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Difficulty: EasyThe New Deal: Policies, Reforms, and Debates

"Our greatest primary task is to put people to work. This is no unsolvable problem if we face it wisely and courageously. It can be accomplished in part by direct recruiting by the Government itself, treating the task as we would treat the emergency of a war, but at the same time, through this employment, accomplishing greatly needed projects to stimulate and reorganize the use of our natural resources. ... Hand in hand with this we must frankly recognize the overbalance of population in our industrial centers and, by engaging on a national scale in a redistribution, endeavor to provide a better use of the land for those best fitted for the land. Yes, the task can be helped by definite efforts to raise the values of agricultural products and with this the power to purchase the output of our cities."

—President Franklin D. Roosevelt, First Inaugural Address, 1933

Based on the excerpt, which of the following best describes the primary goal of the New Deal reforms proposed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt?

  1. A
    To promote recovery by adhering to laissez-faire economic principles and reducing the size of the federal government
  2. To provide direct federal employment and stimulate economic recovery through government-sponsored projectsAnswer
  3. C
    To completely end the Great Depression by nationalizing major industries and establishing a government-planned economy
  4. D
    To establish a national healthcare system and launch a comprehensive federal War on Poverty

Answer

To provide direct federal employment and stimulate economic recovery through government-sponsored projects
The correct answer is correct because President Franklin D. Roosevelt's speech outlines a strategy of direct federal recruitment and government-led projects to combat unemployment. This philosophy led to major relief and recovery programs of the New Deal, which used federal authority and funding to create jobs, build infrastructure, and stimulate economic activity.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the stimulus text to identify the author's primary proposed solution to the economic crisis.
The text explicitly states that the primary task is to put people to work through "direct recruiting by the Government itself" on public projects.
This establishes the core mechanism of the policy being proposed (federal work relief).
2
Connect the textual evidence to the historical context of the New Deal reforms under Franklin D. Roosevelt.
The proposal aligns with relief and recovery programs like the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and the Works Progress Administration (WPA), which hired millions of unemployed citizens for federal works projects.
This verifies that the option representing federal employment is historically and contextually accurate.
3
Evaluate the distractors against historical facts to confirm the correct choice.
Eliminate choices suggesting laissez-faire policies, a fully government-planned economy that ended the Great Depression, or Great Society programs (like the War on Poverty).
This ensures the selected answer is the only historically valid interpretation of the New Deal's scope and goals as described.

Key Concept

The purpose and scope of early New Deal programs focusing on relief and economic recovery through federal employment.
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Topics

The New Deal: Policies, Reforms, and Debates

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