The Great Depression changed what people expected from the government. In the 1932 election, the incumbent party bore the brunt of the voters’ dismay over the economic collapse of the 1930s. Voters elected Franklin D. Roosevelt as president in a landslide and gave his party control in Congress. Together they instituted reforms known as the New Deal, a host of programs that affected citizens across the country. People came to trust that the government would meet their needs in times of emergency. Not everyone agreed, believing a large federal government threatened individual liberties.
Students will be able to:
Americans faced new opportunities, challenges, and fears as industries boomed and groups organized to demand their civil rights.
Explain why the stock market crashed and how the Great Depression brought hardship.
Analyze the reasons Hoover started to involve the government in the economic crisis.
Summarize what Roosevelt did to improve the American economy.
Evaluate how the New Deal affected areas of American life.
Describe the difficulties faced by Americans during the Great Depression.
Identify the reasons that the 1930s became a golden age of entertainment and the arts.
Analyze the opposition that Roosevelt’s New Deal faced.
Evaluate the major programs of the Second New Deal.
Understand why Roosevelt wanted to change the Supreme Court.