The New Deal

The election of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932 resulted in the New Deal he proposed, a fundamental shift in the American political economy and a new conception of the relationship between the government and the governed.

Guiding Questions

• What were President Franklin Roosevelt’s objectives as explained in his May 7, 1933 Fireside Chat?
• What problems were New Deal programs intended to solve?
• Why did President Franklin Roosevelt propose reorganization of the judiciary? What was the method he proposed the reorganization? What constitutional principles support his plan? How would reorganization have changed the constitutional system of checks and balances?
• What long-term results came from the New Deal?

Objectives

• Students will describe the purposes of various New Deal programs.
• Students will analyze the extent to which President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal changed the shift of governmental power.
• Students will evaluate Roosevelt’s plan for the judiciary.

Educator Resources

• Handout A: Franklin D. Roosevelt Fireside Chat “Outlining the New Deal Program” Answer Key
• Handout C: Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Press Conference about the Composition of the Supreme Court, February 5, 1937 Answer Key

Student Handouts & Materials

• The New Deal Essay
• Handout A: Franklin D. Roosevelt Fireside Chat “Outlining the New Deal Program”
• Handout B: New Deal Programs
• Handout C: Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Press Conference about the Composition of the Supreme Court, February 5, 1937
• Handout D: Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Fireside Chat “On the Reorganization of the Judiciary”
• Poster paper and markers for New Deal Programs presentations