On the other hand, the Democrats think that deficit spending was good. This is shown in source B where it tells us that the Civilian Conservation Corps employed 3 million young men who “planted 17 million acres of new forests and built over 6 million dams to stop erosion.” Other Alphabet Agencies such as the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Public Works Administration also helped to reduce the unemployment figure. Overall, the Democrats viewed deficit spending on these agencies as a success because it brought down the unemployment figure by 50%. Source K further emphasizes the benefits from deficit spending by saying “people were desperate” during the Depression so deficit spending on the New Deal’s agencies would give them “a better chance in life.” However, Source K came from Frances Perkins, Roosevelt’s Secretary of Labor and close friend; therefore, she would be more supportive of Roosevelt and view the New Deal in a different light.
The two political parties also disagreed on whether the government should provide welfare for people or people should help themselves. The Republicans took the view on people helping themselves. Source J supports this view by stating “when you give to people, you hurt them” and this was because people felt useless so they “lost confidence in themselves.” It continues to say “Welfare kills a man’s initiative” because they would start to rely on government help all the time instead of helping themselves out. In addition, Source C tells us that “one in four people depends on employment by the government” which further emphasizes the fact that people rely on the government too much and do not help themselves.
However, the Democrats oppose this view and agree that the government should help out the people when they need help. Source K tells us that during the Depression “people were desperate” because they were going through poverty. Therefore, with the introduction of the New Deal, people had a “better chance in life” and were able to earn a living again. Source F further highlights the point of an active government by showing Roosevelt as a strong man clearing out all the rubbish. This tells us that with his enthusiasm and new programmes, millions of Americans were able to rebuild their lives by joining these public works programmes. Source B also tells us that by having an active government, Roosevelt gave confidence to the American people which put millions of unemployed people back to work and cut the unemployment figure by fifty percent. However, all of these sources have limitations. Source K was written by Frances Perkins, Roosevelt’s Secretary of Labor and close friend. Therefore, she would support Roosevelt and view the New Deal as a great success. Source F also has limitations when it shows Roosevelt as a strong man. In reality, Roosevelt was in a wheelchair suffering from polio; thus, the source is exaggerated. Source B also has limitations because it is only the judgment of one American historian. Thus, he would be subjective towards his opinion instead of being objective.
Finally, there was much disagreement on what actually saved the USA from the Depression. The Republicans argued that it was largely due to the Second World War. By 1937, there was a Recession because Roosevelt had cut government spending and this increased unemployment again. Republicans argued that Roosevelt was inconsistent and he lost confidence in himself. Source C tells us that “The war rescued him and he (Roosevelt) seized on it like a drowning man.” This tells us that Roosevelt might have been lucky that the Second World War dragged America into it too because by leading America into war, “he was able to put every man and woman into work”, something his New Deal failed to accomplish. However, without the New Deal, it is unlikely that America could have shifted to a wartime economy so easily.
On the other hand, the New Deal did save America from the Depression as well. Roosevelt’s New Deal inspired confidence to the forgotten men and gave them hope. Roosevelt’s speech in Source A tells us that he “pledges” himself and the people for a better life through his New Deal. He did this because millions of unemployed Americans found jobs through his public works programmes and earned a good living from it. Some Blacks were even promoted to senior posts in the New Deal’s agencies and women were also promoted to senior positions in the government. Furthermore, if the Second World War did dawn on Americans when they were in Depression, they would certainly not be ready to go to war yet. So the Democrats viewed the New Deal as a success because it saw many improvements in America.
Ultimately, there is a disagreement on the effects of the New Deal and this is largely due to the opposing views in politics. The Republicans were firmly against the New Deal and felt the New Deal was doing too much for Americans whereas the Democrats agreed that the New Deal was a success for America. It largely depends on people’s viewpoints towards the role of government. If you agree that the role of the government is to help people (intrusive), then one would support the New Deal. If not, then the New Deal would be viewed as an autocratic, communist programme which should be resisted.
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