Documents from Reading the American Past

Chapter 24

Introduction to the Documents

The New Deal initiated an unprecedented array of government reforms in response to the unprecedented crisis of the Great Depression. Franklin D. Roosevelt had few specific plans other than to improvise constantly and experiment until something worked. The New Deal's willingness to identify problems and to try to solve them represented a departure from the laissez-faire policies of Roosevelt's Republican predecessors. Working people appreciated the New Dealers' efforts to help, but by the end of the 1930s many remained mired in hard times. The following documents illustrate the hopes many working people had about what Roosevelt's government would do, as well as criticisms of the New Deal's programs from those who believed they went too far and those who faulted them for not going far enough.