The New Deal Dbq Analysis

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When the Great Depression came around, America had to combat the seemingly insurmountable economic hardships caused by many factors, some of which being overproduction and underconsumption. Things were looking rough, until new hope was sparked as FDR came into office and put his New Deal into place. Despite failing to effectively "recover" America from the Great Depression, FDR and his administration's responses to crises proved to be effective in providing relief for the American people and reforming policies, preventing the economic downfall of America, while also raising the power of the president and the government in general. One of the first things that FDR had to confront was a banking system on the verge of collapse. Soon after taking …show more content…
However, even though domestic, agricultural workers, unmarried women, and non-whites were not covered by this act, it represented a significant departure from the traditional functions of government. It showed how the welfare of American citizens was now also a part of the responsibility of the government. The New Deal transformed the relationship between the federal government and American citizens. All of these new programs and organizations show the great expansion of the power and influence of the government (Doc C). The New Deal was a progression of small changes – but not revolutionary change – leading to the expansion of the government's power. Another benefit of the New Deal is that it provided the building blocks for which America could build off …show more content…
FDR sought to provide relief for Americans through creating organizations like the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), the Civil Works Administration (CWA), the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), and the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Many women were unemployed and both men and women sought assistance when very little assistance was provided by the government (Doc A). The CWA was implemented to solve this major issue of unemployment in the US. It directly employed workers for construction projects. Though it had its benefits of dealing with the problem of unemployment and helping to improve the country's deteriorating infrastructure, it caused an upward spiral of national debt and created worry about the New Deal creating a class of Americans that is permanently dependent on government jobs. This led to the CWA's dissolution. The CCC also provided jobs to millions of unemployed