In our previous lectures, we discussed how the excesses of business during the Gilded Age resulted in the reform efforts of the Progressive Era. When businesses took advantage of the American worker, the government enacted programs to improve working conditions and to regulate unfair business practices.

QUESTION

Answer the prompt below in at least 300 words. Submit your answer on a Word Document, not in the text box. All online content will be run through plagiarism screening. If you turn this in late, you lose points. This is part of your participation grade.

PROMPT

In our previous lectures, we discussed how the excesses of business during the Gilded Age resulted in the reform efforts of the Progressive Era. When businesses took advantage of the American worker, the government enacted programs to improve working conditions and to regulate unfair business practices.

In our last lecture, the Roaring 1920s were referred to as “The Mini Gilded Age” because it was also a time of economic prosperity and unregulated business practices. I agree with that assessment and argue that the New Deal was the rebirth of a “Mini Progressive Era” during President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s response to the Great Depression. And once again, we see that there are two distinct definitions of the word “freedom” as it relates to government: Freedom from government versus the government’s responsibility to protect American’s freedom.

How does President Franklin Roosevelt feel that American understandings of freedom should change? And does his political opponent Herbert Hoover’s definition of freedom differ from Roosevelt?

ANSWER

A Comparison of Franklin Roosevelt and Herbert Hoover’s Perspectives on Freedom during the New Deal Era

Introduction

The Roaring 1920s, often referred to as “The Mini Gilded Age,” was a period of economic prosperity and unregulated business practices. However, the Great Depression that followed exposed the flaws of this laissez-faire approach, leading to the emergence of the New Deal under President Franklin D. Roosevelt. This essay will explore how Roosevelt believed American understandings of freedom should change and compare it to the perspective of his political opponent, Herbert Hoover, during the New Deal era.

Roosevelt’s Vision of Freedom

President Franklin Roosevelt recognized the need to redefine freedom in the face of economic crisis. He believed that true freedom could not be achieved solely through limited government intervention (Beebe et al.,2022). Instead, he emphasized the government’s responsibility to protect individual liberties and provide a safety net for the American people. Roosevelt argued that freedom should be redefined as “freedom from want” and “freedom from fear.” He believed that government intervention was necessary to safeguard the basic needs of citizens, such as employment, housing, and social security.

Roosevelt’s New Deal policies aimed to restore faith in the government and the economy by implementing regulations and programs. He established agencies like the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to regulate the stock market, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to protect bank deposits, and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to safeguard workers’ rights. Through these measures, Roosevelt sought to create a more equitable society and alleviate the suffering caused by the Great Depression.

Hoover’s Perspective on Freedom

Herbert Hoover, Roosevelt’s political opponent, held a contrasting view of freedom. Hoover believed in limited government intervention and that individual freedom should be prioritized over governmental involvement (Ashktorab et al., 2023). He advocated for voluntary cooperation between businesses and opposed excessive government regulation. Hoover’s approach to the Great Depression was marked by his belief in self-reliance and the ability of the market to self-correct.

Hoover’s response to the economic crisis focused on indirect relief measures and encouraging charitable organizations and local governments to address the needs of the unemployed. He believed that a hands-off approach would allow the economy to recover naturally and that excessive government intervention would hinder economic growth and individual freedom.

Differences in Perspectives

The fundamental difference between Roosevelt and Hoover’s definitions of freedom lies in the role they ascribed to the government. Roosevelt believed that the government had a responsibility to actively protect the well-being of its citizens, even if it required significant intervention  (Xu et al., 2022). In contrast, Hoover favored limited government intervention and believed in the power of the market to resolve economic crises.

Roosevelt’s vision of freedom encompassed social and economic justice, whereas Hoover’s understanding of freedom prioritized individual liberties and economic autonomy. Roosevelt’s New Deal initiatives aimed to provide a safety net for the American people, regulate business practices, and stimulate the economy. In contrast, Hoover advocated for a more hands-off approach, relying on voluntary cooperation and private efforts to address the challenges of the Great Depression.

Conclusion

The New Deal era marked a significant shift in American understandings of freedom, with President Franklin Roosevelt redefining it as the government’s responsibility to protect citizens from want and fear. Roosevelt’s vision contrasted with Herbert Hoover’s belief in limited government intervention and emphasis on individual freedom. While Roosevelt implemented bold measures to address the economic crisis and protect the most vulnerable, Hoover favored a more passive approach, relying on the resilience of the market and individual initiative.

Ultimately, the New Deal era was a “Mini Progressive Era” that sought to rectify the excesses of the unregulated business practices and economic disparities of the Roaring 1920s. President Franklin Roosevelt’s redefined understanding of freedom prioritized the government’s role in safeguarding citizens’ well-being and creating a more just and equitable society.

References

Ashktorab, Z., Hoover, B., Agarwal, M., Dugan, C., Geyer, W., Yang, H. B., & Yurochkin, M. (2023, April). Fairness Evaluation in Text Classification: Machine Learning Practitioner Perspectives of Individual and Group Fairness. In Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-20).https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/3544548.3581227 

Beebe, J. (2022). In Defense of the Freedoms of the Self. In Individuation and Liberty in a Globalized World (pp. 30-39). Routledge.https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003168829-3/defense-freedoms-self-john-beebe 

Xu, H., Cabriolu, R., & Smit, B. (2022). Effects of degrees of freedom on calculating diffusion properties in nanoporous materials. Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation, 18(5), 2826-2835.https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.jctc.2c00094