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Source set · 8 sources ✓ Lesson ready

Was the New Deal a success?

Students weigh FDR's own words against photographs, recordings, and a skeptical cartoon to judge what the New Deal set out to do and what it delivered.

Timeline of key events →

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✓ Lesson ready

A ready-to-run lesson for this set: Rank-the-Evidence Card Sort. Slides include a hook, one slide per source, directions, a take-a-stand vote, an exit ticket, and a teacher script in the speaker notes.

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1. Hook: what would you do? 3-5 min

March 1933. Banks across the country have closed after panicked customers rushed to pull out their savings. The new president has declared a bank holiday and says the banks will reopen soon.

Options: (1) Rush to withdraw your savings as soon as your bank reopens · (2) Leave your money in the bank and wait · (3) Keep your cash at home, under the mattress

Then read: I can assure you that it is safer to keep your money in a reopened bank than under the mattress. Franklin D. Roosevelt, Fireside Chat on Banking

2. Main activity: Rank-the-Evidence Card Sort

Grouping: Groups of 3 or 4

Materials (printables are in the Lesson Plan Doc)
  • One set of 8 evidence cards per group (printable pages in the Lesson Plan Doc)
  • A strip of masking tape or a line drawn on paper for the sorting line
  • Exit ticket slips
  1. Set the criteria 5 min
    Write three goals on the board: Relief (help people now), Recovery (fix the economy), Reform (prevent another crash). Students label each card R1, R2, or R3.
  2. Sort the cards 15 min
    Groups place the 8 cards on a line from “Strong evidence the New Deal succeeded” to “Strong evidence it fell short.” Every placement needs a reason written on a sticky note or in the margin.
  3. Defend one card 10 min
    Each group picks its most convincing card and explains it to the class in 60 seconds. Other groups may challenge with a different card.
  4. Class vote 8 min
    Students stand along a line in the room from “Mostly a success” to “Mostly fell short.” Call on students at both ends and in the middle.
  5. Exit ticket 5 min
    Students answer on a slip before leaving.

Take a stand: Was the New Deal a success?

  • Mostly a success: It put people to work through programs like the CCC and TVA, built dams and other projects that still stand, and created Social Security.
  • Mostly fell short: Recovery was slow and unemployment stayed high through the 1930s; critics such as the 1934 cartoonist blamed government and labor policy for blocking the way out.

3. Pacing options

15-minute bell-ringer

  • 3 min Hook: bank-holiday scenario and vote
  • 8 min Pairs rank three cards only: the FDR inaugural quote, the Chickamauga Dam photograph, and the “Is this recovery?” cartoon description
  • 4 min Exit ticket question 1

Full 50-minute lesson

  • 5 min Hook: scenario, vote, FDR quote
  • 5 min Model one card with the class (FDR’s First Inaugural)
  • 15 min Group card sort along the line
  • 10 min Each group defends its strongest card
  • 8 min Class vote and discussion
  • 5 min Exit ticket
  • 2 min Buffer / wrap-up

4. Exit ticket

  1. Which ONE source is the strongest evidence for your answer to “Was the New Deal a success?” Explain in two sentences.
  2. Name one problem the New Deal tried to fix (relief, recovery, or reform) and say whether the evidence shows it worked.

5. Differentiation

Support

  • Adapted Docs (easier reading) in this set: FDR's First Inaugural Address
  • Pre-sort the cards into image cards and text cards so students start with the photographs.
  • Sentence frame: “This source shows the New Deal ___ because ___.”

Extension

  • Add a fourth criterion, “Long-term effects,” and re-sort.
  • Ask: Is a photograph taken by a government agency (the FSA/OWI) reliable evidence of the program’s success? Why or why not?

Suggested sequence

  1. FDR's First Inaugural Address
    Speech · UVA Miller Center · Great Depression & WWII (1929-1945) · Grades 6-8, 9-12 · ⏱ 15 min
    'The only thing we have to fear is fear itself' (1933), with transcript and audio.
    Ask: How did FDR try to give Americans hope in 1933?
    Open with this source to frame the question.
    Original ↗Copy DocCopy AdaptedSOAPSToneHIPP / HAPP
  2. Franklin D. Roosevelt, Fireside Chat on Banking
    Audio · UVA Miller Center · Great Depression & WWII (1929-1945) · Grades K-5, 6-8, 9-12 · ⏱ 15 min
    Audio and transcript of FDR's first fireside chat, March 12, 1933.
    Ask: How did FDR use radio to restore trust?
    Original ↗Copy SlidesAudio and Oral History Analysis
  3. Social Security Act
    Document · National Archives · Great Depression & WWII (1929-1945) · Grades 9-12 · ⏱ 10 min
    1935 act creating Social Security.
    Ask: What problem was Social Security meant to solve?
    Original ↗Copy DocSOAPSToneHIPP / HAPP
  4. Granite County, Montana. CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) camp (1942)
    Photograph · Library of Congress · Great Depression & WWII (1929-1945) · Grades K-5, 6-8, 9-12 · ⏱ 5 min
    Library of Congress photograph: Granite County, Montana. CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) camp (1942). 1 negative : safety ; 3 1/4 x 4 1/4 inches or smaller.
    Ask: How did the CCC put young men to work and change the landscape?
    Original ↗Copy SlidesSee-Think-WonderOPTIC
  5. Chickamauga Dam, Tennessee. Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) (1935)
    Photograph · Library of Congress · Great Depression & WWII (1929-1945) · Grades K-5, 6-8, 9-12 · ⏱ 5 min
    Library of Congress photograph: Chickamauga Dam, Tennessee. Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) (1935). 1 negative : safety ; 4 x 5 inches or smaller.
    Ask: How did the TVA change life in the rural South?
    Original ↗Copy SlidesSee-Think-WonderOPTIC
  6. Cherokee Dam, Tennessee (Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)). Rigger (1942)
    Photograph · Library of Congress · Great Depression & WWII (1929-1945) · Grades K-5, 6-8, 9-12 · ⏱ 5 min
    Library of Congress photograph: Cherokee Dam, Tennessee (Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)). Rigger (1942). 1 negative : safety ; 3 1/4 x 4 1/4 inches or smaller.
    Ask: How did the TVA change life in the rural South?
    Original ↗Copy SlidesSee-Think-WonderOPTIC
  7. Voices from the Dust Bowl
    Audio · Library of Congress · Great Depression & WWII (1929-1945) · Grades K-5, 6-8, 9-12 · ⏱ 15 min
    Recordings and photos of Dust Bowl migrants in California camps, 1940-41.
    Ask: What was life like for Dust Bowl migrants?
    Original ↗Audio and Oral History Analysis
  8. "Is this recovery?" (1934)
    Political cartoon · Library of Congress · Great Depression & WWII (1929-1945) · Grades 9-12 · ⏱ 5 min
    Library of Congress print: "Is this recovery?" (1934). 1 drawing : India ink over pencil, with black crayon on off-white grained drawing stock ; 37 x 29 cm. (sheet) | The image shows Uncle Sam struggling to open a metal encased door over which hangs a sign that reads, "The W…
    Ask: How did cartoonists react to the New Deal?
    Close with this source before writing.
    Original ↗Political Cartoon AnalysisOPTIC

Watch

Free videos to pair with this set. Preview before showing in class.

Teach with (more from Hillsdale): Unit 6: The Interwar Years and World War II (1919-1945) (free K-12 curriculum unit)

Culminating writing prompt

Using evidence from at least three sources in this set, write an argument that answers the question: “Was the New Deal a success?” Cite each source by title, explain how its author, audience, and purpose affect its reliability, and respond to at least one counterargument.

Printable writing sheet (make a copy)

Students can plan with the Claim-Evidence-Reasoning organizer.