DBQ - FDR

As the country faced economic, social, and political problems in the late 1920's through the 1940's, Franklin Delano Roosevelt adopted a reform program, the New Deal. Its objective was to provide assistance to business and individuals, to recover the economic disaster, and to address the causes of the depression so that it won't happen again. The problem, however, was that it's main objective was to preserve capitalism, so it had little interest in the social and economic problems of women. It recovered the nation from the decline of economy, but that's the only thing it did; just recover the economic problems.

In his Hundred Days and the First New Deal, he focused on economic recovery and relief for many of the unemployed. He passed many acts such as the Emergency Banking Relief Act, Glass-Steagall Act, CCC, and the Civil Works Administration. The Emergency Banking Relief Act forbade redeeming paper currency in gold. The Glass-Steagall Act forbade banks to speculate to raise money. The CCC employed many young men in conservation work, and the Civil Works Administration employed workers for construction jobs. As it was said in "The Roosevelt Record", they did not leave out the Blacks by giving them opportunities in the Public Works Administration and Works Progress Administration.

Although it did not leave out the Blacks, it did leave out most of the women in the societies. Meridel Lesueur stated in the "New Masses" in 1932 that the unemployed women had nowhere to sleep, and nowhere to get food. The government was not doing anything to help them. Also, even if they were employed, they received lower wages than men, and were sometimes denied to prevent competition with men. In the Social Security Act advertisement, it made it possible for people over 65 to retire and collect monthly payments. But once again, it did not help much of problems of women.

In the data of the number of unemployment people, it shows that the unemployment rates declined gradually during the time of the New Deal. Overall, FDR's administration did help revive the economy and preserved capitalism, but did not help the socio-economic problems of women. Some believed that the government has strengthened and that they were able to trust them, going with their own pace.