The final way in which the two sources differ about the New Deal is on the subject of what power Roosevelt had. In source B is states that the people of America still had the power of free elections “All power is still in the hands of the people. They can vote out of power governments they do not like.” Whereas in source C it describes that Roosevelt was acting like a dictator in the government, and trying to gain as much money as he could through taxes so that he could get the country out of depression, Roosevelt at that period was in a sticky situation for he had to close some of his agencies due to the debt and depression and this was only resolved when the war began because it meant that there were many jobs available towards the war effort. “In 1993 Congress gave up much of its power to Roosevelt when it put billions of dollars into his hands.”
- Study Source D
What message do you think the photographer was trying to give? Refer to the photograph and your knowledge of the period to help you explain your answer.
Source D shows a direct contrast to the two ways of living in the 1937 time period. The photo presents a queue of black people who are waiting to be given their government relief. Behind the queue there is a large poster of the ideal American way of life, showing a family in their car smiling as if they could not be happier. This photo is aided by the caption of, “there is no way like the American way”. This direct contrast shows how the photographer was trying to give us the message that the larger picture is not always the truth but the reality in the foreground is what really shows us the situation in America was like at that period of time. The main message I believe that the photographer was trying to pass across was that the New Deal did help a lot of people however there were a few exceptions where perhaps the New Deal failed.
At this period, 1937, unemployment had been decreasing quite rapidly and had nearly halved its original total back in 1933 when the New Deal had originally begun. It really seemed that Roosevelt had begun to resolve the problem of unemployment and a new hope was arising. However it has to be said that the black population were not in the same situation. These groups of people had not gained anything from the new deal and were suffering just as much as they had been back in 1933.
There were agencies that were set up to help these groups of people but they usually made the problem worse, for example an alphabet agency, the AAA, or the Agricultural Adjustment Administration. This agency was set up to help agricultural farmers to modernise their equipment and methods of farming. The main reason why farmers who were generally participants of the black population opposed this agency was because it was the modernisation of equipment that had put most of them into unemployment in the first point so it was not help9ing in the slightest.
The black population was not respected in the ages of Roosevelt as they are nowadays and there were many policies that would be there to undermine them or make them inferior to the white population. A perfect example of this is the new wage code that had been introduced which meant that black people did not have to be paid as much as white people were paid.
This photo is a clear example of the racial difference that was a major situation in America in the time of Roosevelt. I believe that the photo is trying to give us the message of how much the New Deal really did for different groups in America. It had given a lot to many people and solved many problems but maybe only for certain races of people whereas for the black community it did not give such prosperity.
- Study Sources E, F and G
Are these cartoons for or against Roosevelt? Explain your answer with reference to the cartoons.
On balance the cartoon source E portrays Roosevelt in two different lights. The main message that is being shown is not in favour of Roosevelt but there are small details that can tell us otherwise. The main picture of the cartoon is Roosevelt pouring thousands of millions more water nto the economical pump. The water is shown as the money that the taxpayer also shown in the picture is struggling to supply to Roosevelt. The economy shown as the pump in the picture has many leaks that are visible to Roosevelt but also there are some underground that Roosevelt cannot see. The cartoon is suggesting that Roosevelt is using the all the money from the people of America into his economy and buying his way out of depression, however as we can see the pump has lots of leaks and so this money is being wasted and the output is very small. I believe that the cartoonist was trying to suggest that Roosevelt was rather over ambitious and his schemes were extremely inefficient. I believe that the leaks that are shown in the cartoon are the weakness in the New Deal.
We can see that this cartoon is criticising the New Deal suggesting that the money poured into the economy is being wasted and is not being effectively and efficiently used. He is also proposing the idea that Roosevelt is putting a burden upon the taxpayer by putting such a high tax upon his back making it difficult for him. However it can be said that Roosevelt can be seen in a different light. The caption of “I hope this will make it work,” we can say that although Roosevelt is not actually producing any outcome from his work, he is trying to do so and that there is good intent at heart to help the economy in America get out of the depression.
The next cartoon I will be analysing is that shown in source F. we can see immediately that this cartoon is in favour of Roosevelt. We know this because it shows Roosevelt with a large bin full of Herbert Hoover’s old ideas and policies in it, Roosevelt is taking the bin out of the white house and seems to be emptying it onto the floor outside. Herbert Hoover is shown in the cartoon “leaving town” with an overcoat on and carrying a train timetable. This shows that his own period as president is over and so he leaves the White House. “Getting rid of the rubbish,” this image with the caption shows what the author of the cartoon thought of Herbert Hoover and shows how he was for Roosevelt.
The ideas and policies that are being thrown out by Roosevelt are the “rugged individualism”, which was the policy that the Republicans followed. Also a few famous quotes from Hoover are also inside such as: “A chicken in every pot,” and “Prosperity is around the corner.” “Throwing out the rubbish,” this shows how the author thought that what Hoover said and did was rubbish and that he was happy that Hoover was not re-elected.
The last cartoon I will be analysing is that shown in source G. In this cartoon we can clearly see that it is again, like in cartoon E, not in favour of Roosevelt. In the cartoon we can see Roosevelt as a doctor trying to find a cure for “Uncle Sam,” a fiction character who is meant to symbolise America. Roosevelt’s diplomat agencies are shown as the remedies for Uncle Sam and so far there are no results to his illness, “if we don’t get results.”
Congress is also shown in the cartoon as an old lady or a maid, standing behind Roosevelt. I believe that the cartoonist is trying to give us the message that even when Roosevelt is failing to find a remedy for Uncle Sam. The diplomat agencies are all small bottles on the table next to Uncle Sam but one stands out more than all the others. This is the NRA or the National Recovery Administration. This agency was designed to improve working conditions in industry and outlaw child labour. I believe that the reason why this remedy is larger than the rest is because the cartoonist believes that it was the only one that helped America out of depression in the slightest, all the others were useless.
I believe that the cartoonist is trying get across to the viewer the message that Roosevelt actually did not know the cure to depression and was trying his best to find one but could not. This is shown in Roosevelt ‘s piece of speech, “of course we may have to change remedies if we don’t get results.”
- Study Sources H and I
Which source is the more useful as evidence about public opinion towards the new deal? Explain your answer.
From analysing both source H and I believe that the source that would be most useful as evidence about public opinion is source I. I believe this because firstly of the authors of the sources. Source H was written by a supporter of Roosevelt and was part of his election campaign. As Roosevelt would have wanted a really good reputation in order to gain more support he would have put a piece that portrayed him in a very good light in order to win the election. So from this we can gather that source H is biased towards Roosevelt. Also this letter was written by one individual out of the millions of people in America and so definitely does not give us evidence of what the general public thought of Roosevelt.
Now to source I, this source is a part of a popular song from 1936. The song puts Roosevelt in a very god light and is very supportive of him. The song describes how things changed when Roosevelt was elected and that now he has been re-elected things can only get better for America. “Since Roosevelt’s been re-elected, we’ll not be neglected.”
As it is clearly stated that this song was popular, it was probably known by many members of the public, this serves as much better evidence of the public opinion because it was the opinion of more than just one person.
- Study Sources J and K
Why do you think these two people disagree about the New Deal? Explain your answer.
Studying source J, we notice immediately that the man who created this source (S.B. Fuller) was a self-made businessman. This means that he probably became a self-made businessman during the time Hoover was president. It is clear that he supports the policies of the republican and so perhaps is a republican. As he is a self-made businessman he would the economy to be left alone because if the government tampered with the economy, it would affect his business. Under Roosevelt I do not believe that he would have gained much from his policies. Because he wants the economy not to be tampered with, he supports the policies of rugged individualism and laissez-faire as it would suit his business. He criticises a lot the social security given by the state – “welfare kills a man’s initiative.” He clearly believes that by introducing a welfare system it would make the Americans dependent on it and so they would not physically work when jobs are available because they have a source of income without working. He believes that the dependency of the Americans on the welfare system makes the Americans loss confidence – “we had soup lines and the Depression because men lost confidence in themselves.” Also being a self-made businessman of the middle class, he would not want any high taxes that Roosevelt was employing on the people to support the New Deal. Clearly from the date of the source being written in 1980 we have to question the reliability of the source. Also the man already has hindsight of the consequences of the New Deal.
Source J being a view against the New Deal perhaps because he was a republican supporter, we have on the other side source K which is written by a Democratic supporter – Frances Perkins. Frances Perkins was probably the biggest supporter of Roosevelt being the secretary of labour for Roosevelt’s New Deal government. This would then be certainly a bias view to Roosevelt. She agrees in every way of how the New Deal helped the people; describing how the Depression hit the people and how it was right for Roosevelt to intervene in the lives of the Americans to improve it after the Depression. She believes that with all the power of the government if necessary should be used in helping the life of the ordinary American – “all the forces of the community should be directed to making life better for the ordinary people.” She also believes that it was right and fair to tax the rich as they were well off and could cope with it unlike the “ordinary” who were “desperate.” This view held by her seems very similar to a socialist or communist view, but she clearly believes that it was required to do this (tax the rich to help the poor) in order to help the American people from their desperation. The idea of hers that “all the forces of the community should be directed to making life better for the ordinary people” was accomplished using the alphabet agencies created by Roosevelt she is only confirming this idea.
Evaluating the reliability of this source, we can see that it was written in 1947, during the time Roosevelt was president. Because of this I do not imagine that she would forget any relevant information related to the New Deal that may have affected her opinion.
Evaluating the two sources the first clear point that makes these two people disagree about the New Deal is that one source is written by a firm supporter of the Republics, while the other is as firm of a supporter of the Democrats. This clearly segregates these sources by this point alone as the two contrasting views are bias to two contrasting governments. Source J suggests that the New Deal was a bad thing, while source K suggests that the New Deal was a good thing by helping the “ordinary” (average) American. Social Security was also a major difference between the two sources, the first source describing that it makes Americans to dependent on the state funding the next source believing that it was necessary that there be a welfare system for the simple reason that the people were “desperate.”
- Study the following interpretations of the effects of the New Deal.
- The New Deal helped many Americans and by doing this gave them self-respect. It gave them confidence to lift the United States out of depression.
- 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 knowledge of American history? Explain your answer.
I believe that sources A, B, F, H, I, K supports the first suggestion that the New Deal was a positive thing for America. Analysing the reliability and quality of these sources we can say that:
~ Source A, because this source was made in 1932 in Roosevelt campaign, it does not clarify that the New Deal helped many Americans and gave them confidence. However this source does suggest the attitude Roosevelt adopted when he came into power, showing a determined view pledging his whole career to help America out of the Depression. “This is more than a political campaign.” He also demonstrates the determination he has against the ineffective policies of the Republicans. “I am waging war against Destruction, Delay, Deceit and Despair.”
~ Source B on the other hand is written in 1945 in the same year Roosevelt died. It lists the achievements Roosevelt accomplished with his New Deal policy. Because it was written in this time period, the historian is able to evaluate all the occurrences and consequences of the New Deal when it was introduced. We see though that this view is specifically biased to Roosevelt describing how confidence was restored to America – “First comes the restoration of self confidence. Those who lived through the spring of 1933 will remember the change from depression and discouragement to excitement and hope.” However this source has no name and so we can not verify the reliability of it however evidently it is a bias opinion for Roosevelt.
~ Source F is another source for Roosevelt. This is because it shows Roosevelt clearing out all of the president’s policies. However this source as we can see from the date when it was drawn was only one year after Roosevelt was elected and the same year the New Deal was enforced. This source backs and supports Roosevelt but does not really support the first statement the New Deal helped Americans. This source only comments mainly on how useless the policies of Hoover were but not directly on Roosevelt’s own policy – the New Deal. Perhaps this cartoon implies that Roosevelt’s policies are good but we cannot say this for certain. As we do not know the artist of this cartoon, we cannot tell how bias this source is. But we do know that these types of cartoons generally showed the extreme side of one point of view, so this source would be bias.
~ Source H supports the idea that the New Deal helped Americans. This is because we can see from this letter that Roosevelt helped a person sort out his loan or mortgage. The date of the source, 1936, confirms that the man may have experienced some of the effects of the New Deal by this time. Roosevelt did in fact create the OLC – Owners Loan Corporation, which helped those with financial problems with paying up mortgages or loans especially in the Depression time period. Evidently this has helped one individual who has written to Roosevelt to show his gratitude. However, this is a bias view as it was used by Roosevelt’s supports as part of his election campaign.
~ Source I, clearly supports Roosevelt because this source was a popular song in the 1936. This means that lots of people sang it in pubs or in public locations. This means that the song is very reliable and supports the first idea that Roosevelt gave them self respect and confidence to lift them out of the Depression. This is shown in the source – “No more breadlines, we’re glad to say…” The source shows people supporting Roosevelt and is a clear reflection of what people thought of him as it shows the general public’s opinion being a famous song.
~ Source K, supports Roosevelt because the source was an excerpt from Frances Perkins’s book and she was the secretary of Roosevelt in the New Deal government. This makes this source quite bias to Roosevelt because of this fact. She points out many things including how “he knew that the rich had been hit too” by the Depression and this was true Roosevelt had placed high taxes on the rich to cater for the poor through the New Deal. She describes how the ordinary Americans were badly affected by the Depression and “were desperate” justifying why the rich needed to be taxed more. In her last paragraph she describes how the New Deal was “directed to making life better for ordinary people.” This statement was true because the ordinary American was affected by the Depression through unemployment and a loss of wages and so the New Deal tried to create jobs and tried to improve working conditions. This source as we can see takes an unbiased approach acknowledging by that the rich were hit hard by the Depression but clearly it is a biased view because she was the secretary of Roosevelt in his government.
I believe that sources C, D, E, G and J support the second suggestion that the New Deal was a negative thing for America. Analysing the reliability and quality of these sources we can say that:
~ Source C identifies key problems that the New Deal created, these included the massive national debt, inflation and how Congress “gave up much of its power to Roosevelt.” It also states that the New Deal did not solve America’s economic problem but rather it was the Second World War. This viewpoint clearly supports statement 2 because of the many problems it found in the New Deal. From the date that this source was written, we can say that it was reliable because the writer was able to see the effects of the New Deal on America and the people. However one important note to take into account is that we do not know the name of the writer so we cannot establish the exact reliability of the source without this.
~ Source E, shows Roosevelt pouring money into the economy to get it working, this cartoon expresses clearly his point of view about the New Deal and how Roosevelt was wasting a lot of the money from the rich into the economy. However, cartoons generally show the extreme side of a particular issue and in this case it is Roosevelt funding the New Deal by using the taxes. Looking at the date of the source, we can see that the cartoon was drawn in the early 30’s suggesting that the cartoonist was not able to evaluate all of the consequences of the New Deal.
~ Source G, agreeing with statement 2 describes how Congress has become so weak in comparison to Roosevelt (the Doctor) that she has become the maid and can only follow the orders of the Doctor or Roosevelt. However, in the American Democratic system, the Congress should in actual fact be as powerful as Roosevelt, able to check and reject any of the president’s acts he many wish to pass. It also shows that Roosevelt did not know how to deal with the Depression and so tried to cure the problem by using as many alphabet agencies as possible to deal with the situation. Again this source being a cartoon, generally shows the extreme side of politics and so cannot be used as definite reliable evidence to support a statement.
~ Source J, is perhaps a bias view of a republican from a self-made businessman because in his speech he argues at how ineffective the New Deal was and also how Social Security “kills a mans initiative.” From this source it is clear that this self-made businessman supports both the policies of laissez-faire and rugged individualism. We can see that this source is not reliable because it was done in 1980, 40 years after the time of the New Deal. This means that the self-made businessman could have easily forgotten relevant facts of the New Deal, also having hindsight may have affected his judgement or opinion. All of this makes this source quite unreliable and bias.
Evidently from these sources we have understood many things. These include the fact that the vast majority of these sources are bias to one view or the other, to the Republicans or to the Democrats. Also most of these sources are valid in what they say, and also the cartoons were not reliable sources as they generally showed the extremist side and bias side to any issue.
From our own knowledge we know that the New Deal did help millions by reducing unemployment and also increasing manufacturing production from the Depression but whether or not the New Deal actually was a success or not is debatable. We notice from a graph showing the performance of the U.S. economy during the 1930’s and at the same time displaying the change in unemployment that in 1933, when the New Deal began there was a drop in unemployment and an increase in production as expected. However, in 1938 Roosevelt cut the New Deal budget, which caused many labourers to be laid off. This caused unemployment to spiral up once more. However, when in 1939 war broke out in Europe, unemployment dropped with manufacturing production increasing. This is because when the war occurred, the government was able to whittle down the unemployment and channel them through the war effort. By doing this, people believed that the New Deal did not work but the war saved him – example of this view in source C – when it says Roosevelt “seized on it like a drowning man.” This is why there is so much criticism against the New Deal because it was not seen to have been a success as unemployment increased when the New Deal budget was cut. Other criticisms came from the rich and middle class who were given the burden of financing the New Deal through high taxes on them. Also the fact that the New Deal did not help all people including blacks and migrants results in criticism. But we know that the New Deal helped farmers a lot because it made agencies to modernise their equipment and techniques of farming while also helping farmers to stay in their property with the government’s help.
Also other criticisms which came from the Americans about Roosevelt was that he was becoming too powerful. His ‘rush of power’ came originally when his NIRA agency was declared in the Supreme Court as illegal. Knowing that they would take this measure against other New Deal measures he asked Congress to give him the power to appoint new Supreme Court judges so that he would be able to pass his measures through. The Americans were alarmed by this and saw Roosevelt tampering with the balance of the Constitution and so they believed that reforming the Supreme Court would give the President too much power. Because of the response to this, Roosevelt stepped down from his original statement, however after this the Supreme Court were more lenient in passing new acts.
Looking at all the sources here we can see that there are more sources backing up statement 1 than for statement 2 however using quantity alone is probably not the proper way of evaluating the evidence to see which viewpoint they agree on. I believe though that there are more reliable (unbiased) sources in the selection to back up viewpoint 1. However from our own knowledge we can see that the New Deal did seem a success in solving many of the consequences of the Depression although there were signs that it may have failed – the increase in unemployment during 1938 when Roosevelt cut the New Deal budget. It is perhaps true to say that depending on what government you supported during this period of time, there are different ways you could have interpreted the New Deal either it was a failure or a success. However, assuredly the vast majority of these sources that we have in this selection seem to have an element of favouritism within it making it bias and unreliable.