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The New Deal Dbq

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In 1932, the United States was experiencing the worst economic downturn the industrialized world had seen. This was marked by a significant drop in employment, consumer spending and investment, and industrial output. That same year, Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) ran and was elected as the 32nd President of the United States. Shortly after he took office, he began to reform the American economy by declaring a National Bank Holiday. Although this was a vital first step to providing relief to the U.S., FDR’s most well-known program was the New Deal. The New Deal was designed to provide much-needed relief, recovery, and reform to America during the Great Depression. However, the New Deal was both unconstitutional and undemocratic due to the over-extension …show more content…
President Hoover entered the White House in 1929, just as the American economy transitioned into the 10-year period of time known as the Great Depression. To address the situation facing the country, Hoover “relied on voluntarism” and “turned to local communities and private charities” to help those in desperate need (“Depression, Dissent, and the New Deal”). Although Hoover modified his approaches overtime to address the growing needs of the people, his attempts were not as successful as anticipated and hurt the economy more than they helped. By the time of the next presidential election, the people were tired of Hoover’s failed antics and as a result, elected Democratic candidate FDR, who consistently advocated that it was the government’s responsibility to guarantee every man the right to make a comfortable living. His campaign called for a for a flexible “new deal”, which he hoped “would provide relief, put millions of people to work, raise prices for farmers, extend conservation projects, revitalize America’s financial system, and …show more content…
Additionally, New Deal agencies such as the WPA, Public Works Administration, and Farm Security Administration became more concerned with the needs of African Americans throughout the 1930’s “under the leadership of Roosevelt appointees at those agencies” (“FDR: The American Franchise”). Moreover, Eleanor Roosevelt was a strong supporter for civil rights as she worked to improve African American’s lives during her time as First Lady. She received thousands of letters describing racial violence by 1934 and often forwarded them to the White House, describing “ways to include African Americans more fully within Federal Emergency Relief Administration programs” (“Eleanor Roosevelt Born”). On a broader scale, the Social Security Act of 1935 appealed to all Americans as it “provided for unemployment insurance, old-age insurance, and means-tested welfare programs” (“Social Security: A Program and Policy History”). This provided immediate relief to families in need by lessening the harsh impacts of the Great Depression. In return, support for the New Deal grew across the country as more people benefitted directly from this

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