Introduction

The Depression put 13 million Americans (at least one-fourth of American workers) out of work by 1932. Such an economic disaster had psychological as well as financial implications within American society, and the United States spent much of the 1930s struggling to recover from both of these traumas. Herbert Hoover tried to ease the plight of Americans through private charity and voluntary cooperation between corporations and government. When his efforts failed, Americans turned to Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the election of 1932. During the campaign, Roosevelt promised the American people a New Deal. Although historians argue about whether Roosevelt's programs succeeded in lifting the American economy, he certainly provided something new in the federal government. Never before had the government played such an active role in the lives of Americans. It provided jobs, insured bank deposits, produced electricity in rural areas, introduced new rights for American workers, and offered Social Security for unemployed and retired workers (see the poster below). Roosevelt worked pragmatically, trying many different approaches to economic recovery and willingly abandoning most of the programs that proved failures. Perhaps more importantly, he provided the American people with confidence and hope. As opponents from both the right and the left attacked his proposals, Roosevelt steered a middle course, avoiding both the communist uprisings and the fascist dictatorships that had emerged in many other places around the globe.

The Web activities for this chapter examine the damage caused by the Depression as well as the successes and failures of the Roosevelt administration. The additional research links offer information on some of the cultural developments and the voices of protest and reform within American society.

Web Activities 

1. 

• Start at a site called The Dust Bowl. Click on the Dirty Thirties and read about the causes of the dust storms that ravaged the Southern plains during the 1930s. Read about Black Sunday and the personal remembrances of those who lived through the storms. What do these people remember about their experiences?
• Now go to The Migrant Experience. Where did people who fled the Dust Bowl go? Why? What kinds of experiences did they have when they arrived? Listen to some of the songs described in this essay. What kinds of issues do these singers raise?
• Now go to the Woody Guthrie site. Browse through the song lyrics on this site. What do these songs tell you about life during the Depression?

2.  The New Deal Network has an enormous amount of material about how the Depression affected Americans and how the New Deal programs attempted to improve their lives. Start by scrolling down to the More Features icon. Click on that and then on Dear Mrs. Roosevelt. Click on letters and brose through some of the letters Eleanor Roosevelt received from children and adults across the country asking for food, clothing and other items. Do these letters have a common theme beyond the request for aid? How do the letters written by children differ from those by adults?

3.  Now go back to the More Features icon and click on the TVA: Electricity for All. Read the various descriptions of the TVA, its goals and its opponents. Why did some people oppose the TVA? What did Lorena Hickok find was the people's response to the TVA? Why is the TVA seen as one of the most successful of New Deal programs? Now go to CCC memories and read Dominick Gadamowitz's recollections of the Civilian Conservation Corp. If you click back to the home page, there is an exhibit on African Americans in the CCC. Scroll down and read the article "A Negro in the CCC." How did Luther Wandall's experience compare to Gadamowitz's?

4.  Franklin Delano Roosevelt towered over all the New Deal programs he instituted. He gave the American people confidence about the recovery of the nation. Read about the "essence of his presidency" in an essay by one of his biographers. What does the biographer view as the key to FDR's administration? Read some of FDR's fireside chats with the American people via radio. How does he maintain the confidence of the people? Now go to the FDR Cartoon Archive. Browse the cartoons on this site. What elements of FDR's personality do they satirize? What issues do they address?

Additional Research Links

The Human Impact of the Great Depression

• The History of Radio. These essays by a broadcast historian describe not only the shows that became popular but also the contexts in which people listened to the shows. How, if at all, did the topics, styles, and genres of popular radio shows change over the course of the 1930s?
• Film History of the 1930s. Read this introductory essay on Hollywood in the 1930s. What major changes occurred in the film industry? Why do people remember the 1930s as a "Golden Age" of American filmmaking?
• League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC). This essay gives a history of the organization and the events that preceded it. Why did they choose to organize in 1929?
• Scottsboro: An American Tragedy. This site offers a history of the trial and articles written by black reporters during and after the trial. What tactics did these reporters use to combat the overbearing racial prejudice that was only further inflamed by the Depression?

The Tragedy of Herbert Hoover

• The Life of Herbert Hoover. Read this article by an author who clearly wants to rehabilitate the image of President Hoover. Why does his image need rehabilitation? What does the author argue on Hoover's behalf?
• The Bonus Army. Why did the Bonus Army march on Washington in 1932? Were they successful in their aims?

A Second New Deal

• Huey Long- Every Man a King. Listen to the governor of Louisiana sing a song about sharing the nation's wealth.
• Father Charles Coughlin. Read a brief biography of this radio priest and then listen to a sample Coughlin broadcast. What does he use to appeal to his audience? About what issues is he concerned?

The American People Under the New Deal

• A New Deal for the Arts. See the artwork produced by New Deal programs. Why was this work controversial at the time? Why did Roosevelt think it important?