This assignment asks you to use the videos featured this week, as well as our textbook, to discuss and evaluate Roosevelt’s New Deal response a little further. Regardless of whether you agree politically with the New Deal, there are lessons to take from this interesting and desperate era.

Assignment Instructions

Step 1: Assess the primary source images in the link below.

Take a look at the charts, images, and cartoons featured on this webpage (Links to an external site.).

Skim through these images about the FDR’s New Deal. Was everyone a fan of New Deal programs?

How was the New Deal redefining political definitions like “liberalism” (‘classic liberalism’ meant a hands-off government that stays out of people’s paths to “life, liberty, and property,” but not so with this new brand)? Fear not, we will discuss the changing definitions of “conservatism” in the decades after World War II shortly.

For now, recall from last week that political “conservatives” tended to be those with interests in fewer regulations for Big Business (like the pro-business Republican party), as well as Christian fundamentalists. Keep in mind, though, that Christian fundamentalists existed in large numbers on both sides of the political spectrum– I present William Jennings Bryan as the prime example; he was a Populist-backed Democrat with a progressive view of society and reform, the anti-war vice-president for Woodrow Wilson who resigned upon US entry into WWI, AND the Christian fundamentalist who argued for the prosecution in the famous case against the teacher (Scopes) who taught evolution in a public classroom. My point being: do not try to apply today’s modern party politics to this era, it simply does not work.

Step 2: Reply to Prompt

Using this week’s videos and images (including the video from the Reading Check), respond to the prompt below in a 150- to 250-word discussion post. No formal citations necessary, but do reference the sources to support your ideas. You don’t have to answer all the questions, just the ones that get you writing.

Prompt: Assess President Roosevelt’s response to the Great Depression, namely his First and Second New Deals. What Populist or other progressive influences do you think played a role in FDR’s idea for the New Deal? What were the major criticisms of President Roosevelt’s New Deal policies? Why were some people against the legislation passed by Congress and the President under the New Deal? Consider the Supreme Court’s repeal of New Deal programs. How did the New Deal change the role of government during the 1930s? How did President Franklin D. Roosevelt redefine American freedom by the end of the decade? What lessons from the Great Depression and New Deal attempts to ease American suffering are useful to us today?

Step 3: Reply to Two (2) Peers

• In a short paragraph between 50 and 100 words, add further supporting details or respectfully disagree with the post’s author using evidence from this week’s readings.
• Respond to as many peers as you like, but you must respond to at least two coursemates.

Please reply to two peers who do not yet have replies so that all are included in the conversation.

How to participate:

A few tips for this assignment:

• Press “Reply” to add your own, individual reply to the discussion board.
• To reply to your peers’ posts, press reply under their specific post.
• Coursemates’ posts will become visible once you have posted to the discussion board.
• For discussion assignments, it is recommended that you compose your posts in a word processor so that you can copy and paste into your discussion posts. BE AWARE: There is no Save function for discussion posts.
• If you need further assistance, consider the following tutorials from the Canvas Student Guides earmarked here under “Discussions (Links to an external site.)“.