The New Deal Dbq Essay

World War and economic depression brought about numerous social movements in the United States. As expected, these movements lead to the passing of various pieces of legislation. However, the legislations seemed to draw from ideals not specific to one set of American ideals, making them incredibly complex. This was mostly the case during the during Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s presidency where the progressives and the New Deal were well on their way to creating a liberal America. This made them immediate enemies of anyone who believed in the old ways of America. Though during this time, there were some major plans passed through congress that even hardcore conservatives approved of. The most notable of these plans being the Economy Act and the Works Progress Administration.

While Franklin Roosevelt was president, the government

He and other progressives felt they needed to do this because there were around eight million Americans without jobs at this time. Because Roosevelt believed that government handouts did not help the U.S., the Works Process Administration (WPA) was created to “employ Americans with government funded jobs on public works projects” (649 Roark). Within one year, the WPA had provided almost one-tenth of America’s labor force with careers. To the conservatives delight, WPA officials drew upon their discriminatory ideals. The newly created jobs were mostly given to white men while rarely being given to women, Africans, Asians, Native Americans, Mexicans, or other minorities. To the approval of most political ideals, the new workers were collecting around $10 billion with the creation of anything from roads and buildings to art and clothes. This made the American people very happy, despite the obvious racism from government officials and it counted as an easy win for the New Deal progressives. The WPA was a major contribution to social and political