Sam Blackman
The New Deal and America’s Perception of What it Meant to be American
The 20th century during the Great Depression represented a time when the core values of what constituted an “American” came to the forefront of people’s minds and was a topic of discussion and analysis for many citizens. This fresh view on the importance of a national identity and the denotations representing this newly sought after image was not limited to any particular section of society. Analysis of varying criticality came in numerous ways, from the intelligent literary circles that developed scholarly articles depicting what the 1930s most popular “true” American ideals were, to the hundreds of thousands of laid off workers soul-searching for why they had lost everything and why the great golden structure of capitalism was crumbling.
This widespread introspection by America, during a time when people were generally convinced that the pillars of capitalism and the unbreakable way of life set forth by the founding fathers had indeed toppled over, lead to wary perspectives on the ability for America to rise from the proverbial ashes of the Great Depression. The government at the time was also viewed woefully; the trust ordinary citizens held for the federal government and the likelihood that they would bail them out of poverty was dismal. Logically there was no concrete evidence to show that government was the answer towards hurrying the revamping of the economy against the pace set forth according to Adam Smith’s invisible hand. The president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt (who from herein out will be referred to as FDR) recognized that in order to incite hope into the American people, and to actually turn around the crumbling mess of super free market, laissez-faire economics, he had to substantially and aggressively reformat the old notions and rules of what government’s role in society is supposed to be.
- 1.5 - 2 pages on FDR fireside chats and view on government role in society + economy
- .5 page on Hoover's views (which were ultimately failures i will argue)
- 1-2 pages analyzing 2 mural images and how they reflect contradictory aspects of American/capitalistic lifestyles
- end with synopsis of analysis and ultimate opinion
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I would first like to say that your writing is very good in that you use captivating and descriptive language. I'm a little confused about whether or not this is your introductory paragraph. I'm going to assume that it is your intro, for the purposes of this critique. I see that you have given an outline of what the rest of your paper is going to be like. I would suggest that you mention in your intro the various topics you will address. In addition, I would advise that you make your thesis really stand out (and that you do so by making it fully argumentative). Thank you for the opportunity to read your rough draft.
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