FDR DBQ

Following the Great Depression and the presidency of Herbert Hoover, Franklin D. Roosevelt assumed the presidency. When FDR took office he used democratic policies to attempt to lift America out of poverty. The administration of FDR increased the role of the Federal government and attempted to address reform, relief, and recovery of the US. As he took office he faced problems such as unemployment, bank failures, and mass poverty. FDR created several policies to address the economic downfall, such as the AAA, NIRA, and Social Security. These gave jobs to thousands of Americans, providing reform and relief, but it wasn't until World War 2 that completely lifted America out of the depression. FDR’s administration was successful with reform and relief, but not recovery. In the years prior to FDR
Two ways he tried to reform the American government and society was the Wagner Act and Social Security. The Wagner act was based on the rights of workers as union members and their rights to collectively bargain. In document 5 we see John L. Lewis support the Wagner Act and condemn big corporations. The purpose of his broadcast was to inform Americans saying big corporations “have no right to transgress the law which gives to the workers the right to self-organize and collective bargaining.” However as large labor unrest continued FDR created the National Labor Relations Board, which simply enforced the rules of the Wagner Act, increasing the power of the federal government even further. FDR also used Social Security as a way to reform America. As seen in document 3, Social Security was a government check every month for citizens over 65. The main purpose of this was to instill a feeling of hope for Americans that they will be taken care of later in life. This also had a great impact on the image of the federal government because the welfare of American citizens was now a focus of the