The 1920s and 1930s were two decades of momentous change. Following the hardships of the immediate postwar era, the United States in the 20s embarked upon one of the most prosperous decades in history. Mass production, especially of the automobile, increased mobility and fostered new industries. Unemployment plummeted as businesses grew to meet this increased demand. Cities continued to grow and, according to the 1920 census, a majority of the population lived in urban areas of twenty-five hundred or more residents.
Jazz music, movies, speakeasies, and new dances dominated the urban evening scene. Recent immigrants from southern and eastern Europe, many of them Catholic, now participated in the political system. This challenged rural Protestant fundamentalism, even as quota laws sought to limit new immigration patterns. The Ku Klux Klan rose to greater power, as they protested not only the changing role of African Americans but also the growing population of immigrant, Catholic, and Jewish Americans.
Things changed quickly in the 30s. From economic expansion to economic disaster, the depression that began in late 1929 would become the worst economic catastrophe in American history. The unemployment rate rose to as high as 25% nationwide (higher in certain areas of the country). As a point of reference, economists today worry when unemployment rises over 5 or 6%. At this writing today, the rate is about 3.4%
The 1930s economic depression resulted in a fundamental shift in the relationship between the American citizen and the federal government. Before 1932 (the election of FDR), the federal government was quite small and most Americans had little direct contact with Washington DC (except in times of military emergency). That changed when President Franklin Roosevelt was elected on the promise of a “New Deal for the American people” as public institutions mobilized (and new ones created) to deal with an unprecedented global disaster.
Overview: History Brief, the New Deal: https://youtu.be/0rjtOWn5mj0
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Overview: Crash Course, the New Deal, https://youtu.be/6bMq9Ek6jnA
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Evaluate the following:
1. Herbert Hoover on the New Deal: http://www.americanyawp.com/reader/23-the-great-depression/herbert-hoover-on-the-new-deal-1932/
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2. FDR’s second inaugural address: http://www.americanyawp.com/reader/23-the-great-depression/second-inaugural-address-of-franklin-d-roosevelt-1937/
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3. Father Charles Coughlin: http://web.mit.edu/21h.102/www/Primary%20source%20collections/The%20New%20Deal/Coughlin,%20Address%20on%20the%20Ntl%20Union%20for%20Social%20Justice.htm
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4. Huey Long, Share our Wealth: https://www.hueylong.com/programs/share-our-wealth-speech.php
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Think about what conditions existed at the onset of the Great Depression and what kinds of programs the New Deal created. What were the major criticisms of the New Deal (the Coughlin and Long documents for example) And did the New Deal go too far, or not far enough?
