New Deal Coursework

4) Study sources G and H
Which is more useful as evidence about public opinion towards the New Deal?
Use the sources to explain your answer.

Source G is a letter published in 1936 by Roosevelt’s supporters as part of his election campaign. The letter is written by an old married couple who are praising Roosevelt for his personal help with regards to their house loan and the loss of their furniture. They claim that Roosevelt personally sent a representative to them to help them with their problems they had with the bank.
Source H is an extract from a popular song in 1936. The song portrays a clear message of support for Roosevelt by claiming that he is their saviour and almost suggesting that he can perform miracles therefore giving him god like status “no more standing blowing; snowing rain”. Both messages display clear support for Roosevelt, although there is the thought that Source G possess more biased due to the fact that it was written as part of Roosevelt’s election campaign.
Conclusively I believe that Source H is much more useful evidence to finding out the public opinion towards the New Deal as it consists of a wider range of people. The song was very popular which shows that a majority of people must have agreed with the message of the song for it to be popular. The main reason for Source G not being useful evidence is because it is only about two people who have been aided by Roosevelt. The source does not tell us about the many other people that might have not been helped by Roosevelt or his New Deal. The source also conveys a message of utter heroism as if Roosevelt is some sort of hero who can do anything which adds to the difficulty to believe such a source as it can be perceived to be fake.