Use Source A and your Knowledge of the Period to Explain why People Supported Roosevelt in the 1932 Election.

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Use Source A and your Knowledge of the Period to Explain why People Supported Roosevelt in the 1932 Election.

In the election of 1932, despite Hoover's efforts to be re-elected, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected as the new president of America.

The 1930's was the era of 'The Great Depression', most Americans suffered greatly from the poverty and unemployment caused by the Wall Street Crash yet how did Herbert Hoover help this situation? Well, he believed the government shouldn't interfere with the people's lives, industries and businesses, he called this 'Laissez Faire' (leave alone). He believed he had struggled up through the ranks without any help so other people should have to do the same, 'rugged individualism' became his favourite saying, people should look after themselves without depending on others.

Hoover started as an office boy, became a miner and after many years of hard work he became a millionaire at the age of forty and soon entered politics. So after the Wall Street Crash when America had fallen into the depression, Hoover near enough left the people to deal with it themselves. When he did finally realise something had to be done it was far too late and the Democrat, Roosevelt, had already been elected, maybe he was trying to redeem himself.

Before Roosevelt was elected he had to persuade America he could do a better job than Hoover, he 'pledged' to give America a 'new deal'. To tackle the depression, Roosevelt was going to fight in a 'crusade' to 'restore' America. He 'pledged' that his campaign was more than just an election; it was a 'call to arms' for the people to 'help' him to regain the strong and wealthy America they once had.

People supported Roosevelt because they hoped he could bring them his pledge of a 'new deal'. They were sick of Hoover 's opinions of 'rugged individualism' and 'laissez faire'. Roosevelt seemed to be a genuine and very strong candidate; he was a confident speaker and wasn't afraid of saying what he thought unlike many other politicians who dodged around the real problems. In his speeches he used his words to great effect, he showed his intelligence and experience, which encouraged the support of the American people. For example he used alliteration, 'destruction', 'delay', 'deceit' and 'despair'. He also linked his campaign to the idea of fighting, 'call to arms', 'win', 'crusade' and 'waging war', this encouraged the people to help him in his fight, it is their duty to fight for their country. Roosevelt was clever to incorporate fighting into his manifesto; he had had the experience of having to survive, at the age of thirty nine he suffered from polio and for five years he battled to recover and get back into politics.

Roosevelt felt it was his duty to care for the less fortunate of the economic pyramid, they were victims of the unfortunate circumstances and people admired that in him.

Another major reason for the election of Roosevelt was simply that America no longer wanted Herbert Hoover as their president, he had let them down and led them into the greatest depression ever seen in America and once more he did nothing about getting America out of that deep economical hole. Roosevelt was by far the best candidate so he was the obvious choice as the new president of America.

The pictures below show the two candidates' manifesto badges, which were worn as part of their campaign to win the 1932 election.

By Lauren Simpson

Study sources B and C. How do these two judgements of the New Deal differ?

After studying sources B and C it is obvious that these two sources have very different opinions regarding Roosevelt and the democrats. Source B, written in 1945 by an American historian, is evidently in favour of Roosevelt whereas source C, also written by an American historian in the book 'The Roosevelt Myth', is against the 'New Deal'.

There are many clear differences between the two sources. The first of which is the views that the sources hold over Roosevelt's status. Source C quite clearly states that Roosevelt is or will become a dictator; 'The only result of this will be dictatorial government'. This historian holds the view that Congress has simply handed over much of it's power and money to Roosevelt, which he has used 'ruthlessly'. This is the opposite of source B that says the suggestion that Roosevelt is a dictator is 'not true'. He believes that all power is still with the people, that they can still vote out the government at their own will, that they do have the power to choose their own leaders and that it won't be taken away from them.

The second main difference between the two sources is to do with the subject of unemployment and government relief. Source C claims that 'one in every four people depends on employment by the government'. It draws on there being a national debt of $250 billion and there being an increasing number of citizens are relying on government relief. Source B on the other hand follows the belief that Roosevelt is helping the unemployment situation by banning child labour and introducing pensions. It praises Roosevelt and his policies whereas source C criticizes him, inferring that America was in a more favourable situation before the arrival of Roosevelt and his attempts to regain America's wealth.

Another difference between the two accounts of Roosevelt's leadership involves the general morale of the American people during his time in power. Source B is confident that Roosevelt brought 'excitement and hope' to an America which was previously suffering from 'depression and discouragement' which existed before the change in 1933. Source C, however, held the opposing view, implying that Roosevelt himself was responsible for the increase in unemployment, taxes and debt. By 1938, unemployment reached 11 million and it was the war that rescued the 'drowning man'. 'By leading his country into war he was able to put every man and woman into work'. Source C is extremely dismissive of Roosevelt's approach to governing America, suggesting that his policies to do with taxes and unemployment are inadequate, because his methods of solving problems only occur if they accompany negative consequences. It is apparent that source C didn't offer any alternative resolutions to the problems.

There is a final difference between the two sources but it is really an elaboration of the third difference. Source C states that during Roosevelt's leadership there were 11 million people unemployed and 'the cities were filled with jobless workers', hinting that Roosevelt is fairly inactive in trying to solve this problem. In contrast to this Source B states that Roosevelt was tackling the unemployment problem with 'energy'. It mentions that he employed 3 million young men to plant 17 million acres of new forests and build over 6 million dams to stop erosion. These are not actions of a government who are failing to at least attempt to prevent the unemployment dilemma, as Source C implies. Source B follows the belief that although the cities were becoming crowded with the 'jobless workers', the situation would be far worse without Roosevelt's schemes to prevent it.
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It is interesting to see that although both of these accounts were written at the same point in time and speak of the same issues, they can be so differing in opinion. The causes in this general difference of opinion could lie in issues such as propaganda, or perhaps the difference of living standards between that of the rich and poor and therefore raise issues such as bias.

By

Lauren Simpson

Study Source D. What message is the Photographer trying to Portray?

Source D shows a photograph taken in 1937, it shows a queue ...

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