Harriman Beepat

Prof. B Murdaco
POL 166
December 12^th 2013

 Assignment Due 12/10: Choose a passage from Wilson, or Roosevelt, write out the passage and interpret it and explain why you chose this passage.

 “Of course, this was intended to be a government of free citizens and of equal opportunity, but how are we going to make it such?”

            Wilson abhorred big government, and spoke about the formation of a transparent and uncomplicated bureaucracy. Furthermore, he reiterated that various administrations are made up of freely elected members of society and that opportunities should be equitable. In his “Meaning of Democracy” speech, Woodrow Wilson’s stressed that elected officials and public servants are mandated to ensure that members of society are accorded freedom and a higher standard of living. The main premise of his speech was how to achieve his stated objectives and equal opportunity, whilst remaining true to the ideals of democracy? My choice of this quotation, arose from the fact that President Wilson in his speech, truly reflect his belief in Democracy, equality, and freedom, and though these ideals are admirable, it is sadly lacking in our society today.

 Go to the link for the Great Depression. Choose a passage from this website and write it out and interpret it and explain why you chose this passage.

“As the details of the Japanese raids upon Hawaii, Midway, Wake and Guam blared from American radios, incredulity turned to anger at what President Roosevelt called "a day that will live in infamy." On December 8, Congress declared a state of war with Japan; three days later Germany and Italy declared war on the United States.”

           War in any form is disastrous for any society. But war is big business and as in the case of the Depression in the 1930’s in this country, it saved this us from certain collapse. I and many of my generation can only read about this trying time in our country’s history. The Great Depression was not only hard on everyone, but it seems as if the government at that time was unsure of the steps needed to be taken to alleviate this total collapse of society. Was it not for the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, America would have lingered longer in this situation. Even though the administration of President Roosevelt was slowly making gains in lowering unemployment, the entrance of this country into WWII, vastly increase employment, especially in the war efforts. I choose this passage, as this past week was the 72nd anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, and it was foremost on my mind.

Also choose a picture or painting and explain the content of piece and how it relates to class.

           During the Great Depression, which began in 1929 and lasted approximately a decade, shantytowns appeared across the United States as unemployed people lost or were evicted from their homes. When the government failed to provide relief, the sitting president at that time, Herbert Hoover (1874-1964), was blamed for the intolerable economic and social conditions. This resulted in shantytowns that cropped up across the nation, which became known as “Hoovervilles.” This term was coined by Charles Michelson, the publicity chief of the Democratic National Committee. Hooverville was first used in 1930 when The New York Times published an article about a shantytown in Chicago, Illinois. This term caught on quickly and was soon used throughout the country. The highly unpopular Hoover was defeated in the 1932 presidential election by Franklin Roosevelt (1882-1945), whose New Deal recovery programs, together with the war efforts of World War II, eventually helped lift the United States out of the Depression. I choose this picture about squatters, because not long ago, we almost went through a similar situation with the collapse of the housing bubble, and the Obama administration took similar steps to alleviate us from certain collapse.