The Great Depression and New Deal: Documents Decoded(Documents Decoded)

The political ideas that resulted from confronting the crisis of the Great Depression and the New Deal of the early 20th century reshaped America. This documentary history collects a range of primary sources to illuminate this critical period in U.S. history. This accessibly written work provides a wide range of primary documents, offering American history students and teachers alike a handy reference volume that examines all important aspects of the Great Depression and New Deal—a core curriculum topic. By modeling how an expert scholar interacts with primary sources, the book enables readers to pick apart and critically evaluate firsthand the key documents chronicling this major American movement. The book leads with an introductory essay that outlines the scope of the volume, explains how the primary documents were selected, and identifies thematic trends and controversies. Annotations by scholars translate difficult passages into language that is easily comprehensible to modern readers and compare key passages throughout, encouraging the reader to cross-reference documents within the volume and connect the dots between them. Readers will be able to interpret the flow of events during the Great Depression, assess the legislative and executive actions that attempted to deal with the economic crisis, and perceive the differences between the fiscal ideas of Presidents Hoover and Roosevelt.

Table of Contents:
Introduction, Rugged Individualism, Herbert Hoover's "Principles and Ideals of the United States Government" October 22, 1928 Veto of the Bonus Bill, Herbert Hoover's Veto of the Emergency Adjusted Compensation Bill February 26, 1931 Muscle Shoals Veto Message, Herbert Hoover's Veto of the Muscle Shoals Resolution March 3, 1931 Protest at the Bank of the United States, Image of a Bank Run 1931 The Government Takes an Active Role in Banks, The Reconstruction Finance Corporation Act and President Hoover's Signing Statement January 22, 1932 "What Ten Million Women Want," Eleanor Roosevelt on the Role of Women in Society March 5, 1932 "Bold, Persistent Experimentation," Franklin D. Roosevelt's Address at Oglethorpe University May 22, 1932 War against the Depression, Republican Party Platform of 1932 June 14, 1932 The End of Prohibition: "A Proper and Needed Revenue," Democratic Party Platform of 1932 June 27, 1932 The Bonus Army, Image of the Removal of Protesting Veterans July 1932 Creation of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration, Emergency Relief and Construction Act July 21, 1932 and Federal Emergency Relief Act May 12, 1933 Help for Home Owners and Buyers, Federal Home Loan Bank Act July 22, 1932 The Philosophy of Government, Franklin D. Roosevelt's Speech to the Commonwealth Club of San Francisco September 23, 1932 "The Only Thing We Have to Fear Is Fear Itself," Franklin D. Roosevelt's Inaugural Address March 4, 1933 Declaration of a Banking Holiday, Franklin D. Roosevelt's Proclamation 2039 March 6, 1933 The Banking Crisis, The Emergency Banking Relief Act March 9, 1933 and Franklin D. Roosevelt's First Fireside Chat March 12, 1933 Launching the Civilian Conservation Corps, Emergency Conservation Work Act March 31, 1933 and Franklin D. Roosevelt's Executive Order 6101 April 5, 1933 Abandoning the Gold Standard, Franklin D. Roosevelt's Executive Order 6102 April 5, 1933 Helping the American Farmer, Agricultural Adjustment Act May 12, 1933 Muscle Shoals Revisited, Tennessee Valley Authority Act May 18, 1933 Regulating Industry, National Industrial Recovery Act June 16, 1933 Creating the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, The Glass-Steagall Emergency Banking Act June 22, 1933 "With the Civilian Conservation Corps," American Forests: Magazine of the American Forestry Association July 1933 "The Teacher Faces the Depression," Eunice Langdon, Nation Magazine August 16, 1933 "The Necessity of Profound Change," John Maynard Keynes, "An Open Letter to President Roosevelt" December 31, 1933 Regulating the Stock Market, Securities Exchange Act of 1934 June 6, 1934 The Defeat of the National Recovery Administration, A. L. A. Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States May 27, 1935 Protecting Workers by Supporting Unions, National Labor Relations Act (Wagner Act) July 5, 1935 "The New Deal and the Negro: A Look at the Facts," Robert C. Weaver, Opportunity: Journal of Negro Life July 1935 Legacy of the New Deal, The Social Security Act August 14, 1935 Rejecting the Agricultural Adjustment Act, United States v. Butler January 6, 1936 Attack on the New Deal, Al Smith's Liberty League Speech January 25, 1936 Migrant Mother, Image of the Hard Life of Depression Victims February/March 1936 WPA Workers in Alabama, Image of Honest Work Done through the Works Progress Administration June 2, 1936 "America Is in Peril," Republican Party Platform of 1936 June 9, 1936 "Roosevelt and Ruin," Father Charles E. Coughlin's National Radio Address June 19, 1936 "On the Road to Restored Prosperity," Democratic Party Platform of 1936 June 23, 1936 Judicial Branch Reorganization Plan, Franklin D. Roosevelt, "The President Presents a Plan" February 5, 1937 Criticism of Roosevelt's Supreme Court Reform Plan, Editorial, New York Herald-Tribune February 8, 1937 Constitutional Validity of Minimum Wage Laws, West Coast Hotel Co. v. Parrish March 29, 1937 In Support of Improved Housing, Federal Housing Act September 1, 1937 Creating the Forty-Hour Work Week and Regulating Child Labor, Fair Labor Standards Act June 25, 1938 Moving toward Racial Equality, Executive Order 8802 June 25, 1941 Economic Bill of Rights, Franklin D. Roosevelt's State of the Union Address January 11, 1944 Timeline, Further Reading, Index, About the Author,

About the Author :
Mario R. DiNunzio is emeritus professor of history at Providence College, RI.