The New Deal: Programs, Debate & Unequal Access — Practice · Grade 8 Social Studies

Chapter: World War I, the 1920s & Depression

What this practice covers

By the end of The New Deal: Programs, Debate & Unequal Access you should be able to:

6 questions, written answer, each with a worked explanation.

Vocabulary used: context, corroboration, interpretation, relief, recovery.

Problem 1

Why might one project fit more than one category?
Answer and explanation

A project can pay unemployed workers now, stimulate demand, and build infrastructure. Identify each mechanism instead of forcing it into only one label.

Problem 2

Why examine initial eligibility rules?
Answer and explanation

They identify who actually qualified at the time. Later coverage cannot prove that the original program included everyone.

Problem 3

What makes a comparison of critics fair?
Answer and explanation

State their actual objections, relevant evidence, and proposed alternatives. Do not infer motives solely from party labels or treat all critics as one camp.

Problem 4

Can a program be useful yet incomplete?
Answer and explanation

Yes. It can help particular people or institutions while leaving unemployment, exclusion, or other problems unresolved. Specify the outcome being evaluated.

Problem 5

Illustrative policy comparison: plan A provides temporary cash to eligible households; plan B hires some unemployed adults to build public facilities. Both have limited budgets, and eligibility rules are unspecified. Explain a benefit and a limitation of each, then identify information required to compare access fairly.
Answer and explanation

Neither label establishes universal superiority. The designs address different needs and constraints. A justified comparison needs access rules, costs, timing, and evidence of household outcomes; accept different priorities when the reasoning is explicit.

Cash can meet varied immediate needs but depends on eligibility and benefit size.

Jobs provide earnings and infrastructure but may exclude people unable to take the work.

Compare budgets, coverage, administration, and local need.

Response criteria

  • Describe the historical context and institutions accurately.
  • Use relevant evidence and explain how it supports the claim.
  • Represent perspectives without stereotypes or invented testimony.
  • Identify a limitation, counterevidence, or information still needed.

Problem 6

A 1935 program excludes an occupation held disproportionately by one group. Explain how a rule without a racial label can still have unequal effects.
Answer and explanation

Distribution depends on who holds the excluded jobs. Compare occupational composition and eligibility rather than assuming neutral wording means equal access.

Response criteria

  • Describe the historical context and institutions accurately.
  • Use relevant evidence and explain how it supports the claim.
  • Represent perspectives without stereotypes or invented testimony.
  • Identify a limitation, counterevidence, or information still needed.

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