Using your knowledge AND the documents provided write a well-reasoned essay in which you discuss the social,

political, and economic impact of FDR's New Deal on American Society. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------Document A Source: Message to congress reviewing the broad objectives accomplishments of the administration. June 8, 1934 On one side of relief we have extended material aid to millions of our fellow citizens. On one side of recovery we have helped to lift agriculture and industry from a condition of utter Prostration. But in addition to these immediate tasks of relief and of recovery, we have properly, necessarily and with overwhelming approval determined to safeguard these tasks by rebuilding many of the structures of our economic life and reorganizing it in order to prevent a recurrence of collapse. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------Document B Source: Clubb, "An Unfortunate Wait" -------------------------------------------------------------------------------Document C Source: Virginia Durr Reflects on the Depressions Lessons, ca. 1930s Have you ever seen a child with rickets? Shaking as with palsy. No proteins no milk. And the companies pouring milk into gutters. People with nothing to wear and they were plowing cotton. People with nothing to eat, and they killed the pigs. If that wasnt the craziest system in the world, could you imagine anything more idiotic? This was just insane. And people blamed themselves, not the system. They felt they had been at fault: "if we hadnt bought that radio" "If we hadnt bought that old secondhand car". -------------------------------------------------------------------------------Document D -------------------------------------------------------------------------------Document E Source: letter to President Roosevelt. "While more of my people are working than a year ago, the low wages and the rise in the prices of the necessities of life bring about a condition where those who work are little better off than those on relief. To date this problem seems to be increasing in seriousness. When so many people would like to eat better food and wear better clothes, it seems to us that there is something

drastically wrong with a plan of procedure which limits production to raise prices. The problem of distribution and the excessive rise in prices from producer to consumer must be solved some day. A real solution of this problem would greatly benefit the working classes. It does seem as if a way could be fond whereby it would be just as profitable for the farmer to produce more and find a ready market because prices are within the range of pocketbooks as for him to produce less and be unable to sell because those who desire his products cannot afford them. After eating hamburger for five years, my people would welcome a diet of pork chops." Clayton R. Stoddard -------------------------------------------------------------------------------Document F Source: Albany Knickerbocker-Press February 21, 1936 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------Document G Source: Walter Procter, Letter to FDR, October 10, 1935 " Things cannot go on indefinitely as they have been. They are bound to reach a breaking point. Human nature can endure much, but it ultimately reaches its limits, and that means revolution. Free men will finally revolt. The American worker-- manual or brain-- is not a dumb, brutalized serf. He is a man. He is emerging from the stage of dumb acquiescence in things as they have been. He is asking why should they continue? How come these conditions? Why should "opportunity" mean only opportunity for the privileged few to exploit the helpless many? What is the way out? The recent "Social Security Legislation" is an attempt to partly meet the situation. A small step, but nevertheless a step in the right direction-- the faint streaks of the dawn of the better day." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------Document H Source: Annual State of Union Message, 1935. Throughout the world, change is the order of the day. In ever nations, economic problems, long in the making, have brought crises of many kinds for which the masters of old practice and theory were unprepared. In most nations, social justice has become a definite goal, and ancient governments are beginning to heed the call. Thus the American people do not stand alone in the world in their desire for change. We seek it through processes, which retain all of the deep essentials of that republican form of representative government first given to a troubled world by the United States. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------Document I

Source: Robert Millers account of his experiences enrolled in the CCC, 1937 1. " These things I have mentioned are benefits derived by every young man who has been a member of the Civilian Conservation Corps. But my personal achievement is the one glorious gift I have received from my association with the young men of the Civilian Conservation Corps. 2. I enrolled as a boy, unsteady, groping, unsure. I wanted something, but could not describe it or discover a means for attaining it. Then I discovered what it was I was seeking- it was the right to call myself a man. My life at camp has given me that right, and I shall be ever grateful to President Roosevelt and the C.C.C. Now that I am a man, with my feet firmly planted on the steps of life, I feel sure of a reasonable amount of success. 3. If, in my humble way I have made you realize what the Civilian Conservation Corps has done for me, I am very happy. I do not claim any honor for the change that occurred in me, it just had to be. I'm only deeply thankful that I had the change to get acquainted with the real me. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------Document J Source: Jersey City Journal, January 23, 1936 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------Essay Arguably the greatest economic crisis in all of American history, the Great Depression took a catastrophic toll on American society. The saving grace of the time period- Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal, impacted the society of the 1930s more extensively than ever was predicted. The wide effect of Roosevelt's New Deal was met with mixed reactions, but saved the country nevertheless. The economic, political, and social effects of the New Deal were widespread and very important, despite critics of the time. The focal point of the early Roosevelt administration was the recovery of a shattered economy. Roosevelt's aims were discussed before Congress in 1934 in which he said "in addition to these immediate tasks of relief and recovery we have properly, necessarily, and with overwhelming approval determined to safeguard these tasks by rebuilding many of the structures of our economic life" (Document A). Recovering from the crash of the 1920s was no small feat, and the provisions of the New Deal accomplished a wide recovery from the Depression. One thing remained constant, things could not continue as they had been. "Change is the order of the day," said Roosevelt in 1935. (Document H). The Emergency Banking Act and the Economy Act of the new deal both ensured that no future bank crashes would be likely to occur. These acts gave Americans a sense of security and optimism. The FDIC, which ensured bank deposits up to $2,500 also gave the public more faith in the banking system. It was created due to the GlassSteagall Act of 1933 in order to curb bank speculation.

The "Dustbowl" region of the Midwest was the most crucial area to repair economically. With the actions of the TVA, the Midwest and West were revitalized and improved substantially. The AAA helped farmers in the stimulation of production and advising farmers which crops to plant to curb a detrimental surplus. The principle behind these organizations was this: "A way can be found whereby it would be just as profitable for the farmer to produce more and find a ready market because prices are within the range of pocketbooks as for him to produce less and be unable to sell because those who desire his products cannot afford them" (Document E). One provision that helped solve this problem was the Gold Standard Act, which economically place the United States on a similar currency standard as other countries involved in international trade, giving the U.S. another competitive edge in order to revive the economy. It is true that some of the economic branches of the New Deal were ultimately terminated, but despite this fact, each of these institutions and acts helped to significantly impact American society. Each measure of improvement helped to stabilize the economy and lend help to those in need. The Roosevelt administration marked a large shift in political thought. Hoover, during the lameduck portion of his own administration, failed to fully combat the pending economic crisis and consequently caused more bad than good. Document B discusses this fact- due to the lame-duck status of congress and the dysfunctional political leaders previous to Roosevelt's presidency, the nation suffered greatly. Overcoming these political faults was a great challenge to New Deal legislation, and despite many obstacles along the way, Roosevelt was able to literally bring the country back from the dead. Critics of Roosevelt's policies were disappointed over and over by the success of his legislation and improvements, as document F portrays. With a two or more party government, criticism is widespread and more often than not a basis for party beliefs. Republicans and conservative Democrats called for a stop to the New Deal, but in some cases, they were decidedly put in their place by the success of organizations such as the TVA. One method that political dissenters used to bar the success of the New Deal was the use of the Supreme Court to declare new legislation unconstitutional. The restriction of organizations like the AAA and the NRA, as a 1936 political cartoon illustrates, caused Roosevelt to resort to court packing, which in turn caused supporters to doubt Roosevelt's leadership. (Document J) These setbacks still did little to affect the impact that the New Deal already had on American economics. Very few instances could discourage the nation's faith in FDR, visible in American nationalism during World War II. During the Great Depression, a very odd sentimentality was rampant in the distraught population. Virginia Durr recounts this mentality in a comment she made in the 1930s. " People with nothing to eat, and they killed pigs. If that wasn't the craziest system in the world, could you imagine anything more idiotic? This was just insane. And people blamed themselves, not the system" (Document C). This form of self-torture was unique to the time period, and was one small reason that the Depression lasted as long as it did. But as soon as this social barrier was overcome, views began to change. It was through the New Deal that reliance upon the government was a realistic option. Organizations such as the WPA, Harry Hopkin's FERA, and the CCC gave the people a form of relief that previously many would have been wary of accepting. Formal organizations giving relief and jobs to the masses helped recover America's bruised wallet and bruised ego, all in one bout. One individual who participated in the Civilian Conservation Corps said this of his experience, " I enrolled as a boy, unsteady, groping, unsure. I

wanted something, but could not describe it or discover a means for attaining it. Then I discovered what it was I was seeking- it was the right to call myself a man. My life at camp has given me that right, and I shall be ever grateful to President Roosevelt and the C.C.C." (Document I). However, these new steps toward social recovery were not completely acceptable to the American public. Many critics of Roosevelt claimed that he was becoming too Socialist, a remnant fear of the Red Scare following World War I. Others like Huey P. Long and Francis Townsend were determined that their plans for recovery would be more effective than the methods of the New Deal. But most individuals were decidedly for FDR's administrational improvements, as Document D alludes to. In this painting by Albrizio, a WPA artist, Roosevelt is depicted standing upright, massaging the back of the weary worker, surrounded by individuals from each walk of life and social standing. The breadth and depth of the New Deal was massive, despite critical evaluation of the times. The social problems of the time were largely overcome due to the New Deal. One important social as well as economic piece of legislation was the Social Security Act of 1935. Widely hailed as the most important thing Roosevelt accomplished, the effects of this act were so far reaching and crucial proved Roosevelt's competence as well as the magnitude of the New Deal itself. Walter Proctor in 1935, that same year, said that the Social Security Act was " a step in the right direction-- the faint streaks of the dawn of the better day" (Document G). This vital document created a system of unemployment insurance, gave aid to the handicapped, granted old age pensions, replaced the welfare system with insurance. Frances Perkins, the Secretary of Labor, was the first individual to lobby for this particular system of federally sponsored social insurance. Parts of that same act are fully functional in the United States government of today. Another important social change caused by the new deal was encouragement of women finding their place in society. With the example of Eleanor Roosevelt, women gained a greater sense of identity and usefulness. The New Deal and Roosevelt's administration saw important improvements in women's rights through the election of Hattie Caraway to the Senate and Molly Dewson, heading the Women's Division of the Democratic National Committee. Each aspect of the New Deal changed society on a wide, far reaching level. Although some of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's institutions did not last, at the time the New Deal solved one of the most perplexing and catastrophic disasters America has been subjected to. The economic, political, and social improvements of the time were huge innovations, even though they were met with criticism at times. The triumph of New Deal legislation improved the American economy considerably, and prepared the nation for the upcoming World War in a way that was unattainable through any other method.