How Old Was The New Deal Dbq

In America, the Great Depression was a time of economic slump, unemployment, starvation, and poor living conditions. The Great Depression started during Herbert Hoover’s presidency and it was caused by the Stock Market crash, closing of banks, over production, less trade and the credit crisis. During the first election of the Great Depression, FDR won, moved into office, and in his first 100 days in office, he installed the New Deal. The New Deal was created to fight against economic depression. Some people believed the New Deal was great and helped create jobs, while others thought that it gave the government too much power. The New deal was not a good deal.

The New Deal wasn’t a good deal because it gave the government too much power and
did not help the economy on a national level. Overpower in the Executive branch of the government made the New Deal bad. The president Franklin D. Roosevelt, better known as FDR was a democrat who believed in the government having a lot of power. FDR did not use his power well and often abused it. This was shown in document 8A, a political cartoon from Chicago Daily Tribune that spoofs off Oliver Twist. In the cartoon, FDR and the executive branch of government is portraying Oliver and he is asking for more power from congress. In the cartoon, FDR is much larger than congress, therefor showing he already had more power to begin with. Many other people thought FDR and the government had too much power. In document 11, Cuban Dr. M. Santos has an interview for the Federal Writers’ Project and in the interview, he shares his feelings on the USA at this point in time. He shares, “Franklin D. Roosevelt, who has deceived my most pure illusions with the respect to the solution of this great crisis...” (Document 11). FDR has not solved the problem of the Great Depression and won't. He has gained so much power, but isn’t using it the most beneficial way. FDR has taken hope away from this man and others like him, because power has become necessary and no one is helping him or anyone like him. Also, the New Deal didn’t help the economy of the U.S. as a whole. In the economy, it is good for people to take out loans, because the money is circulating and businesses can do better because people will buy their products. According to document 3, a graph the National Bureau of Economic Research, the amount of money people bought for loans decreased rapidly with very little recovery. The New Deal was put into place in the 1930s and it promised to help people financially, but didn’t actually help loans. The money wasn’t circulating properly. While loans are good for the economy, debt is not. National debt is hard on a country, because than that country owes money to others. It’s like when people don’t pay loans, then they we more money to the bank. According to document 10, the national debt was increasing and money was short in the country. It was hard for the country to pay off debt when there are people in that same country starving with nothing to eat at night. In conclusion, because of the power it gave the government and the way money was being circulated at the time, the New Deal was not a good deal.

Many people believe the New Deal was a good deal, but they have many unexplained gaps in their thinking and evidence.
The other side might argue that in document 4, a fireside chat (a monthly radio show where FDR would go on the radio to tell the general public about the new changes in the government, the problems and the aimed solutions), that FDR announced, “We are giving opportunity of employment to one-quarter of a million if the unemployed, especially the young men who have dependents…” (Document 4). However, this shows that FDR tried to help, but at the same time, he was being racist and sexist, because it was a known fact at the time that white men were preferred over all. Also, not everyone would get a job and it will lower the unemployment rate a little, but barely enough to make a dent in it. In document 11, Dr. Santos states, “I don’t believe that Roosevelt will solve this crisis, for if he had wanted to, as he promised to the American people, he would have solved it, as the legislature and the senate have given Roosevelt more power than any other president of the United States…” (Document 11). Roosevelt had the power to help everyone, but choose not to. Roosevelt preferred the white males over all and his laws demonstrate that. The other side might also argue that in document 7, FDR created the Social Security Act, which gave, “Old-Age Assistance/Federal Old-Age Benefits/Unemployment Insurance/Aid to Dependent Children/Grants to States for Maternal and Child
Welfare/Public Health Work/Aid to Blind” (7A). This all was fantastic, but there is always a catch. To get old age benefits, you had to be 65 and Charles Fusco, an Italian laborer, questioned, “You see what I mean that this government wants to do something good for the people and does but damn it they put strings on it. Tell me how many reach the age of 65? Very few. Why the hell don’t they give a person a break and say at 56 years old you should retire from work and enjoy life instead of waiting until he is almost dead they* give him a few dollars a month”(Document 8). As Fusco says, most people don’t live to be 65. Only around 53,000 lived to be 65 that year. The government put strings on the law, so only some people could benefit. In conclusion, the New Deal was not a good deal and the people that believe so have many unexplained gaps in their thinking.

The New Deal was not a good deal because it gave the executive branch of government too much power.
The New Deal has helped combat our country from going into another depression. Our economic standing right now is recovery from the 2008
recession.