Promise and Performance, FDR and the New Deal in the USA, 1933-45.

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Timed History Essay

Louise Todd 12N

(Mr Beamish)

Promise and Performance, FDR and the New Deal in the USA, 1933-45

  1. What does source 1 reveal about Roosevelt’s views on the role of government?

        It is my personal opinion that President Roosevelt believed that the government of America needed to get more involved with the affairs of the state.

        At the beginning of his speech Roosevelt states that ‘A small group’ of people had taken almost complete control over ‘other people’s’ property, money, labour, and even ‘other people’s’ lives. The ‘small group’ that Roosevelt refers too are Capitalists; people such as Henry Ford who in previous years had managed to gain so much wealth that they now had great economic status and control over others. By saying that the power had been concentrated into ‘their own hands’ Roosevelt is suggesting that power had only been invested into a small group of people, the wealthy business owners and employers. The ‘other people’ Roosevelt describes in his speech are ordinary American citizens, and Roosevelt believed that the capitalists should not overpower them, and there should be more equal opportunity.

        Roosevelt also says that the public should have a right to appeal against the government, and at the end of his speech he says that ‘this generation of Americans has rendezvous with destiny’ This is a significant quote because it shows that Roosevelt feels that it is his duty, along with his government to stick up for the common man. It is a socialist idea and one that shows the government should be more active and feel the compulsion to act, Roosevelt believed they should be more involved with the people, and the government should be more centralised. Roosevelt believed that it was the government’s primary task to put the American people to work, he said that that this was ‘no unsolvable problem if we face it wisely and courageously’. Roosevelt could see the problems with economy in the United States and he believed that by becoming more involved his government could take drastic steps to change the situation.

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  1. Use your own knowledge

        During the first ‘100 days’ of his administration, Roosevelt tried to restore confidence within the United States many different ways. The most pressing concern for Roosevelt was the banking and finance in the USA. Banks were closing at the rate of 40 per day in 1932 and it was obvious that this could not continue. One of the most important effects of these bank closures was a flow of gold from the Federal reserve of New York banks. This was to support bank deposits elsewhere in the country and also to meet the ...

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