Copyright American Social History Project/Center for Media and Learning.Â
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.Students will analyze letters from the 1930s to identify the impact of the New Deal on the lives of ordinary people. Â
Students will interpret people's attitudes towards the New Deal and changes it caused in the role of the federal government. Â
The New Deal was a turning point in the role of the federal government in the everyday lives of ordinary people. The relief programs of the New Deal altered the social contract, giving the federal government a much greater hand in providing for the basic needs of its citizens. Consequently New Deal programs provided, for the first time, direct relief in the form of payments, food, household supplies, and jobs. The New Deal also entailed a great deal of protections for consumers (especially in the security of bank deposits) and workers. The majority of Americans were extremely grateful for the changes in the federal government; some even demanded more radical changes. However, some feared that the New Deal would make people too dependent on the government; others called it socialism outright.Â
No matter what their views, however, Americans wrote to President Roosevelt and other members of his government to tell him how they felt. During his presidency the White House (alone!) received around 8,000 letters a day, compared with about 800 a day during the Hoover Administration. Roosevelt worked hard to cultivate a personal bond between himself and the voters through his Fireside Chats. During these radio broadcasts, which were announced with great fanfare and drew millions of listeners, Roosevelt explained in everyday language the goals and workings of his various New Deal programs. The president encouraged his listeners to write to him and their other elected officials to tell what they thought of the programs. In this way he built a strong constituency for his agenda.
Step 1: Â The teacher should choose at least two letters for students to read. The teacher may alter the activity by giving students letters that express a range of opinions or letters that directly contrast with each other. The teacher may also choose to give different sets of letters to different groups of students. The teacher can differentiate the lesson for different levels of students by selecting which letters to give to students.Â
Step 2:Â (Optional opening discussion) Ask students to describe the reasons why someone might write to the president or another elected official. Do they think people write to criticize, to praise, or both? Do students think the letters matter to elected officials? Do they think it matters when ordinary people write to officials? Conclude the discussion by telling students that during the New Deal, millions of ordinary people wrote to President Roosevelt and members of his administration to tell him their hopes and concerns about the New Deal. These letters are a remarkable window into the lives of ordinary people and their views on the changing role of the government during the New Deal. Â
Step 3:Â Tell students that they will be working in groups (or pairs) to analyze letters that ordinary people wrote to the government about their views on the New Deal. Divide students into pairs or small groups. Give each group a set of 2 to 6 letters and a graphic organizer. Students should work in their groups to read the letters and complete the graphic organizer. Â
Step 4: Either in writing or discussion, students should answer the question on the graphic organizer based on their readings of the letters:
Based on these letters, how was the New Deal affecting people's attitudes towards the federal government? Â
American Social History Project/Center for Media and Learning
Students will analyze primary sources to determine how revolutionary ideals of liberty, independence, and equality inspired and transformed different groups in society. Â
Students will describe the contributions of ordinary men and women to the American Revolution, which included military service, crowd action, and consumer boycotts. Â
Students will practice reading historical documents and summarizing the main points. Â
The "Founding Fathers"—men like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams—were not the only actors in the dramatic events of the Revolutionary era. Rather, the winning of independence and the creation of the American nation resulted from years of struggle during which ordinary men and women, as well as the Founding Fathers, played a central role. Ordinary Americans contributed labor, skills, and in some cases, their lives to the colonial fight for liberty against Great Britain. In doing so, they were transformed by the American Revolution and, after the war, continued to seek out the ideals of liberty, independence, and equality for themselves.
Step 1: Project and/or hand out the Declaration of Independence worksheet. Read out loud the original version's first paragraph. Then tell students that they are going to break down the text by reading shorter, modernized passages that they will examine together. Ask a student volunteer to read aloud each passage at least once. Then, as a group, try to summarize the main idea of the passage. (Depending on the reading levels of students, they can read and summarize the passages in pairs or small groups, rather than a whole group.)Â
Step 2: As a group, discuss the following questions with students and have them jot down the class's response (or allow students to work individually or in small groups to answer the questions, before leading a class discussion):
How might this statement have inspired less powerful members of colonial society (including African Americans, women, and white workingmen)? Â
What might these groups have wanted from the Revolution? Â
Step 3: Â Divide class into small groups of two or three students, and assign each group one of the following historical perspectives: African Americans, women, white workingmen. Â
Step 4: Â Give each small group the two historical documents that correspond to their historical perspective. Â Students should work in their groups to decode the documents.Â
NOTE: In the attached worksheets, each document is broken down into separate sentences with space in the right-hand column where students can write down the main idea of each sentence. If the teacher would like students to work with longer edits or more complex language, use the full documents listed in the materials. Â
African Americans' documents:
Slaves Petition the Massachusetts LegislatureÂ
A Revolutionary Veteran Describes African-American SoldiersÂ
Women's documents:
Colonial Women Spin for Liberty (with text supports)
Abigail Adams Reminds John Adams to "Remember the Ladies"Â
White workingmen's documents:Â
A Revolutionary Veteran Describes His Experience
A Radical Patriot Urges "Common Sense and a Plain Understanding" in the Pennsylvania ConstitutionÂ
Step 5: After decoding the documents, each group should complete the front side of the Petition Worksheet, which will help them think about their assigned historical perspective in terms of actions, point of view, and concerns. Â
Step 6: Â Tell the students that on the back side of the Petition Worksheet, each group is to write a petition to the 1787 Constitutional Convention that:
Explains the group's response to the American Revolution (i.e., what they thought and did)
Argues how members of the group should be treated under the new Constitution
Review the assessment criteria listed below with the class:
The petition clearly summarizes the main ideas contained in the documents.
The petition effectively incorporates at least two facts from the documents.
The petition demonstrates an understanding of how workingmen/women/African Americans contributed to the American Revolution by using at least one example from the documents.
The petition demonstrates an understanding of how workingmen/women/African Americans used revolutionary ideas about liberty to argue for their own equality by using at least one example from the documents. Â
Step 7: Ask for volunteers to share their petitions with the rest of the class. Â Make sure to get at least one from each of the three historical perspectives. Â
Choose one document that represents a different historical perspective (African Americans, women, white workingmen) than the one the student was assigned in class. Write a paragraph that compares the experiences and viewpoints expressed in the document with those expressed in the documents of the student's original group.
Students will describe the differences between Hoover's and FDR's views of the role of the federal government in times of crisis. Â
Step 1: Have students read the two letters. You may ask the students to read independently or ask for two volunteers to read the letters aloud.Â
Step 2: Ask students to answer the three focus questions at the end of the activity or use the Close Reading Worksheet. Students may work independently or in pairs. An alternative strategy is to ask students to make a Venn Diagram comparing the presidents' views about the role of government during times of crisis.Â
Step 3: Ask students to share their responses and focus on the differences between Hoover and FDR (conservative and liberal) views of the role of the federal government.
Reverend and Dear Sir:
...Because of the grave responsibilities of my office, I am turning to representative Clergymen for counsel and advice--feeling confident that no group can give more accurate or unbiased views. I am particularly anxious that the new Social Security Legislation just enacted, for which we have worked so long, providing for old age pensions, aid for crippled children and unemployment insurance, shall be carried out in keeping with the high purposes with which this program was enacted. It is also vitally important that the Works Program shall be administered to provide employment at useful work, and that our unemployed as well as the nation may derive the greatest possible benefits. I shall deem it a favor if you will write to me about conditions in your community. Tell me where you feel our government can better serve our people. We can solve our many problems, but no one man or single group can do it--we shall have to work together for the common end of better spiritual and material conditions for the American people...
Very sincerely yours,
Franklin D. Roosevelt
The White House Washington
September 24, 1935
The White House
Washington
November 19, 1931
My dear Barbara,
I have your very sweet letter of November 10th. It is a beautiful undertaking. I would suggest, however, that instead of sending the contributions which you collect to me, that you should distribute them to those in need in your own locality.
Yours faithfully,
Herbert Hoover
“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
—Preamble to the United States Constitution
The Constitution
The “Three-Fifths Compromise” provided a formula for calculating a state’s population, in which three-fifths of “all other persons” (i.e., slaves) would be counted for purposes of representation and taxation. The Constitution also included a provision to ban the importation of slaves starting in 1808, and a fugitive slave clause requiring escaped slaves to be returned to their owners.
Fugitive Slave Act (1793)
Required that escaped slaves found in free states be caught and returned to their masters. The Act also denied freed slaves the right to a jury trial and other constitutional rights.
Missouri Compromise (1820)
Banned slavery in the Louisiana Territory north of the 36° 30’ parallel, except within the borders of the state of Missouri, which would be admitted as a slave state; Maine to be admitted as a free state.
Second Missouri Compromise (1821)
Missouri was admitted as a state despite a provision in its constitution excluding “free negroes and mulattoes” from the state.
“Gag rule” in Congress (1831-1844)
When abolitionists began submitting petitions about ending slavery to Congress, proslavery representatives passed a "gag rule" that prevented those petitions from being discussed.
Compromise of 1850
Necessary to determine whether slavery would be allowed in states created by the territory acquired from Mexico in the Mexican-American War. California was admitted as a free state, while the Territory of New Mexico (including present-day Arizona and part of Nevada) allowed slavery. The Compromise also included a measure banning the slave trade (but not slavery itself) within the District of Columbia, as well as a new and more forceful Fugitive Slave Law.
Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)
Created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska and provided that residents of those territories would vote to determine whether the two territories would allow slavery. This resulted in violence between pro-slavery and anti-slavery advocates who moved to the territories.
Crittenden Compromise (1860)
An unsuccessful attempt by Senator John J. Crittenden of Kentucky to resolve the secession crisis by making concessions to slave states. Crittenden proposed a constitutional amendment to guarantee the permanent existence of slavery in the slave states along the boundaries established by the Missouri Compromise line.
1790 Naturalization Act
* Passed by the first U.S. Congress
* Provided that any “free white person” residing in the U.S. for two years was eligible for citizenship
* Required that naturalized citizens “be of good character” and willing to swear an oath of allegiance to the United States
* Granted citizenship to children (under age 21) of naturalized citizens
1868 Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
* Passed during Reconstruction, it provides that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States are citizens of the United States”
1870 Naturalization Act
* Initially proposed to expand eligibility for naturalized citizenship to all “persons”
* Majority of Congressmen insist that it should exclude Asians, so the wording is changed to “white persons and persons of African descent”
* Overturned in an 1898 Supreme Court case, Wong Kim Ark v. United States. Wong, a Chinese American (born in San Francisco) was denied re-entry to the United States after an 1895 trip. He sued, claiming his right to citizenship under the 14th Amendment, and the U.S. government argued that U.S.-born Chinese were not citizens because their parents, as Chinese in the U.S., were not eligible to become naturalized citizens. The Supreme Court ruled that all persons born in the U.S. are citizens.
1875 Page Law
* Bars entry of Chinese and Japanese prostitutes, felons, and contract laborers (also known as “coolies”)
1882 Chinese Exclusion Act
* Merchants, teachers, diplomats, students, and travelers are exempt from the law
* Laborers who were already in the U.S. were allowed to leave and re-enter, but they had to get a “Certificate of Registration” when they left so that they could get back in.
* In 1888, Congress revokes all “Certificates of Registration,” stranding any Chinese who left the U.S. intending to return
* Prevents Chinese from becoming naturalized citizens
1882 “Head Tax” Enacted for Arriving Immigrants
* Intended to finance enforcement of federal immigration laws
* Begins at fifty cents per person; rises to eight dollars per person by 1917
1891 Immigration Act of 1891
* Denies entry to immigrants judged to be mentally defective, mentally ill, poor or “likely to become a public charge,” sick with contagious diseases, criminals, and polygamists
* Establishes Bureau of Immigration under the Department of the Treasury to administer immigration laws
1892 Geary Act
* Renews 1882 Exclusion Act
* Requires that all Chinese in the U.S. register with the federal government
* In 1902, Congress makes 1882 Exclusion Act permanent
1917 Immigration Act of 1917
* Establishes a “barred zone,” denying entrance to immigrants from much of eastern Asia and the Pacific Islands
* Denies entry to all immigrants over the age of sixteen who are illiterate in their native languages
* Congress had previously (1895, 1897, 1913, 1915) passed laws requiring immigrants to be literate but three different presidents (Cleveland, Taft, and Wilson) had vetoed them; the 1917 version passed over Wilson’s veto.
1924 Johnson-Reed Act
* Imposes a total quota on immigration of 165,000—less than 20 percent of the pre-World War I average
* Creates national quotas based on the percentage of each nationality recorded in the 1890 census—a blatant effort to limit immigration from southern and eastern Europe, which mostly occurred after that date
* Stipulates that aliens ineligible for U.S. citizenship were not permitted to enter the United States, thus barring all Asians from entry to the U.S.
1943 Chinese Exclusion Repeal Act
* Congress repeals immigration laws excluding the Chinese, but extremely low quotas remain
* Grants Chinese the right to become citizens
1952 Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (McCarran-Walter Act)
* Ends total exclusion of racial and national groups from immigration and naturalization
* Preserves national origins quota system from 1924
1965 Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 (Hart-Celler Act)
* National origins quotas are replaced by hemispheric limits (170,000 visas per year from countries in the eastern hemisphere, 120,000 visas per year from countries in the western hemisphere)
* Unlimited number of visas granted to reunite families
1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (Simpson-Mazzoli Act)
* Grants amnesty to undocumented immigrants who entered the United States before January 1, 1982 and had resided the U.S. continuously
* Makes it illegal to knowingly hire or recruit undocumented immigrants and requires employers to attest to their employees’ immigration status