New Deal Poster Project and Presentation

Franklin Roosevelt (FDR) is widely known for his “New Deal” programs and his attempts to
address the problems caused by the Great Depression by approaching them in three distinct
ways: relief, recovery, and reform.
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Relief - immediate action taken to halt the economy’s deterioration and to help people in
difficult situations (newly unemployed, homeless, lost life savings, etc)

Recovery - temporary government programs to restart the flow of the economy

Reform - permanent changes made to prevent the Depression from happening again (what
protections can be put in place to prevent the “causes of the Depression” that we identified in
class such as overproduction, wealth gap, bank failures, etc)
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Your assignment is to come up with a plan to address all three areas, with as many solutions as
possible. The problems facing the nation that we identified in class are below:

• Unemployment (25% nationally in 1932)

• Stock Market crash (buying on margin was allowed, shares had very low value)
• High tariffs/ lack of international trade
• Unequal distribution of wealth
• Poverty (bank accounts lost, investments/stocks lost, wages cut/lost)
• Hunger (goes along with poverty/unemployment)
• Homelessness (“Hoovervilles”)
• Bank Runs and Bank Failures
• Overproduction
• What to do about the elderly who lost all savings and can’t work?
• Low prices on crops

You can work in a group (maximum group size is 4), or individually. You will present your
poster to the class, and I will decide which poster seems most effective and award a few bonus
points to that group or individual. The best poster will address the most issues with the most
creative yet realistic solutions. Remember, money is limited, especially in 1932.