The New Deal –
The Good, The Great, The Bad, The Ugly *
To help students categorize, and more importantly, to help students develop
the capacity to think historically by interpreting the past, you can engage
students in a strategy called “The Good, The Great, The Bad, and The Ugly.”
Essentially, students will organize the cards provided by the teachers into four
different categories. In this specific case, students are evaluating short and
long term consequences of the New Deal
Explain the following definitions:
Category 1 - GOOD: A consequences that is beneficial
Category 2 - GREAT: A consequence that not only beneficial, but has a long
term positive impact.
Category 2 - BAD: A consequence that is negative
Category 3 - UGLY: A consequence that is not only negative, but has a long
term negative impact.
Clearly, where each item is placed is debatable, and that is a key focus of this
activity. Students begin to understand that how we view the past is open to
interpretation. Below are two possible ways to have students work with this
activity.
ONE
Put students into groups and have the groups sort the cards into the four
categories. Then, have students come up with topic sentences a thesis
statement for each category.
TWO
Divide students into groups and assign each group a point of view. For
example, one group could represent people who lost their job as a result as a
of the Depression, one group could African American sharecroppers in the
South, one group could represent conservative businessmen, and another group
could represent individuals who have been raised to believe to always be selfreliant and never take a handout. Ask students to divide the items based on
the perspective of their group. This helps students understand the historical
thinking skill of multiple perspectives.
--------------------------* Based on an idea by Eileen Ingenthron, Elmhurst Middle School
CARD A
CARD B
Through the New Deal workers in
most industries were guaranteed
the right to collective bargaining
and to being represented by a
union.
The New Deal created the Social
Security program, establishing a
system of old age pensions.
CARD C
CARD D
Under the New Deal, African
Americans employed by the
federal government jumped from
50,000 in 1933 to 150,000 in 1941.
Under the Agricultural Adjustment Act
(AAA), the federal government sought
to aid farmers by paying them not to
grow food.
CARD E
CARD F
Under the Social Security Act
employers and employees were
required to contribute through a
payroll tax.
Through the New Deal the federal
government was more involved in the
daily economic lives of its citizens.
CARD G
CARD H
The New Deal did not end the Great
Depression.
Many New Deal programs
discriminated against African
Americans as they were implemented
around the country, particularly in the
South.
CARD I
CARD J
Through the New Deal the
government was committed to
assisting the poor and
unemployed through welfare and
job programs.
After the New Deal, Americans
began to look more directly to the
federal government for economic
support in hard times.
CARD K
CARD L
Through the Works Progress
Administration (WPA) the federal
government hired people to build
highways, public buildings, and parks.
Though the programs devised for the
early years of the New Deal were
intended to be temporary, they
provided a basis for later social
measures that became part of a
permanent welfare state.
CARD M
CARD N
President Johnson’s “Great
Society” programs of the 1960s
enacted federal legislation that
built upon and expanded
economic-security programs that
the New Deal had begun in the
1930s.
The New Deal established the
Civilian Conservation Corps
(CCC), which employed millions of
young men, mostly urban, to work
in camps at national parks and
forests on conservation and
reforestation projects.
CARD O
There was a racial quota that
limited the number of black youth
in the CCC according to the
proportion of blacks in the
population. Since a larger
proportion of black families than
white families were on relief, the
quota severely limited the
participation of black youth.
CARD P
New Deal economic and financial
reforms have help stabilize the
nation’s economy. Although we
still go through economic hard
times people’s savings are insured
and can receive unemployment if
they lose their jobs.
CARD Q
CARD R
Many people argue that FDR
saved American capitalism
through the New Deal, when
people might have turned to
socialism as a solution to the
nation’s economic problems.
The attitude of blacks toward the New
Deal was summed up by a group of
black social workers who visited Hyde
Park in 1939: "For the first time Negro
men and women have reason to
believe that their government does
care."
CARD S
CARD T
By 1936 the Supreme Court had
found both the AAA and NRA
unconstitutional, and many New
Deal supporters believed that the
court would soon strike down other
reformist legislation.
More than any previous
administration, it appointed African
Americans to meaningful
government positions. This in one
explanation for the for African
Americans switch from the "party
of Lincoln (Republicans)" to the
Democratic party.
CARD U
CARD V
To correct what they saw as a lack
of economic regulation and federal
oversight, from 1933 to 1935 the
New Dealers inaugurated a series
of reforms of the banking and
financial industries. The reforms
were designed to systematize
investing and banking, prevent
fraud, and assure investor
confidence.
CARD W
When the NRA was struck down
by the Supreme Court, Congress
passed the Wagner Act, which
continued the right to bargain
collectively, authorized the
FairLabor Standards Act, which
continued the forty-hour workweek
and prohibited child labor, and
established the National Labor
Relations Board to mediate
industrial disputes.
Believing that a primary cause of the
Depression was the low wages of
workers, the New Dealers sought to
raise wages, limit hours, and improve
working conditions.
CARD X
The increased power of labor unions,
welfare programs, and progressive
taxation combined to increase vastly
the spending power of average
Americans, but the effects of such
policies would not really be apparent
until after World War II.
CARD Y
CARD Z
The Civilian Conservation Corps
was one of the most enduring and
popular New Deal work-relief
programs, lasting until the 1940s.
It served three purposes. It
provided relief to young men and
their families; it removed young
people from the private labor
market; and it provided basic
education and job training.
What really ended the Depression was
the money spent by the government
and the jobs needed to fight World
War II.