This History U course considers the causes and consequences of the economic slump of 1929–1933 and the economic recovery of 1933–1941 under the New Deal.
Course Instructor: Professor Eric Rauchway, University of California, Davis
Eligibility: High school students
Image Source: Photograph of a Works Progress Administration worker receiving a paycheck, 1939 (National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 69, 594956)
History U
Free for high school students
This History U course will examine the scope and effects of the Depression, considering particularly how it placed democratic institutions in peril and contributed to the rise of fascist movements. Through a series of engaging lectures that focus on the political, social, and economic history of the United States in this period and especially on the policies of the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt during his first two terms in office, students will be introduced to the New Deal not only as a program for restoring economic prosperity, but more importantly as an effort to reinvigorate democratic institutions. The course will conclude with an investigation of the transition from the New Deal into mobilization for the Second World War.
The views expressed in this course are those of Dr. Eric Rauchway.
Alysha Butler explains what you will learn in this course.
Eric Rauchway, Distinguished Professor of History, University of California, Davis
Eric Rauchway is a Distinguished Professor of History at the University of California, Davis. He specializes in the New Deal and World War II. Some of his works on the topic include Winter War: Hoover, Roosevelt, and the First Clash over the New Deal (2011), Money Makers: How Roosevelt and Keynes Ended the Depression, Defeated Fascism, and Secured a Prosperous Peace (2015), and Why the New Deal Matters (2021).
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