This poster which was put out in the United States in 1936 describes a solution to the high infant mortality rates in the slums or poorer areas of New York. This poster was created during the time Roosevelt was enacting many measures in the New Deal. The New Deal worked to improve many problems brought about by the Great Depression. This poster shows a great separation between social classes during the depression which the New Deal sought to address. During the time period between 1933-1938, there were more actions taken by the government to combat the depression and help those who were really struggling. This poster also shows how the people who were poor and living in "slums" were worse off than other classes. One indicator is the higher infant mortality rate in the poorer areas.- Jake
(Sheer, Benjamin)
The proposed ways in which America would seek to end the Great Depression are interestingly similar to those planned by Germany, at least in the beginning. When Franklin D. Roosevelt became president in 1932, the nation was eager for a major change. In fact, Americans wanted to give Roosevelt total control in order for him to fix the economy. After his inauguration, many middle- and lower-class Americans sent him letters congratulating him, but also saying that he should assume dictatorial powers. In this letter from Alpheus Geer to Roosevelt, Geer states that
You [Roosevelt] should be given wartime powers, and then draft the nation, should things get any worse. Then there would be plenty of food , clothing, and shelter for all. A benevolent autocracy is the most efficient form of government. A democracy is simply an oligarchy. (Dictatorship: The Road Not Taken) Roosevelt did not assume complete control. However, his ambitious New Deal was able to, when combined with the oncoming World War 2, fish the United States out of the Great Depression. —Chris |
"The dirty truth is that the rich are the great cause of poverty."
-Michael Parenti
As President Hoover's hands off approach to the market crash ended in disaster, America called for change. Franklin Delano Roosevelt would enter in presidency and take a polar opposite approach compared to Hoover, instilling new bills to help the poor and unemployed utilizing as much federal power as possible during the process. However these changes had a huge impact on class relations at the time. The rich began to "resent their social inferiors (as they saw the lower classes) even more than ever, particularly after the institution of the a number of New Deal programs which were paid for out of taxes on those who still had an income"(Realtions of Class in the Great Depression"). As the rich payed a higher percent of taxes combined with the fact that workers could now form unions, the rich did not only resent the poor but primarily Roosevelt. Due to the fact that the federal government was saving the poor but taxing the rich, many at the time began to feel that "the steps taken by FDR in the New Deal may have come dangerously close to a socialist state"("Federal Aid Weakens the Sturdiness of Our National Character"). Despite these class disputes, as America entered WW2 and the unemployment decreased significantly, the rich and poor put their differences aside and stopped fighting in order to completely focus on the War. -Tristan
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Secretary of Agriculture Henry Wallace is depicted as Adolf Hitler in this political cartoon. This expresses the negative view of the New Deal many shared during this time. Some felt that the New Deal gave the government too much federal power and favored the poor. In a sense this was true, but many deemed it necessary to raise the United States out of a depression. Although it may have been unpopular among the wealthy, the New Deal inevitably aided in the recovery of the United States' economy. -Hayley
Tristan's Sources-
-Quote by Michael Parenti- "Quotations by Michael Parenti." MichaelParenti.org. Michael Parenti Political Archive, n.d. Web. 07 Dec. 2014. <http://www.michaelparenti.org/quotes.html>.
-Class Relations Article-"Relations of Class in the Great Depression." Virginia.edu, n.d. Web. 04 Dec. 2014. <http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ug02/newyorker/class.html>.
-Socialist Political Cartoon- "Modern American History." Modern American History. N.p., 21 Mar. 2011. Web. 07 Dec. 2014. <http://blogs.baruch.cuny.edu/his1005spring2011/tag/fdr/>.
-Quote by Michael Parenti- "Quotations by Michael Parenti." MichaelParenti.org. Michael Parenti Political Archive, n.d. Web. 07 Dec. 2014. <http://www.michaelparenti.org/quotes.html>.
-Class Relations Article-"Relations of Class in the Great Depression." Virginia.edu, n.d. Web. 04 Dec. 2014. <http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ug02/newyorker/class.html>.
-Socialist Political Cartoon- "Modern American History." Modern American History. N.p., 21 Mar. 2011. Web. 07 Dec. 2014. <http://blogs.baruch.cuny.edu/his1005spring2011/tag/fdr/>.
Christopher’s sources-
Dictatorship: The Road Not Taken (n.d.): 10. FDR Library. Web. 06 Dec. 2014. <http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/archives/pdfs/dictatorship.pdf>.
Jake's Sources-
Sheer, Benjamin. "Better Housing The Solution to Infant Mortality in the Slums /." Library of Congress. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Dec. 2014. <http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/98518522/>.
Hayley's Sources-
Barryman, Clifford. "The New Deal and Political Cartoons." Picturing US History All. N.p., 16 Feb. 1938. Web. 07 Dec. 2014.
Dictatorship: The Road Not Taken (n.d.): 10. FDR Library. Web. 06 Dec. 2014. <http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/archives/pdfs/dictatorship.pdf>.
Jake's Sources-
Sheer, Benjamin. "Better Housing The Solution to Infant Mortality in the Slums /." Library of Congress. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Dec. 2014. <http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/98518522/>.
Hayley's Sources-
Barryman, Clifford. "The New Deal and Political Cartoons." Picturing US History All. N.p., 16 Feb. 1938. Web. 07 Dec. 2014.