Dbq The Great Depression

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The Great Depression began on October 29, 1929 and was the worst economic depression in the history of the US. One cause of the depression was concerning the industry. Unemployment rates began to increase when new advancements in technology led to everyday workers being laid off. For example, railroad workers began to lose their jobs because trains were beaten by automobiles. Another cause was due to the overproduction of crops caused farmers to drop prices. This led to farmers losing their farms because of their inability to pay the mortgage. The president who oversaw the depression was President Herbert Hoover, who was elected in 1928. His beliefs in rugged individualism, voluntary cooperation, and a wait-and-see approach did not help the …show more content…
First of all, Document 5 shows how much the unemployment rates plummeted from the beginning of the New Deal to the end. The unemployment rate during 1933 was 20.6% which dropped to 12.5% in 1938; that is nearly 8% in difference. This shows how many opportunities there were for the people during the New Deal. Without it, thousands of people would have been suffering and still unemployed. Not only were adults were helped, but also the youth. Document 1 shows how much the New Deal helped with the youth. The speaker who is a teenager herself, was able to help pay for their bills. Instead of having the youth face the hardships of the depression, they were given a new light to succeed in. In addition, the elderly and disabled were also impacted greatly due to the New Deal. According to Document 6. they were able to receive monthly pensions from a program called the Social Security Act. For example, one woman was able to receive about 22 dollars for free. She and thousands of others were able to support themselves despite being unemployed. Thousands of people were impacted greatly by the New Deal. Without it, they would not have been able to support themselves and their …show more content…
The New Deal may have been able to decrease poverty rate, but at the expense of a lot of money being spent. According to Document 3, the government spent way more than they took in because of all the programs being implemented. In 1936, the government spent almost 8 billion with a deficit of about 4 billion. Not only did they overspend, the government debt went from 28 billion from the last year, to a whopping 33 billion. Yes, all the money went to the programs, however, how would the government pay its debt? Certainly, the programs helped, but they did not defeat the unemployment rate totally. In addition to the government debt, the New Deal did not assist people of color, especially blacks. Document 7 stated that the NRA gave whites more opportunities at jobs and even gave them a higher wage that blacks. Even the FHA did not allow blacks to buy houses in white neighborhoods. This shows how discrimination was still prominent in society. One would think that under FDR, blacks would be given more opportunities, but that was not the case. The New Deal assisted people, but it did not heal the country as a whole. Document 4 portrays FDR as the doctor to the US buy “prescribing” remedies, aka the New Deal programs. The cartoon displays that no matter how many programs FDR implements, the country was still not getting better. The real problem was that FDR

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