Paper 2 Section A Question Types » Paper 2 Section A Question (c): Judging an Interpretation

The question

"Study Extract C. Extract C suggests that a view. How far do you agree with this interpretation? Use Extract C, Sources A and B and your own knowledge to explain your answer."

Fact file: the New Deal in the USA

• When Roosevelt became president in March 1933, roughly one worker in four had no job.
• The Works Progress Administration (WPA), set up in 1935, paid people to build roads, bridges and schools. Over its life it gave work to about 8 million people.
• By 1937 about one worker in seven was unemployed.
• A recession in 1937-38 pushed unemployment up again, to nearly one worker in five.
• From 1940, American factories began making weapons and supplies for the war, and unemployment fell fast.

Extract C

A practice extract written for this lesson, in the style of a modern history book

Roosevelt's New Deal ended mass unemployment in the United States. Work schemes such as the WPA gave millions of people wages, and private firms began hiring again as confidence returned. Even the recession of 1937-38 was only a setback in a recovery the New Deal had already begun.

Source A

From a radio speech by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, 6 September 1936

"Re-employment in industry is proceeding rapidly. Government spending was in large part responsible for keeping industry going and putting it in a position to make this reemployment possible. ... Government having spent wisely to save it, private industry begins to take workers off the rolls ..."

Source B

From the Republican Party platform for the 1936 presidential election

"The only permanent solution of the unemployment problem is the absorption of the unemployed by industry and agriculture. ... Abandonment of all New Deal policies that raise production costs, increase the cost of living, and thereby restrict buying, reduce volume and prevent reemployment."

Question

Study Extract C. Extract C suggests that the New Deal ended unemployment in the USA in the 1930s. How far do you agree with this interpretation? Use Extract C, Sources A and B and your own knowledge to explain your answer. [16 marks]

A plan

• The view: the New Deal ended unemployment. The key word is "ended", not "reduced".
• Support: Extract C says work schemes gave "millions of people wages". Source A says "Government spending" was "in large part responsible". Own knowledge: one in four jobless in 1933, one in seven by 1937; the WPA's 8 million jobs.
• Challenge: private industry only "begins" to take workers on (Source A). Source B says New Deal policies "prevent reemployment" and wants jobs in industry, not relief. Own knowledge: nearly one in five jobless in 1938, and the fall came with war production from 1940.
• Judgement: criterion = "ended" means almost everyone who wanted work could find it. The New Deal cut unemployment a great deal but did not meet that test.

Weaker answer

Extract C is right. The New Deal ended unemployment because it made lots of jobs. Source A says re-employment is proceeding rapidly, so I agree with Extract C.

Common mistakes

• Ignoring a source. Sources A and B and the extract must all be used, each with a short quotation.
• Describing instead of judging. Do not retell what each source says. Use it to support or challenge the view.
• Only agreeing. Even a view you mostly accept needs a case against it.
• No own knowledge. Add facts that are in none of the materials.
• No criterion. "I agree to some extent" is not a judgement. Say what test you used.

Question

Study Extract C. Extract C suggests that the New Deal ended unemployment in the USA in the 1930s. How far do you agree with this interpretation? Use Extract C, Sources A and B and your own knowledge to explain your answer. [16 marks]

Model answer

Extract C argues that the New Deal "ended mass unemployment", because work schemes paid millions and firms began hiring again. This is partly true, but the word "ended" goes too far.

There is good evidence for the view. Source A supports it, because Roosevelt says "Re-employment in industry is proceeding rapidly" and that "Government spending" was "in large part responsible". This fits Extract C's point that schemes like the WPA gave "millions of people wages". My own knowledge agrees: roughly one worker in four had no job in 1933, but by 1937 it was about one in seven, and the WPA alone gave work to about 8 million people.

However, there is a strong case against. Extract C itself admits a "setback" in 1937-38, yet the recession pushed unemployment back to nearly one worker in five, which is far from ended. Source A is weaker proof than it looks, because Roosevelt says private industry only "begins" to take workers off relief, and he was speaking in an election year when he wanted to show success. Source B, from his Republican opponents, argues that New Deal policies "prevent reemployment" and that the "only permanent solution" is jobs in industry and farming. This is one-sided, but its point that relief schemes were not a lasting answer is fair, because Source A also hopes industry will take over from government. The fall in unemployment came fastest from 1940, when factories began producing for the war, which Extract C leaves out.

My criterion is that unemployment is "ended" only if almost everyone who wants work can find it. By 1937 the New Deal had cut unemployment a great deal and had given millions wages and hope. Even so, it was still high in 1938 and fell sharply only with war production. I therefore agree only to a limited extent: the New Deal greatly reduced unemployment, but it did not end it.

Exam tip

Underline the key word in the view (here "ended") before you plan. Then test that exact word against every piece of evidence, because a view is often right in part but wrong in how strongly it is put.