Explain how Franklin Roosevelt used his first Hundred Days to address the banking crisis and launch major New Deal relief and recovery programs.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt won the 1932 election in a landslide, promising active government action without specifying every detail in advance -- what he called a "New Deal for the American people." He brought a new communication style to the presidency: his radio "fireside chats" spoke to Americans directly and personally, most memorably reassuring a panicked nation in his March 1933 inaugural address that "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself." His first priority was the banking system: on his second day in office he declared a nationwide "bank holiday," closing every bank temporarily so examiners could certify which were financially sound, then used a fireside chat to explain the plan and encourage Americans to redeposit their savings once banks reopened -- a remarkable, and largely successful, exercise in rebuilding public trust through direct communication.
Roosevelt then pushed an extraordinary burst of legislation through Congress in his first "Hundred Days" (March-June 1933). The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) insured bank deposits so a single bank failure could never again wipe out ordinary depositors' savings. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) put young men to work on conservation projects -- planting trees, building trails -- in exchange for wages sent partly home to their families. The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) built dams to bring electricity and flood control to one of the country's poorest regions. The Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) paid farmers to reduce production in order to raise crop prices, while the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) tried to stabilize industry through cooperative codes of fair competition. Not everything worked as intended, and some programs would later be struck down by the Supreme Court, but the sheer pace and scope of this first wave of programs marked a permanent expansion of the federal government's role in the economy.
Mastery looks like: They can explain the bank holiday's purpose and outcome, and name at least three Hundred Days programs with an accurate one-sentence description of each.
Common stumbles: Treating "the New Deal" as one single program instead of a rapid burst of many distinct programs, each targeting a different specific problem (banking, unemployment, farming, industry).