Document A: FDR (Modified)
President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave this speech on August
14, 1935 when he signed the Social Security Act.
Today a long-held hope is largely
fulfilled. The civilization of the past 100 years, with its startling
industrial changes, has made life insecure. Young people have come to wonder
what would happen to them in old age. The man with a job has wondered how long
the job would last.
This social security measure gives some
protection to 30 million of our citizens who will receive direct benefits
through unemployment compensation, through old-age pensions, and through
increased services for the protection of children and the prevention of ill
health.
We can never insure 100 percent of the
population against 100 percent of the ups and downs of life, but we have tried
to pass a law which will give some protection to the average citizen and to his
family against the loss of a job and against poverty-ridden old age.
This law, too, represents a cornerstone
in a structure intended to lessen the force of possible future depressions. It
will act as a protection to future Administrations against the necessity of
going deeply into debt to help the needy. It is, in short, a law that will take
care of human needs and at the same time provide the United States a sound
economic structure.
Vocabulary
Pension: a regular payment made to someone in
retirement from a fund that they or their employer has contributed to
throughout their working life
Cornerstone: a stone that lies at the foundation of
a building
Source: August 14, 1935, excerpt from President Franklin D.
Roosevelt’s speech, Washington, D.C.
Document
A: FDR
1. Sourcing Who gave this speech and
when? Who is the intended audience? How might that influence the content and
tone of the speech?
2. Close Reading What four programs are
included in the Social Security bill? How does
Social Security represent FDR’s program
of “relief, recovery, and reform”? For each of the three words, write one quote
or example that illustrates connections.
Document B: NAACP (Modified)
President Roosevelt sent his Social Security bill, named the
“Economic Security Act,” to Congress in January 1935. Congress held committee hearings
on the bill. Here, a representative of the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), a group dedicated to advancing the
rights of African Americans, testified before Congress about how the bill
excluded certain groups of people.
Mr. Houston: The point that I am making
is that in order for a person to qualify for Social Security, taxes must be
paid on behalf of this person before he turns 60.
Now, for the benefit of Negroes, I want
to ask, who would be left out by that rule?
First, and very serious, Negro
sharecroppers and cash tenants would be left out. We all know that the Negro
sharecropper and the Negro cash farm tenant are at the bottom of the economic
scale. He is not employed.
There is no relation of master and
servant by which he gets wages on which a tax could be collected. Therefore
this population is left out from the old-age annuity, and that represents
approximately 490,000 Negroes. Next,
domestic servants are excluded from the act because the system of employing
domestic servants is so loose.
In addition to that, this old-age
annuity does not provide for unemployed persons. I do not need to argue to the
committee that Negroes have suffered from unemployment more than any other
class of the community.
Vocabulary
Annuity: fixed amount of money paid to someone each year
Source: Excerpt from the testimony of Charles H. Houston,
representing the NAACP, to the House Ways and Means Committee on the Economic Security
bill, February 1, 1935. Washington, D.C.
Document
B: NAACP
1. Close Reading What four groups does
Houston say are excluded from Social Security?
2. Corroborating What would NAACP representative
Houston say about FDR’s speech
(Document A)? Select a line from
Document A: FDR and explain how Houston might disagree.
Document C: Stealing (Modified)
Americans sent thousands of letters to the White House
during FDR’s presidency and many were addressed to Eleanor Roosevelt, the First
Lady. On average, more than 5,000 letters arrived daily.
This letter refers to the “forgotten man,” the title of a radio address that
FDR gave on April 17, 1932. The “forgotten man” became a phrase adopted by many
Americans.
no address
Jan 18, 1937
Dear Mrs. Roosevelt,
I was simply astounded to think that anyone
could be nitwit enough to wish to be included in the so-called social security
act if they could possibly avoid it. Call it by any name you wish, but it is,
in my opinion (and that of many people I know), nothing but downright stealing.
Personally, I had my savings invested
so that I would have enough money for old age. Now thanks to the President, I
cannot be sure of anything, being a stockholder. After business has survived his
merciless attacks (if it does), insurance will probably be no good either.
Believe me, the only thing we want from
the president is for him to balance the budget and reduce taxes.
I am not an “economic royalist,” just
an ordinary white-collar worker at $1600 per year. Please show this to the
president and ask him to remember the wishes of the forgotten man, that is, the
one who dared to vote against him. We expect to be tramped on but we do wish
the stepping would be a little less hard.
Security at the price of freedom is
never desired by intelligent people.
M.A. [female]
Source: Excerpt from a letter sent to Eleanor Roosevelt by
an anonymous woman, January 18, 1937.
Document
C: Stealing
1. Sourcing What does the author tell
us about herself? What kind of person do you think she is based on the
information in this letter?
2. Close Reading What was M.A. counting
on to support her in old age? And why has she lost faith that this will support
her?
3. Contextualizing How does this author
generally feel about the New Deal? How does her phrase “security at the price
of freedom” capture those feelings?
Using
information from all three documents, write one paragraph in response
to
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