New Deal Sources Question

Question Two:

The two sources agree on the consequences of the Americans new deal as far as they both thought that the New Deal was good as it provided money and stability. Rennie thought that the New Deal was great and he was really enthusiastic about it because it gave people money to spend so they could visit restaurants and bars and football games and so people put money back into the economy to help rid the US of the depression. Gold in source D thinks that the New Deal is alright because it provides a little stability and money to live on but for only about six months. Gold isn't that keen on it because for month to month you couldn't really be sure where you were going to be living because jobs didn't last very long and once you had come to the end of your contract you went back to your home town to find a job there that you were trained and skilled in but there weren't any so you had to re-enlist into the New Deal to survive; this happened to Gold three times each time he had to re-enlist, Gold got different jobs, the first two times he was in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and the third time he was fighting fires.

People weren't just doing useless jobs, they were fighting fires and planting forests and digging dams, the New Deal wasn't creating jobs for people in their own skills. The USA was benefiting but it wasn't really much use because it would be a vicious circle, if there is no skilled jobs for people to come into once they are off the New Deal then you would have to go back onto the scheme to survive. The Federal Government got people jobs but they weren't necessarily jobs people were skilled in, the New Deal gave people jobs so the government could justify spending money, weren't going to let anybody have anything for nothing.

Question Three:

The Federal Government would want to publish photos like the ones in sources E E i and ii because they were positive and they could be successful in raising public morale.

The first source shows Mrs Roosevelt serving soup to unemployed women, this shows Mrs Roosevelt on the same level as the unemployed women and she wasn't afraid to help and do her part in helping the US.

The second source shows workers from the Works Progress Administration project repairing a road in the 1930's. The work was probably organised by the Public Works Administration in order to create jobs for the unemployed, the PWA helped build bridges, roads and houses.

I think the photos were published to improve public spirit and show that some businesses are still running thanks to the Federal Government, they photos were to restore confidence in the public and help them help recover the US.

Question Four.

The sources discuss Roosevelt's priming the pump to speed up American economic improvement, the sources agree to the extent that both suggest that Roosevelt was spending money like a fuel which keeps the economy moving and start it moving again.

In source (G i) Roosevelt is shown priming the pump he is putting money into the pump which stands for America until it is stabilised again, there is a stream of water flowing down with the words '16 billions spent' this symbolises all the tax rises Roosevelt has made to fund the New Deal, many people were not happy with these tax increases; there is a man handing Roosevelt water that symbolises money and the man looks like a farmer, he is struggling to give Roosevelt the money as a taxpayer. The pump is leaking and this shows that the New Deal is not completely effective and it has its bad points but it is half worth it because Roosevelt is putting money into it and America is slowly recovering.

The sources do not really agree on the effectiveness of Roosevelt's 'priming the pump' policy, source F agrees that The New Deal has made many 'alphabet agencies' which have helped create employment and has brought back life into the US.

Question Five.

The sources G (ii), (iii) and (iv) argue that the New Deal was effective or ineffective; in source G (ii) Roosevelt is shown as a Doctor trying all different types of medicine's, the medicines represent the 'alphabet agencies' and the woman standing beside Roosevelt represents his congress assisting him. The source, I think shows positive opinions to the New Deal; Roosevelt was inconsistent and kept changing his mind about his policies which could be good, if a policy wasn't going well Roosevelt would scrap it and start on another one so to not waste time on a useless policy which probably would not be successful but he would not have known this as he thought you never know until you try something how effective it is going to be.

Source iii