III. Changing Face of Government the Growth of the Federal Government

III. Changing Face of Government – the growth of the Federal Government

The first decade of the twentieth century saw a dramatic increase in government involvement in the economy as well as the lives of Americans unlike anything during the first 125 years of the country’s existence. The 1930s and the 1960s resulted in an increased welfare state, which transformed the Democratic party and gave rise to conservative politics.

How involved should the government be in the lives of ordinary Americans?

How and why has the scope of government changed over time?

We will begin our examination of the role of government with a look at the Progressive Era which directly followed and was a consequence of the excesses of the Gilded Age. We will then look at how the decade of the 1920s created the impetus for the Great Depression and how, again, and even more drastically, the federal government stepped in to attempt to help Americans recover from the consequences of the prolonged depression. Finally we will examine another high-point of government intervention in the shape of Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society of the 1960s. Whether Americans or historians support the increased role the government plays in the economy and society, the changes of these three eras have undeniably shifted the American way of life and relationship with government.

Key Terms:

Constitution & Bill of Rights

Progressive Reforms

Suffrage

Trustbusting

Referendum

Recall

Progressive Amendments

Great Depression: Credit

Great Depression

Herbert Hoover

laissez-faire

stocks on margins

New Deal:

CCC

entitlement programs

FDIC

Franklin D. Roosevelt

New Deal

Social Security

welfare stateFinal Project: Address the fears of at least one of the founders with regard to the increased role of government in the economy.

WPA

Great Society:

Great Society

Head Start

Medicaid

Medicare

Lyndon B. Johnson

A note about assignments: Reading assignments will sometimes involve notes or responses to questions, other times you may be just asked to read. However, be sure that you use the questions above and in the margins of your text to check your understanding. Block Days will likely be preceded by a reading or activity to prep you to engage in the planned activity.

NOTES……