These statements could not all have been fact and some of which may have been people personal opinions of the New Deal and the government. Here is some evidence that the New Deal did help the American people especially women and the unemployment. Below is a graph, which shows the unemployment and economy of America from 1929 to 1942. It shows how from 1929 to 1932 unemployment had steadily rose up to 23.6% of Americas total labour force was unemployed, however in 1933 when Roosevelt announced the New Deal this figure steadily dropped to 14.3% of the total labour force was unemployed
The New Deal also helped women enormously; it saw some women achieve prominent positions. Eleanor Roosevelt became an important campaigner on social issues. Mary Macleod Bethune, a black woman, headed the national youth administration and Frances Perkins was sectary of labour. She removed 59 corrupt politicians from the labour department and was a key figure in making the second New Deal work.
Source D contradicts statement one, as the statement does not recognise racism. Racism was a major problem in the America at that time, and although the New Deal tackled many problems source D is saying, it has not hit the major problem of racism. Source D is a picture taken in 1937 of a happy looking white American family in a car and above is the quote ‘the world highest standard of living’, however, below that is a queue of black Americans queuing for government relief. It is trying to say that black people do not get the same rights that whites do. This was very much the case as the following evidence shows. Many New Deal agencies discriminated against black people. They either got no work or received worse treatment or lower wages. Roosevelt failed to pass laws against the lynching of black Americans. He feared that democratic senators in the southern states would not support him. On the graph, which is shown on the last page of the question, it shows that unemployment stopped falling in 1937 when Roosevelt cut the New Deal budget and after that, it rose to 19.0% of the total labour force unemployed. This figure only dropped when world war two broke out in 1939 and America were making arms for the allies, which put millions of unemployed Americans to work in factories. Also the New Deal never solved the underlying economic problems, the US economy took longer to recover than most European countries also through the 1930’s the American’s only spent and invested about 75% of what they had before 1929 showing they had not regained full confidence. However statement one is not fully representative of the impact of the New Deal. It singles out the negative points, which are highlighted by some of the sources Iv studied
Source C is an extract from the book ‘The Roosevelt Myth’ by an American historian, published in 1945 that supports statement two. There are many quotes in source C that plays the New Deal as one of the worst government ideas to be brought upon America. It includes quotes which say how the New Deal has put America into a national debt of 250 billion dollars, compared to the pre-Roosevelt debt of 19 billion dollars, and how inflation has double prices and reduced the lower paid to poverty. It comes the conclusion that world war two-saved Roosevelt. Source E is a cartoon of president Roosevelt. In this source he is working a pump to get the economy working, behind him is a very weak looking man carrying many buckets of water, this represents the taxpayer. Roosevelt is pumping water up and it is going into a river of 16 billion dollars that has been spent on the New Deal and according to source E ‘wasted’. Source G is a cartoon showing president Roosevelt as a doctor and Uncle Sam sitting in a chair as a patient. There is a speech bubble coming out of Roosevelt’s mouth saying ‘Of course we may have to change remedies if we don’t get the results’. This could suggest that Roosevelt is not bothered if he pours even more money into the New Deal to try to get it to work. It could also mean, as he is a doctor in this cartoon, and the president, that the life and death of the country is in his hands. Statement two suggests that the government was too powerful; Roosevelt knew that the most powerful opponent of the New Deal was the American Supreme Court. Republicans who were opposed to the New Deal dominated this court. It could overturn laws if those laws were against the terms of the constitution. Roosevelt asked congress to give him the power to appoint six more Supreme Court judges who were democratic. This request caused some people to believe Roosevelt was trying to set up dictatorial government tinkering with the US system of government.
Statement two does not recognise any of the benefits of the New Deal and says that the government has become too powerful, unlike source B, which says ‘although the government has far greater responsibilities, it has no greater power, all of its power is still in the hands of the people’. Source B also says that ‘the charge that Roosevelt has been a dictator is not true’. Statement it also does not acknowledge the successes of the New Deal between 1932 and 1937, such as; it stopped the depression from getting any worse, it helped farmers stay in there property and helped them beat the Dust Bowl, it brought better social security which means more benefits for the unemployed and better pensions when you retire, it provided a strong foundation for the future because it built schools and roads, it saved Democracy, it improved co-ordination between local and central governments, and finally the New Deal restored the faith of the American people in their government
In conclusion I feel that the New Deal had failed to pull America out of economic depression and by 1937 unemployment had risen back up to 19.0% of the total labour force, however in 1939 with the out break of world war two President Roosevelt was saved by the employment of the American people making munitions for the allied war effort in Europe, and later in being involved in the second world war. However in retrospect there is no clear answer to the success of the new deal. As everyone manipulates the facts for there own devises.
