The New Deal

The 1930s was one of the most dramatic and fateful decades in American history. The most critical national emergency since the Civil War, an economic depression had thrown millions into misery and despair. The American people chose to give democracy one more chance. Franklin D. Roosevelt offered a "New Deal for the American people." It was a program of recovery, rehabilitation, and reform. Combining vigorous political leadership with a bold assortment of economic experiments, the New Deal presented a dazzling range of projects that affected virtually every aspect of American life. This primary source portfolio explores the political personality and leadership of Roosevelt. It examines the broad objectives of the New Deal as well as some of its more important projects and their impact on the American people. It looks at the men and movements who so bitterly opposed the "Roosevelt revolution" and estimates the successes and failures of the New Deal and its place in American history. The reader will be able to gain a sense of the 1930s, of the ferment and excitement of these years of momentous change, which put a new face on American politics. This portfolio includes a Study Guide with reproducible student activities. 6 Illustrated Broadsheet Essays: * The Depression and Franklin Roosevelt * The Roosevelt Leadership and the Broad Purposes of the New Deal * The New Deal in Action I: Business, Agriculture, Labor * The New Deal In Action II: Unemployment, Social Security, Conservation * New Deal Critics and the Election of 1936 * The Record of the New Deal 11 Primary Source Documents: * President Roosevelt's First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1933 * Excerpt of a speech by Senator Huey Long on March 7, 1935 * The front page of The New York Times for September 14, 1933 * Franklin D. Roosevelt's fireside chat of June 28, 1933 * Harry Hopkins's diary entry for January 4, 1935, and a transcript * Franklin D. Roosevelt's Social Security Message, January 17, 1935 * The front page of The New York Times for November 4, 1 936 * A leaflet for a United Automobile Workers protest meeting * A map of Tennessee Valley Authority * Two anti-Roosevelt cartoons * Part of mural on Coit Tower, San Francisco