “have every comfort that the common people of our great nation is toiling to provide” (McElvaine, 186). There is a great amount of discontent among the poor regarding their treatment in New Deal relief programs. It is common during this period for welfare to not be distributed evenly. …show more content…

Due to severe discrimination in the South, aid from New Deal programs often did not reach blacks. Many blacks were also fearful for their life and the wellbeing of their families and refrained from signing their names when writing to officials and President Roosevelt. African-americans wrote letters to President Roosevelt complaining about conditions they faced when trying to participate in New Deal programs. One writer complains that, “som gets a little and some gets none” whenever a shipment of food arrives in the town (McElvaine, 83). Another african-american complains that provisions never reach them and that the officials in Georgia are using everything that is sent for themselves (McElvaine, 83). New Deal programs, such as the W.P.A., were supposed to provide work equally, but this was not the case. Jobs in the south were often given to whites over blacks making it nearly impossible for blacks to make a living. One writer criticizes the Works Progress Administration, a large part of the New Deal, and asks, “do the government insist on Jim Crow on the W.P.A. projects?” (McElvaine, 89). The Great Depression impacted everyone but the african-americans had to face poverty and discrimination

The Pros and Cons of Roosevelt's New Deal
1214 Words | 3 Pages
The era of the Great Depression was by far the worst shape the United States had ever been in, both economically and physically. Franklin Roosevelt was elected in 1932 and began to bring relief with his New Deal. In his first 100 days as President, sixteen pieces of legislation were passed by Congress, the most to be passed in a short amount of time. Roosevelt was re-elected twice, and quickly gained the trust of the American people. Many of the New Deal policies helped the United States economy greatly, but some did not. One particularly contradictory act was the Agricultural Adjustment Act, which was later declared unconstitutional by Congress. Many things also stayed very consistent in the New Deal. For example, the Civilian Conservation Corps, and Social Security, since Americans were looking for any help they could get, these acts weren't seen as a detrimental at first. Overall, Roosevelt's New Deal was a success, but it also hit its stumbling points.
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The New Deal Dbq Essay
1467 Words | 3 Pages
The New Deal affected Black American ethnicity because they were still being persecuted and American society was still looking down at this ethnic group because skin color was key factor during that time period compared to the capability. People further argued that the “New Deal” wasn’t a success because it did not end the depression fully. However, the laws that Roosevelt created and passed were sure enough to bring back humanity to the Americans.
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Compare And Contrast Hoover And Fdr
1036 Words | 3 Pages
The Great Depression wreaked havoc on the economy, and in light of this President Hoover and President Franklin D Roosevelt Both initiated programs and policies to counter act the effects, however both had very different approaches with varying degree of efficacy. Through their actions, the American people would generally perceive both men quite differently, and cultivated fear in direct respect to both men's approach--both men would earn their critics as the long term effects played out. Hoover and FDR had fairly opposite approaches to solving this horrid depression.
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Was the New Deal a Good Deal for America?
609 Words | 2 Pages
In his presidential acceptance speech in 1932, Franklin D. Roosevelt addressed to the citizens of the United States, “I pledge you, I pledge myself, to a new deal for the American people.” The New Deal, beginning in 1933, was a series of federal programs designed to provide relief, recovery, and reform to the fragile nation. The U.S. had been both economically and psychologically buffeted by the Great Depression. Many citizens looked up to FDR and his New Deal for help. However, there is much skepticism and controversy on whether these work projects significantly abated the dangerously high employment rates and pulled the U.S. out of the Great Depression. The New Deal was a bad deal for America because it only provided opportunities for a few and required too much government spending.
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Down And Out In The Great Depression
1337 Words | 3 Pages
During the 1920’s, America was a prosperous nation going through the “Big Boom” and loving every second of it. However, this fortune didn’t last long, because with the 1930’s came a period of serious economic recession, a period called the Great Depression. By 1933, a quarter of the nation’s workers (about 40 million) were without jobs. The weekly income rate dropped from $24.76 per week in 1929 to $16.65 per week in 1933 (McElvaine, 8). After President Hoover failed to rectify the recession situation, Franklin D. Roosevelt began his term with the hopeful New Deal. In two installments, Roosevelt hoped to relieve short term suffering with the first, and redistribution of money amongst the poor with the second. Throughout these years of the depression, many Americans spoke their minds through pen and paper. Many criticized Hoover’s policies of the early Depression and praised the Roosevelts’ efforts. Each opinion about the causes and solutions of the Great Depression are based upon economic, racial and social standing in America.
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The New Deal's Failure to Aid African Americans
5220 Words | 11 Pages
...d up to the New Deal and the issues that Roosevelt failed to address with his programs.
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Relief Brought to the American People by Roosevelt's New Deal Programs
1017 Words | 3 Pages
Having gone through severe unemployment, food shortages, and a seemingly remiss President Hoover, the American people were beginning to lose hope. But sentiments began to turn as FDR stepped into office and implemented his New Deal programs. FDR and his administration responded to the crisis by executing policies that would successfully address reform, relief, and, unsuccessfully, recovery. Although WWII ultimately recovered America from its depression, it was FDR’s response with the New Deal programs that stopped America’s economic downfall, relieved hundreds of Americans, reformed many policies, and consequently expanded government power.
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Comparing The National Recovery Administration (NRA) And The Civilian Conservative Corps
582 Words | 2 Pages
The New Deal Welfare Program brought about some programs during the time of depression that were helpful and some that cause issues. President Franklin Roosevelt tried to do everything he could to get provisions set up for the federal government to be able to offer help to those in need. Two of the programs that were put in place were the National Recovery Administration (NRA) and the Civilian Conservative Corps (CCC), which I will discuss both in detail.
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The New Deal And Reagan
784 Words | 2 Pages
The New Deal provided motivation for governmental action for fifty years. The material conditions of the nation could be cast into the frame of the New Deal and would motivate public action to address them. The way that they were addressed was framed by the New Deal's notion that the dispossessed of society were dispossessed because of the irresponsible actions of those at the top of the American economy. Government would become their representative in addressing the failures of capitalist leadership to protect the common man and woman. Franklin D. Roosevelt instituted the New Deal, which consisted of the Workers Progress Administration, and Social Security among several other programs. At the time, conservative critics charged it was bringing a form of socialism into the capitalistic American system. Conservatives sustained this argument until the 1980's when President Reagan actions brought conservative economic beliefs into fruition. Ronald Reagan was to succeed in defusing the political power of the New Deal motive. In doing so, he managed the public/private line, moving many concerns back to being private concerns that the New Deal form had seen as public matters. Reagan was to accomplish this by substituting another motive that replaced the faith of Roosevelt with the faith of Reagan.
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Roosevelt and the New Deal
1114 Words | 3 Pages
...ncluded the racial and ethnic groups being ignored by previous adminstatration, nevertheless the south helped the New Deal welfare state to be moulded to only helping white Americans as the majority of black workers found themselves to the most venerable and less generous wing of the new welfare state. The federal government allowed states to set their benefits for blacks at extremely low levels and to determine eligibility standards which included moral behaviour as outlined by local authorities, this lead to widespread discrimination in the payment of benefits. African-Americans were the hardest hit by the Depression as they had an unemployment rate double that of whites, thus the majority of blacks were on direct government relief especially in the northern cities such as Harlem where half of the families received public assistance throughout the 1930s.
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1936 Presidential Election
1966 Words | 4 Pages
FDR enters the election with a strong, but not unbeatable, hand. The measures that FDR took during his first term in the White House didn’t produce prosperity. But they were able to pull the country out of depression and made sure that millions of people were better off than they had been when he first took office (Boller, P.240). Still the economy remained sluggish and eight million Americans were without jobs. At this election, he brought out the New Deal that would help all groups and firms. By this time Roosevelt had become the center of both passionate adoration and burning hatred. With millions of Americans support he had become more popular than the New Deal itself (Boller, P.240). Critics from various points on the political spectrum such as Father Coughlin and Dr. Francis Townsend had spent much of the previous two years attacking the President. They supported Representative William Lemke of the newly formed Union Party in the 1936 election (American President: A Reference Resource).
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Great Depression WPA
906 Words | 2 Pages
The Great Depression was felt worldwide, in some countries more than others. During this time, many Americans had to live in poor conditions. In the United States, 25 percent of the workers and 37 percent of all nonfarm workers lost their jobs (Smiley 1). Unemployment rates had increased to 24.9 percent during 1933 (Shmoop 1). Unable to pay mortgages, many families lost their homes.
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New Deal Dbq
1118 Words | 3 Pages
This came from unbalanced trade from 1934 to 1940 according to Folsom “much of our government spending during the decade went to prop up prices of wheat, shirts, steal, and other exports, which in turn because of their higher prices, made them less desirable as exports to other countries.” At this time FDR shifted directions and for a variety of reasons. First, while the economy was slightly improved and absolute despair had been vanquished, the Depression continued. The First New Deal, a relatively conservative approach which had attempted to work with a concentrated business sector, had failed to produce complete recovery and thus was easily abandoned. Secondly, the Supreme Court was beginning to strike down important pieces of the New Deal, including the National Recovery Administration and the Agricultural Adjustment Act. Finally, FDR perceived a significant electoral threat emerging from the liberal end of the political spectrum. While the Democratic party had done exceptionally well in the just completed elections, critics such as Huey Long, Father Charles Coughlin, and Dr. Francis Townsend were attracting more and more support by calling for programs far more liberal than those of the New Deal to date. In order to improve his chances of reelection in 1936, Roosevelt determined to co opt his liberal critics by supporting somewhat more liberal and anti-big business measures. Thus, the Second New Deal was
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New Deal Dbq
766 Words | 2 Pages
It seemed like there were a million people looking for jobs and begging for food. All over the nation was struggling during the depression, and jobs were harder to get than ever before. The Great Depression in America lasted from the 30’s to the 40’s, and it is still known as the harshest period that the people of the 20th century had to go through, ironically right after a golden age. The new deal did not end the depression but is still considered a success in certain measures. Some things are considered unnecessary, but there are some policies that did stay with us like the Social Security policy. The New deal is something that defiantly did help shape our nations politics for years, but is looked at differently by some.
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New Deal Dbq
429 Words | 1 Pages
However, although the New Deal changed the social welfare climate in America, it had some flaws. For instance, the New Deal mostly benefitted white Americans. The plans on the New Deal did little to help people of color. For instance, the Federal Housing Administration only further ensured the Jim Crow Laws of the time. Moreover, the labor assistance programs such as Works Progress Administration, did paid African Americans less than whites. FDR’s New Deal did nothing to aid people of color in their deleterious “discrimination
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The New Deal Dbq Essay

The Pros and Cons of Roosevelt's New Deal