The Great Depression: Was The New Deal A Success?

During the years of the Great Depression, many suffered through the loss of jobs, the lack of food, and many other things. On October, 1929, the US stock market crashed causing the country to plunge into the Great Depression. It lasted from 1929 to 1941. The people blamed President Hoover for the Great Depression. Then, in 1932, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected President. The New Deal was passed by FDR to fight against the Great Depression and it lasted from 1933 to 1935. The question, “Was the New Deal a total success?” is a question that is still not definitely answered. In other words, “Did the New Deal accomplish what it was intended to do?” Several documents have been considered during research and all of them are credible. After

In a speech by Ellen S. Woodward, Assistant Administrator of the Works Progress Administration, it states that, “One million undernourished children have benefited by the Works Progress Administration’s school lunch program” (Woodward 4). This shows that the New Deal provided children with food due to the WPA. In the document, it also states, “For many children, who are required to leave home early in the morning and travel long distances after school hours to reach their homes, the WPA lunch constitutes the only hot meal of the day…” (Woodward 4). This shows that many children did not get hot food without the WPA. However, some believe that it did not help enough and that the conditions were still horrible. The first reason is because there was still a lack of food despite the efforts of the WPA. In 1939, in an interview with George Dobbin, a 67 year old cotton mill worker, he states that, “.... even when there wasn’t much to eat in our homes” (Dobbin 3). This shows that there was not much food even with the New Deal’s efforts. The next reason was that people were still suffering. In a song called “No Depression in Heaven” by The Carter Family, it states, “No orphan children crying for bread; No weeping widows toil or struggle; No shrouds, no coffins, and no dead” (The Carter Family 6). The first line is talking about the hunger during the Great Depression. The second line is talking about the sadness and hardships. The third line is talking about the death during the Great Depression. Even though there is a bad side, the New Deal was still a success because it gave food to children in