Which of these sources is the more useful to an historian studying the impact of the New Deal on the USA? Source E shows us the percentage of workers unemployed in the USA 1929-39.

Which of these sources is the more useful to an historian studying the impact of the New Deal on the USA?

Source E shows us the percentage of workers unemployed in the USA 1929-39. This source is useful because it shows us the effect it had on unemployment before, during, and a while after the New Deal was enforced. Therefore this source enables us to compare the unemployment percentage and conclude how the New Deal impacted on the USA. In 1929 the Wall Street Crash occurred, and this is reflected in the chart with a low column of only 3.2% rising steadily over the years. Up to 1933 unemployment was rising in the constant spiral of depression. Businesses had to close down due to lack of consumer confidence and the people that took loans from banks to buy shares, lost their money as share values plummeted. So the people were unable to pay back the loans, and the fact that they were unemployed certainly did not help. In source E we can see that the percentage of unemployed workers dropped after 1933, and this is because that was the year in which the Alphabet Agencies were introduced, which created jobs, much like Hitler’s idea of the work schemes. In 1938 the unemployment rose again because of the budget crisis. In 1939 World War II starts, as this has an effect on the chart in source E as the unemployment drops down again. This is because during a war more jobs are created and men are needed to go in the army. Therefore the war also helps stop unemployment.

Source E is useful because they are from United States government figures, which should be reliable and unbiased, however there is a possibility that the government is using this as propaganda, and therefore may have tilted the truth slightly to make them look good or simply inaccurate. Also these figures depend on exactly what sort of people they mean by ‘unemployed’, as this could include only women, men, disabled people or people in the CCC, as the people being helped out by the CCC receive little jobs that have been ‘made’. Also in those times it was very difficult ...

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Source F is a view on the New Deal’s impact on the USA. This source would be a piece of propaganda, as it was produced in 1936, the year of the elections, and it was also produced and circulated by an American company. The purpose of this source would be to dishearten people against Roosevelt, as they believed that people should rely on themselves rather than on government money. However, this source would be useful as evidence to supporting the statement that people disagreed with the New Deal. Adding our own knowledge we could deduct that people did disagree with the New Deal although there were not enough people disagreed with Roosevelt as he won the landslide elections in 1936. As this is propaganda, the figures were made up to mock the New Deal system. All the figures on the right hand side of the source are those people that are being pulled out of work because of the New Deal. For example ‘Not allowed to work because of the Child Labour Law’.

This is useful evidence providing the one-sided view of Republicans, who were against the New Deal as they claimed that it meddled too much in their American constitution, thus making this source biased. As mentioned above, the figures on this source are worthless.

Every source is useful because it carries information, and even if a source is biased it is still useful because it gives an opinion on a matter. Therefore, I believe that these sources are equally useful as they give different information.

Katarzyna Lakus Page