Paper 3 Draft

Just as the multicolored leaves of the trees of autumn 1929 fell so did the United States Stock Market. Thursday, October 24, 1929, Monday, October 28 and Tuesday, October 29, brought with them widespread panic and despair throughout the country. Finger pointed moved from executives, to local government to average Joe and back again in an attempt to find the cause of this disastrous crash. When blame could not be definitively placed the mood shifted from anger to hope and thus the spotlight shifted from the culprits to the hero. Americans yearned for, then President, Herbert Hoover to save the country. After years of negative progress including the controversial non-veto of the Hawley-Smoot Tarrif Bill (should I make a footnote to explain what this is?) Americans were in need of more than just a change. They were in need of jobs, money and for many, just basic necessities. Franklin Deleno Roosevelt promised all three. Roosevelt offered his “New Deal” program which would provide recovery of the economy, government sponsored jobs for the unemployed and reform the monopolies in the banking and financial systems. While Hoover believed in non-action, Roosevelt believed in immediate action that involved not just the government but everyday people. Roosevelt tapped into the American desire for an individual to feel a part of some larger body striving to a common goal through, in effect, propaganda that romanticized the American ideal of hard work and cooperation.
In his September, 1932 Common Wealth Club Address, Roosevelt constantly points out the value of group cooperation. In the second sentence of his speech Roosevelt refers to the nation as “a group of citizen leaders interested in fundamental problems of government …” (FDR, par. 1) Without hesitation Roosevelt claims, as fact, that the nation is a group working together toward a common goal. He goes on to say that he,”… want[s] to speak not of parties, but of universal principles.” (FDR, par.2) Immediately Roosevelt has laid the groundwork for his position: we are all Americans striving toward a common goal, not as individuals or even groups of individuals but as one cohesive unit. He praises the men of the Commonwealth Club (consisting of well respected individuals) for thinking, “ … beyond their own immediate tasks, [and] beyond their own individual interests” (FDR, par. 7) with the hope that those listening outside of the walls of the club would follow their lead.
As the speech continues Roosevelt moves on to speak about a set of rights that every American will have. He promises, four main rights of man: freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from want, and freedom from fear, on the condition that the individuals obtaining these new rights are working toward the common good, within the parameters of FDRs New Deal.

If we dissect each freedom we can see the benefits both for man but more importantly for the furthering of FDR’s agenda. The first, freedom of speech, allows individuals to speak out for what they believe in but, in fact, it also gives Roosevelt a longer leash. There can be no argument against works of art (film, photography, painting, etc.) promoting the New Deal. (The majority of the art released during the Roosevelt regime was financed by his New Deal government therefore it obviously contained a strong slant in favor of this government.)

The second, freedom of religion, of course, allowed individuals to practice his own religion freely but it also eliminates much of the contention between religions and allows everyone to band together regardless of religious preference.

The third, freedom from want, works primarily in favor of the government as opposed to working for the people. Freedom from want is, in essence, saying, “If you do what I ask, you’ll have everything you need.”

The fourth, freedom from fear, is similar to the previous promise. Again, in essence it says, “if you do what I ask, we will protect you from all your fears (financial, physical, religious, etc.)

Go on to say:
• Once individuals willing to buy into Roosevelt’s promises he was set up to promote his ideas and gain further support while in office.
o Fireside chats
o Paintings, movies, soap operas, etc (all make the point, we know how you feel, join together and we can fix this)
• Propaganda:
o mural of building a dam (William Gropper)
o Rosie the riveter
o Gold diggers (working together to make the show)
• Each make the statement that working together brings great success and in gold diggers: fortune