THE USA, 1919 - 1941 ASSIGNMENT 2: ASSESSMENT OBJECTIVE 2 & 3

THE USA, 1919 – 1941

ASSIGNMENT 2: ASSESSMENT OBJECTIVE 2 & 3

WAS THE NEW DEAL A SUCCESS?

Q1. Study Source A.

Use source A and your own knowledge of the period to explain why people supported Roosevelt in the 1932 election.

The people of America had many reasons for choosing Roosevelt in the 1932 election. Firstly America was in a really bad state. They were in depression and the other candidate Herbert Hoover had done nothing for the first three years. He thought that if he helped people they would become lazy. He called this ‘rugged individualism’. Roosevelt offered the people a new option. He said “I pledge you, I pledge myself, to a New Deal for the American people.” The New Deal promised to help the people and that is exactly what the people wanted. Another reason why Roosevelt was elected was because of his experience as governor of New York. When the depression started most states didn’t do anything with the money Hoover gave them but Roosevelt used the money successfully to help the people of New York. He also made his views known about the depression. “I am waging a war against Destruction, Delay, Deceit and Despair.” This quote showed that he was going to help them. Also Roosevelt had very good election skills. He was cheerful, optimistic and a good communicator. He showed himself to voters all over the country and appeared very friendly with the people whilst Hoover didn’t so the people the people thought that Roosevelt was better. He also appeared confident in winning the peoples vote, “With confidence we accept the promise of the New Deal.” One last reason why the people chose Roosevelt was he promised to end prohibition. This would allow people to drink freely again and stop the gangsters from being in control.

Q2. Study Source B.

In what way would this graph be useful to an historian studying the New Deal?

This graph could be very useful for an historian. The graph shows how the number of unemployed people changed from 1929 to 1942. The graph can be split into three parts. The first part is from 1929 to 1932 in which Herbert Hoover is the president. In this time we see that unemployment starts off at around one million people and increases rapidly till 1932 where Roosevelt takes over. By 1930 the number of unemployed increases to just under 4 million and over the next two years it goes up an extra 8 million which means unemployment has risen to around 12 million.

The second part of the graph is from 1932 to 1937 where Roosevelt is president and the New Deal is taking place. In the first year it can be seen that unemployment rises by less than half a million and over the next four years unemployment drops steadily from 12 million unemployed people to 7 million.

The last part of the graph is from 1938 to 1942 where America is preparing for World War 2. In 1938 the number of unemployed people rises again to around 10 million but then starts dropping over the next 2 years slowly to under 8 million and then drops rapidly till 1942 by around 6 million so by 1942 the number of unemployed people is around 1 million, which is how it was before the depression.

A historian can use this graph to see that when Hoover was president the numbers of unemployed were raising rapidly but when Roosevelt took over and introduced the New Deal in1933 the numbers began to drop slowly. It can also be seen that when America began preparing for war the numbers began dropping rapidly and it took America out of depression. Therefore a historian can choose whether he thinks the New Deal actually made a difference and did what it was meant to do.

Q3. Study Sources C and D.

How do these two judgements on the new deal differ?

Judgements of sources C and D differ in many ways about their views of the New Deal. Source C gives a positive view of the New Deal whilst source D gives a negative view. Source C says how the New Deal got the industry going again, “it started the wheel of industry turning again.” It also talks about how the social rights of people improved, “basic social rights won a measure of government guarantee.” It gives the idea that the New Deal was a success and it helped the American people in getting out of the depression.

Source D on the other hand gives a negative view on the New Deal. It starts off by saying, “The New Deal certainly did not get the country out of the Depression.” It goes onto say, “it was not really until the war that the army of the jobless disappeared.” It gives us the idea that the New Deal made no difference to the American people and didn’t help them much and that the New Deal was a complete failure.

Q4. Study Source E.

Which of Sources C and D do you think Source E is most in agreement with?

Explain your answer.

Source E agrees with both Source C and D. The first part of it agrees with Source C and the second part agrees with Source D. It says at the start, “It was the hopeful voice of F.D.R that got this thing out of the swamps.” This tells us that Source E is agreeing with Source C as it is giving a positive view about the New Deal. ...

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Q4. Study Source E.

Which of Sources C and D do you think Source E is most in agreement with?

Explain your answer.

But the last part of Source E gives a negative view about the New Deal. It says, “In the late thirties I’d say our society was saved again. By Hitler… The war, in a sense, ended the Depression.” This gives the impression that Source E is agreeing with Source D as Source D also says, "The New Deal certainly did not get the country out of the Depression.” Both Source E and D are saying that the war ended the depression and not the New Deal.

I think that Source E most agrees with source D as both say how the New Deal did not work. They both say that it was not until the war that America got out of Depression. Although it says at the start that, “it was the hopeful voice of F.D.R. that got this thing out of the swamps,” it also says afterwards, “the stopgap wasn’t working,” which means that Roosevelt’s voice gave the Americans hope but the New Deal did not take them out of depression. They both say that it was eventually the war that took them out of the depression.

Q5. Study Source F.

What message do you think the photographer was trying to give? Refer to the photograph and your knowledge of the period to explain our answer.

The photographer is trying to show that things aren’t looking good for black Americans in America. The photograph shows a big poster saying, “There’s no way like the American way,” with a line of black people in front of the poster queuing for government relief. This shows that America has improved, “world’s highest standard of living,” but the line of black people queuing in front of the poster shows that not everyone in America are doing good. The black people in front of the poster are queuing for government relief, which means they are not doing good and need help. Also because the queue is full of black people it means that the white Americans are doing good.

The black Americans weren’t doing well because of one main reason, which is because of the New Deal. Most black Americans were sharecroppers. The sharecroppers got a share of the crops from what the farmers made but when the New Deal was came and the alphabet agencies were introduced the agricultural adjustment act was made which paid the farmers to make less crops. Because the farmers made fewer crops the black Americans who were sharecroppers got less crops. This meant that the black Americans suffered. This happened because of the New Deal but it wasn’t intentional. It wasn’t a racist act but it was a side effect of the New Deal.

Q6. Study Sources G, H and I.

Are these cartoons for or against Roosevelt? Explain your answer with reference to the cartoons.

Source G is against Roosevelt but Sources H and I are for Roosevelt. Source G is a newspaper cartoon published in the 1930’s. It shows Roosevelt pouring money in to a pump. The pump represents the New Deal and there is a taxpayer bringing Roosevelt seven million more dollars. In the pump there are lots of holes where the money is leaking. The cartoon is trying to show that Roosevelt is trying to use loads of money on trying to get the American economy working but lots of the money is going to waste.

Source H is a cartoon published in 1933 when the New Deal has just started. It is a cartoon for Roosevelt. It shows Roosevelt shaking hands with a forgotten man and it has a caption below the picture saying, “ Yes, you remembered me.” The forgotten man is supposed to be a construction worker or a farmer who was forgotten by Herbert Hoover. Roosevelt is shaking hands with the forgotten man because he has remembered him and is helping him.

Source I is another cartoon which is for the New Deal and was published in 1933. It shows Roosevelt pulling a donkey, which is pulling the congress and the rest of the American people are following behind the congress. It is trying to say that the congress was slow in making new laws and doing stuff, which is the reason, why the donkey is pulling it but when Roosevelt came he speeded up everything and made congress do everything quicker. In his first hundred days he made many new laws. He convinced congress to pass the Emergency Banking act, which promised to inspect all banks and to shut down any bank that had too little cash. This was done to convince Americans to put money back into their bank accounts. Also he asked congress to pass an economy act. This cut the money pay of everyone working in the government and for the army. It saved nearly a billion dollars. He did all this is the first hundred days plus he made the sale of beer legal again and set up several alphabet agencies. This was very quick for congress and that is the reason why it shows Roosevelt pulling the donkey, which is pulling congress very quickly.

Q7. Study sources J and K.

Why do you think these two people disagree about the New Deal?

Explain your answer.

The authors of these two sources disagree for many reasons. Source J is by S. B. Fuller, who is a self-made businessman. This source is written in the 1980’s. He did not get any help from the New Deal to become a businessman but he became one himself. He agreed with Herbert Hoover in ‘rugged individualism’ and thought that people get lazy when the government helps them. Herbert Hoover was a republican and it looks like Fuller is also a republican. He believes that if you want a man to work hard you can’t give them welfare, “ welfare kills a mans initiative.” He uses a dog to show us this, “ A dog you feed will not hunt. You have to let him get hungry.”

The author of Source K does not agree with Fuller. The author is Frances Perkins who was the secretary of labour in Roosevelt’s New Deal government so she was like Roosevelt’s number two and ran a lot of the New Deal. She wrote this Source in a book, “ The Roosevelt I knew,” that she wrote in 1947. From the title of the book it can be seen that she knows Roosevelt so she it is very likely that she won’t say anything bad about him. Unlike Fuller, Perkins doesn’t think that people should not have been helped. She says, “ The New Deal meant that ordinary people would have a better chance in life.” This quote shows us that Perkins believes the New Deal was introduced to help the Americans. She also says, “ But the ordinary shopkeeper, the ordinary householder, the farmer who worked the soil for himself, the man who worked for wages - these people were desperate.” Perkins is saying here that without the New Deal the Americans would have been in a lot of trouble and most people were desperate for help.

Q8. Study Sources L and M.

Which of these sources gives the most reliable of how the New Deal affected Americans? Explain your answer by referring to both sources.

Sources L and M give two different views on how the New Deal affected the American people. Source L is by a few Roosevelt supporters who sent him a letter as part of his election campaign in 1936. Because it is in 1936 we know it is reliable as it is three years after the New Deal came into action and by this time it would had made an impact on the American people. As the source is by supporters of Roosevelt it won’t be very reliable because the supporters are going to be in favour of the New Deal and will say positive things about the New Deal. The supporters who have written the source talk about Roosevelt and about how he sent someone to extend their bank loan and get their furniture back. The person is part of the alphabet agency, HOLC, which stands for Home Owners Loan Corporation. The HOLC helps homeowners keep up with their mortgage repayments by lending them money at low interest rates. This shows that the New Deal did work as an alphabet agency did what it was meant to be and helped an American.

Source M is by Huey Long, a Democratic Senator from Louisiana. The Source is written in 1935, which means it is reliable as it is two years after the New Deal started so the New Deal has been in progress for quite a bit of time and it has made an impression on the Americans. Huey Long was a Democrat like Roosevelt but he had different views. He felt that the New Deal didn’t go far enough. His plan was called, ‘Share our wealth.’ He wanted to take money from all the American millionaires and share it out equally amongst all Americans. In this source he uses the NRA, National Recovery Administration, as his example for how the New Deal affected the ordinary Americans. The NRA was an alphabet agency which persuaded employers in industries to pay their workers fair wages and to sell there goods for fair prices. Long says about the NRA, “Everything from a peanut stand to a power station had to have a separate book of rules and laws.” He is saying here that the New Deal had too much laws and he also says, “More men are now out of work than ever.” This statement is not true as in Source B it shows the number of Americans out of work in 1935 is around two and a half million less than how much it was in 1933. This shows that this Source isn’t very reliable, as it shows a bit of exaggeration in how bad the New Deal was.

I believe that both of these Sources aren’t very reliable if you want to find out how the New Deal affected Americans. Both sources only use one of the Alphabet Agencies each and comment on them. Neither uses a variety of things from the New Deal. From what content the two sources do have I think that Source L is more reliable as from what content it does have it speaks more truthfully than Source M which exaggerates in the amount of unemployed people there were.

Q9. Study the following interpretations of the effects of the New Deal.

The New Deal helped many Americans and by doing this it gave them self-respect.

It gave them confidence to lift the United States out of depression.

(ii) The New Deal wasted a lot of money, it made people dependant on the government and led to the government becoming too powerful. It did not solve America’s economic problems – the Second World War did that.

Which interpretation is best supported by the evidence in the sources and your own knowledge of American history? Explain your answer.

In this question I will be looking at two different interpretations of the New Deal. The first interpretation is the New Deal was a success and the second is the New Deal was a failure. I will be using the sources in the booklet and my own knowledge to study the interpretations. Finally I will write a conclusion in which I will say which interpretation was more accurate.

Firstly I will be studying the sources saying the New Deal was a success. Source B is a graph showing how the number of unemployed Americans before, during and after the New Deal. It shows the number of unemployed Americans decreasing rapidly before the New Deal began and when the New Deal starts it shows the numbers going down from around 12 million to around 7 million. This shows that the New Deal had an affect on the Americans and made the numbers of unemployed Americans decrease. Source C also shows the New Deal as a success. It says, “ In its frenzied way it started the wheel of industry turning again,” telling us that it got the industry of America running again. Source E says, “It was the hopeful voice of F.D.R that got this thing out of the swamps.” Here it is telling us that the voice of F.D.R gave America hope and got them out of the depression. Source F shows a poster of a group of white Americans in a car and it says on the poster, “WORLD’S HIGHEST STANDARD OF LIVING.” The poster is from 1937, which tells us that the New Deal must have made a big difference for there to be posters around the country saying that America had the highest standards of living. Source H is an American cartoon published in 1933. It shows F.D.R shaking hands with a worker who is called the forgotten man and he represents the workers of America. He was forgotten by Hoover but F.D.R remembered him and helped him as it also says, “YES, YOU REMEMBERED ME.” This shows that the New Deal must have been a success. Source I shows how F.D.R speeded up the American congress so laws were made quicker. It shows F.D.R pulling a donkey, which is pulling congress. The donkey is implying that congress was slow but F.D.R is pulling it very quickly showing that he speeded it up. Source K says, “The New Deal meant that ordinary people would have a better chance in life,” telling us that the New Deal gave the Americans a better a chance in life. Source L says, “Everything is all right now.” It is by a normal American, which tells us that F.D.R sorted everything out for the Americans and helped them. This determines that the New Deal was a success.

Using my own knowledge I can find other pieces of evidence, which shows the New Deal as a success. In Source F in the exercise book it shows F.D.R and his wife singing a song in which it says, “You kiss the Negroes, I’ll kiss the Jews, we’ll stay in the white house as long as we choose.” Here F.D.R is trying to say that as long as he helps everyone he should be able to stay in the white house as long as he wants and he uses the New Deal as his way to help the Americans. A major success of the New Deal was the alphabet agencies. F.D.R began several alphabet agencies for all kinds of Americans to help them. He set up the Tennessee Valley Authority for construction workers, the Home Owners Loan Corporation for homeowners to keep up with their mortgage repayments and many more for unemployed workers, young men, and the hungry and homeless. Also the New Deal saw the Beer Act come into action, which made the sale of beer legal again and the banking crisis was also solved as all banks were inspected and those with too little cash were closed down. F.D.R spoke on the radio in his ‘fireside chat’ where he convinced Americans to put money back into banks. All these pieces of evidence are in favour of the New Deal as they all show how the New Deal gave hope to the Americans and helped to get them running again.

In the coursework booklet there are many sources, which show the New Deal as a failure. Even though Source B is for the Americans in a few ways it is also against the Americans in a few ways. It shows the number of unemployed Americans decreasing slowly to around seven million when the New Deal is in action but when America starts preparing for World War 2 in 1938 it shows the number of unemployed decrease rapidly and by 1942 it there are only around one million unemployed Americans, which is how it was before the depression. This shows that World War 2 got America out of depression and not the New Deal. Source D says, “It was really not until the war that the army of the jobless disappeared.” It is saying here that the New Deal did not end the depression and it was a failure as the second World War ended the depression. Source E gives the same message as Source D as it says, “The war, in a sense, ended the depression,” saying that the war ended the depression. Source F also shows the New Deal as a failure in a way. It shows a line of black people queuing for government relief in 1937 in front of a large poster. The large poster shows white Americans cruising in a car and it says on it, “WORLD’S HIGHEST STANDARD OF LIVING.” This is against the New Deal as it shows white Americans living in good standards but the black people not in very good standards as they are queuing for government relief. It shows the New Deal as being racist towards black Americans. Source G shows F.D.R putting lots of money into the New Deal but it shows lots of holes in the New Deal telling us that the New Deal wasted lots of money. Source J says, “Welfare kills a man’s initiative,” implying that the New Deal gave lots of money to the Americans and made them lazy. Source M says how the New Deal made too much laws and it did not solve the crisis of the depression. It says that the New Deal made things worse for the Americans and the gang of F.D.R made America a disaster, “God save us from two more years of the disaster we have had under that gang.”

Not using the coursework booklet there is more evidence, which shows the New Deal as a failure. In Source B in the New Deal exercise book it says, “We, who have lived or tried to live in any part on money, are being liquidated,” saying that the money rich people have saved is going down in value due to the New Deal. There were also many people who were against the New Deal. Father Charles Coughlin wanted work and fair wages for all everyone and stood against F.D.R in the 1936 elections. Frances Townsend was a retired doctor and thought that F.D.R didn’t do enough to help pensioners. These are all examples in how the New Deal was a failure in the eyes of some Americans.

In conclusion I believe that the New Deal was more of a success than a failure. Its job was to give the Americans a better chance in life as Frances Perkins says; “The new Deal meant that ordinary people would have a better chance in life.” I think it definitely did this as the amount of unemployed Americans decreased once the New Deal came in action. The alphabet agencies helped all sorts of Americans from young Americans to pensioners in giving them money and work. Furthermore The fact that F.D.R stayed as president from 1933-1945, which was longer than any other president had ever stayed for shows that the Americans must have thought he was doing a good job to have let him stay for 12 years.