Oklahoma Academic Standard 4. The student will analyze the cycles of boom and bust of the 1920s and 1930s on the transformation of American government, the economy and society. 

Objective 4.3  Analyze the impact of the New Deal in transforming the federal government’s role in domestic economic policies.  

  A. Assess changing viewpoints regarding the expanding role of government as expressed in President Franklin Roosevelt’s First Inaugural Address.

  B. Examine how national policies addressed the economic crisis including John Maynard Keynes’ theory of deficit spending, Roosevelt’s court packing plan, and the new federal agencies of the Social Security Administration, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Works Progress Administration (WPA), Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA).

  C. Summarize the causes and impact of the Dust Bowl, including the government’s responses. 

In a Nutshell

Students should understand that the election of Franklin Roosevelt was based on the premise that he would enact sweeping federal interventions in an attempt to recover America’s economy. Students should also gain an understanding of the goals and efforts made by the federal government as it created many agencies focusing on relief, recovery, and reform. During this time, the Great Plains experienced unprecedented environmental and agricultural hardships known as the Dust Bowl which affected the economy and forced many rural Americans to migrate in search of employment.

Teacher Action 

Student Action 

• Assist students in evaluating the impact of government policies on market outcomes at national and global levels.

• Provide students opportunities to actively listen, evaluate and analyze a speaker’s message, asking questions while they engage in collaborative discussions and debate regarding the experiences of Americans during the Great Depression.

• Assist students to evaluate the impact of perspectives, civic virtues, democratic principles, constitutional rights, and human rights on addressing issues and problems in society faced during the Great Depression.

• Analyze the connection between historical events and geographic contexts  in which they have occurred, including the causes and processes of environmental changes over time.

• Construct arguments using a combination of evidence for or against an approach or solution to an economic issue.

•  Use interdisciplinary lenses to gather and evaluate information regarding complex local, regional, and global problems; assess individual and collective actions taken to address such problems. 

Key Concepts 

Misconceptions 

• policies of Relief, Recovery, Reform

• Fireside chats

• First and Second New Deals

• Keynesian economic theory and practices

• "pump priming"

• Some students may not realize that the Great Depression was a worldwide depression and that an increased role of the government into a nation’s economy was a controversial solution.

Instructional Resources