the great depression and the new deal dbq essay

• High School
• You don't have any recent items yet.
• You don't have any courses yet.
• You don't have any books yet.
• You don't have any Studylists yet.
• Information

DBQ New Deal - DBQ

 u.s. history: 1877-present (amh 2020 ), university of central florida, recommended for you, students also viewed, related documents.

• Imperialism in US History A Lecture
• The Compromise of 1877 A Lecture
• The Indian Wars in US History A Lecture
• Conditions of women and minorities in US history
• Lecture on Western Expansion in US History

Preview text

Based Question

Part A DOCUMENT-BASED ESSAY QUESTION This question is based on the accompanying documents (1-12). Some of the documents have been edited for the purposes of the question. As you analyze the documents, take into account both the source of each document and any point of view that may be presented in the document.

McKinley H. P

Historical Context: Following the economic boom of the 1920s, the United States entered a period of prolonged economic depression. Known as the Great Depression, many citizens of the United States were greatly affected by it. During the Roosevelt Administrations, several economic initiatives were developed to limit the effects of the Great Depression and allow the American economy to prosper once again.

Task: Using information from the documents and your knowledge of United States history and government, answer the questions that follow each document in Part A. Your answers to the questions will help you write your response to the essay question in Part B:

• Were the Roosevelt Administrations and the New Deal programs effective in overcoming the Great Depression and rebuilding the U. economy? The New Deal did not end the Depression; however, it was a success in restoring public confidence and creating new programs that brought relief to millions of Americans. Several programs created through the New Deal did have a lasting positive impact on the U. economy, among them the Social Security Act, which provided income for the elderly, disabled and children of poor families. The Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 established the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which effectively insured the savings of Americans in the event of a bank failure. The Work Progress Administration created in 1935 had a positive impact by employing more than 8 million Americans in building projects ranging from bridges and airports to parks and schools. Some programs certainly helped end the Great Depression, however they were insufficient given that the amount of government funds for stimulus wasn’t large enough.
• Describe the economic, political and social effects of the Great Depression. The Great Depression devastated the U. economy. A third of all banks failed and unemployment rose. Housing prices plummeted, international trade collapsed by, and deflation soared above. Malnutrition, starvation and illness became common among adults and kids. Rapid rise of crime rate because of unemployment and suicides rates were high. Taxes favored the rich because of unequal distribution of wealth.
• Discuss the strategies used by the Roosevelt Administrations to deal with the problems leading to and created by the Depression. The Roosevelt Administration created a passage of banking reform laws, emergency relief programs, work relief programs, and agricultural programs. The program evolves even more which created union protection programs, the Social Security Act, and

Based Question programs to aid tenant farmers and migrant workers. New Deal programs helped improve the lives of people suffering from the events of the depression. 4. Discuss the challenges faced by the Roosevelt Administrations to enact their policies. The most immediate challenge facing Roosevelt in 1933 was the collapse of the US banking system which he had to try and repair. Banks are the foundation of a capitalist system. Roosevelt knew that unless he could restore confidence to the banking system, the economic crisis would only get much worse. To this end, Roosevelt signed into law the Emergency Banking Act, which restored people's trust in the banks by guaranteeing deposits. President Roosevelt also wanted to reform the banking industry. The Glass- Steagall Act prevented commercial banks from investing in the stock market. Glass- Steagall provided insurance for deposit accounts with the creation of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. President Roosevelt had to face was the high rate of unemployment. About 25% of the population was unemployed. President Roosevelt needed to reform the stock market. The Securities Act of 1933 was passed to try to accomplish this. It allowed to create the Security and Exchange Commission to monitor the stock market and prevent fraud. 5. Discuss the long-term effects of the New Deal. Social Security protects millions of Americans but may not be able to pay full benefits in the future. High-wage and low-wage earners continue to have different kinds of protection and benefits. Americans have economic safeguards provided by the government. A split between liberals and conservatives still affects public life.

Part B Essay Directions: Write a well-organized essay that includes an introduction, several paragraphs, and a conclusion. Use evidence from at least six documents in the body of the essay. Support your response with relevant facts, examples, and details. Include information from your textbook and notes. (Do not use extraneous sources, such as Wikipedia). The essay should be between two to three typewritten pages double spaced.

U. History II Enr. Mr. Bradshaw

Based Question Document 2 Those families who had lived on a little piece of land, who had lived and died on forty acres, had eaten or starved on the produce of forty acres, had now the whole West to rove in. And they scampered about, looking for work; and the highways were streams of people, and the ditch banks were lines of people.... The great highways streamed with moving people....

And this was good, for wages went down and prices stayed up. The great owners were glad.... And wages went down and prices stayed up. And pretty soon now we'll have serfs again....

And the little farmers... lost their farms, and they were taken by the great owners, the banks, and the companies.

... As time went on, there were fewer farms. The little farmers moved into town for a while and exhausted their credit, exhausted their friends, their relatives. And then they too were on the highways. And the roads were crowded with men ravenous for work, murderous for work.

And the companies, the banks worked at their own doom and they did not know it. The fields were fruitful, and starving men moved on the roads....

The great companies did not know that the line between hunger and anger is a thin line.... On the highways the people moved like ants and searched for work, for food. And the anger began to ferment.

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

• What is the setting of this passage from The Grapes of Wrath?
• Who are the main characters? What is their relationship?
• What is the cause of the farmers’ anger?

Senator Harry Byrd of Virginia questions Harry L. Hopkins about the effectiveness of government spending.

• What is Hopkins trying to fix by spending money?

Franklin D. Roosevelt Library

Document 4 Social Security

Referring to the Social Security Act, Frances Perkins recalled, "Nothing of the sort had ever come before the Congress of the United States." The act altered many Americans' ideas about the government's responsibility to ensure the welfare of citizens. Since its beginning in the 1930s, the program has expanded to cover children, people with disabilities, and many others. Social Security also manages numerous other welfare programs, including subsidized school lunches. Providing monthly pensions to retired people or their survivors is the best-known Social Security program. Ida May Fuller of Ludlow, Vermont, was the first person to receive a monthly Social Security pension. Her first check, for $22, arrived January 31, 1940.

Over time, the monthly payments have risen along with the cost of living. At the same time, more people are covered by Social Security. Although many people feared that this situation would eventually force the Social Security program into bankruptcy, legislators have long been reluctant to alter the system. Finally, in the late 1990s Congress enacted several measures to reform Social Security and guard it for future generations.

• How has Social Security changed over the years?
• What has been the long-term impact of Social Security?

"Back in nineteen twenty-seven I had a little farm and I called that heaven, Well, the price was up and the rain came down And I hauled my crops all in to town.... Rain quit and the wind got high, And a black old dust storm filled the sky, And I swapped my farm for a Ford machine And I poured it full of this gasoline.... We got out to the West Coast broke, So dad gum hungry I thought I'd croak, And I bummed up a spud or two, And my wife fixed up a 'tater stew." Woody Guthrie

• What experiences of the Great Depression does Guthrie describe?

Based Question Document 7

Americans working for the CCC earned a living and helped improve the environment.

• What do these workers appear to be doing?
• What can you infer about the effect of the CCC on their lives?

Based Question Document 8 American Indians. Library of Congress

This woman and her child were photographed in 1936 at their home on the Mescalero Apache Reservation.

• What can you tell about this woman's standard of living?
• In what ways did the New Deal affect minorities?

Document 9 “President Roosevelt was elected on November 8, 1932. People look upon an elected President as the President. This is January 1935. We are in our third year of the Roosevelt depression, with the conditions growing worse.. .We must become awakened! We must know the truth and speak the truth. There is no use to wait three more years. It is not Roosevelt or ruin; it is Roosevelt's ruin.” Senator Huey Long's ''Share Our Wealth'' Speech, 1935

• What is the basis of Long’s criticism of Roosevelt’s New Deal policy?

Based Question years later he outlined a broader program a social reform in the Second New Deal.

• Which New Deal programs continue to affect the lives of U. citizens?

Document 11 Programs sponsored by the National Youth Administration (NYA) helped boost family incomes so that children could stay in school. Helen Farmer recalled working in an NYA program as a teenager.

"I lugged... drafts and reams of paper home, night after night.... Sometimes I typed all night.. .. This was a good program. It got necessary work done. It gave teenagers a chance to work for pay.... It gave my mother relief from my necessary demands for money." —Helen Farmer, quoted in The Great Depression, by T. H. Watkins

• In what way did the NYA program help Helen Farmer?

Based Question Document 12

• How did unemployment change between 1925 and 1939?

1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939

Federal Spending

Federal spending % gnp.

• Multiple Choice

Course :  U.S. History: 1877-Present (AMH 2020 )

University : university of central florida.

• Discover more from:  U.S. History: 1877-Present AMH 2020  University of Central Florida 157   Documents Go to course
• More from:  U.S. History: 1877-Present AMH 2020  University of Central Florida 157   Documents Go to course

Summer 2025 PD for K–12 teachers: Registration is now open!

• AP US History Study Guide
• History U: Courses for High School Students
• History School: Summer Enrichment
• Lesson Plans
• Classroom Resources
• Elementary Curriculum
• Spotlights on Primary Sources
• Professional Development (Academic Year)
• Professional Development (Summer)
• Book Breaks
• Citizenship Test
• Inside the Vault
• Self-Paced Courses
• Browse All Resources
• Search by Issue
• Search by Essay
• Monthly Offer (Free for Members)
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Program Information
• Scholarships and Financial Aid
• Applying and Enrolling
• Eligibility (In-Person)
• EduHam Online
• Hamilton Cast Read Alongs
• Official Website
• Press Coverage
• Veterans Legacy Program
• The Declaration at 250
• Black Lives in the Founding Era
• Celebrating American Historical Holidays
• Spanish Influence on American History
• Donate Items to the Collection
• Search Our Catalog
• Research Guides
• Rights and Reproductions
• See Our Documents on Display
• Bring an Exhibition to Your Organization
• Interactive Exhibitions Online
• About the Transcription Program
• Civil War Letters
• Founding Era Newspapers
• College Fellowships in American History
• Scholarly Fellowship Program
• Richard Gilder History Prize
• David McCullough Essay Prize
• Affiliate School Scholarships
• Nominate a Teacher
• State Winners
• National Winners
• Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize
• Gilder Lehrman Military History Prize
• George Washington Prize
• Frederick Douglass Book Prize
• Our Mission and History
• Annual Report
• Contact Information
• Student Advisory Council
• Teacher Advisory Council
• Board of Trustees
• Remembering Richard Gilder
• President's Council
• Scholarly Advisory Board
• Internships
• Our Partners
• Press Releases

History Resources

The Great Depression and The New Deal

By wendy thowdis, essential questions.

• What should be the role of government in solving a national crisis?
• How effective were the responses of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration to the problems of the Great Depression?

Objectives 

• Write a Document Based Essay that demonstrates proper writing skills.
• Critically analyze primary source documents to explore the role of government during a national crisis.
• Develop a thorough understanding of how FDR politically and economically approached the vast problems of the Great Depression.
• Develop an understanding of the New Deal and be able to discuss both positive aspects and criticisms of this plan.
• Writing a Document Based Essay: A 10 Step Approach  (PDF)
• Historical Context, Directions and Task  (PDF)
• Document Packet  (PDF)
• Creating a Document Based Essay  (PDF)

Teach the students how you expect them to write the DBQ essay. Use the attached list of guidelines. (Writing a Document Based Essay: A 10 Step Approach) and hand out the Document Based Essay: A 10 Step Approach

Teach through the Historical Context, Directions and Task (attached) for the DBQ and model how students should get started with this task. Break down each of the ten steps so they see what is expected.

Have them write their thesis paragraph in class in groups of three and swap papers to look for the three guiding principles:

• Did you take a position?
• Did you offer an interpretation of the question?
• Did you offer organizing or controlling ideas which will form the paragraphs of the body?
• Have them complete the rest of the work on the essay at home

Additional Activity

Have the students create Document Based Essay. Use the attached list of directions (Creating a Document Based Essay) as a guideline to develop their own DBQ.

Stay up to date, and subscribe to our quarterly newsletter.

Learn how the Institute impacts history education through our work guiding teachers, energizing students, and supporting research.