題目 1 · short-answer
3 分Read the two secondary source excerpts below and answer parts (a), (b), and (c).
Source 1
> "The New Deal represented a pragmatic yet profound realignment of American governance. By instituting systemic federal interventions, the Roosevelt administration established a durable regulatory and social safety apparatus. For the first time in United States history, the federal government accepted an enduring structural obligation to safeguard ordinary citizens against the volatility of the capitalist marketplace and ensure basic economic security, permanently rebalancing the relationship between corporate enterprise and democratic authority."
>
> — Laura Vance, historian, The Democratic State: Franklin Roosevelt and the Reconstruction of American Governance, 2004
Source 2
> "Beneath its rhetoric of sweeping reform, the New Deal was primarily an exercise in structural preservation rather than radical redistribution. President Roosevelt’s overarching objective was to stabilize and salvage corporate capitalism rather than replace or fundamentally alter it. Key initiatives accommodated regional racial hierarchies and entrenched commercial interests, leaving systemic social disparities unchallenged and excluding vast segments of the vulnerable working class, particularly Black agricultural laborers and tenant farmers."
>
> — Marcus Thorne, historian, Limits of Reform: Class, Power, and the Contours of the New Deal, 2011
Task:
a. Briefly describe one major difference between Vance’s and Thorne’s interpretations of the New Deal.
b. Briefly explain how one specific historical event or development from 1932 to 1941 not explicitly mentioned in the excerpts could be used to support Vance’s interpretation.
c. Briefly explain how one specific historical event or development from 1932 to 1941 not explicitly mentioned in the excerpts could be used to support Thorne’s interpretation.
Source 1
> "The New Deal represented a pragmatic yet profound realignment of American governance. By instituting systemic federal interventions, the Roosevelt administration established a durable regulatory and social safety apparatus. For the first time in United States history, the federal government accepted an enduring structural obligation to safeguard ordinary citizens against the volatility of the capitalist marketplace and ensure basic economic security, permanently rebalancing the relationship between corporate enterprise and democratic authority."
>
> — Laura Vance, historian, The Democratic State: Franklin Roosevelt and the Reconstruction of American Governance, 2004
Source 2
> "Beneath its rhetoric of sweeping reform, the New Deal was primarily an exercise in structural preservation rather than radical redistribution. President Roosevelt’s overarching objective was to stabilize and salvage corporate capitalism rather than replace or fundamentally alter it. Key initiatives accommodated regional racial hierarchies and entrenched commercial interests, leaving systemic social disparities unchallenged and excluding vast segments of the vulnerable working class, particularly Black agricultural laborers and tenant farmers."
>
> — Marcus Thorne, historian, Limits of Reform: Class, Power, and the Contours of the New Deal, 2011
Task:
a. Briefly describe one major difference between Vance’s and Thorne’s interpretations of the New Deal.
b. Briefly explain how one specific historical event or development from 1932 to 1941 not explicitly mentioned in the excerpts could be used to support Vance’s interpretation.
c. Briefly explain how one specific historical event or development from 1932 to 1941 not explicitly mentioned in the excerpts could be used to support Thorne’s interpretation.
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解題
Part (a)
One major difference between Vance’s and Thorne’s interpretations is their assessment of the depth and intent of New Deal reforms. Vance views the New Deal as a fundamental, permanent transformation in American governance that shifted power toward democratic oversight and established a durable welfare state to protect ordinary citizens from economic volatility. In contrast, Thorne interprets the New Deal as an inherently conservative measure designed to preserve the existing capitalist system and protect elite interests, thereby reinforcing existing racial and class hierarchies rather than enacting systemic redistribution.
Part (b)
One historical development that supports Vance’s interpretation is the passage of the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 (the Wagner Act). By federally guaranteeing workers the right to unionize and engage in collective bargaining through the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the federal government fundamentally rebalanced power between corporate employers and organized labor. This directly aligns with Vance's argument that the New Deal created new structural regulations and democratic authority to limit unchecked corporate dominance.
(Alternative valid examples: Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 establishing minimum wage/maximum hours, Securities and Exchange Commission [SEC], Tennessee Valley Authority [TVA], or Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation [FDIC]).
Part (c)
One historical development that supports Thorne’s interpretation is the structural exclusion of agricultural and domestic workers from key New Deal legislation, such as the Social Security Act of 1935 and the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. Because a disproportionate percentage of African American and Mexican American laborers in the South and West were employed in farming and domestic service, southern segregationist Democrats conditioned their legislative support on these exclusions. This preserved Jim Crow racial hierarchies and left marginalized minority workers without federal pensions or unemployment protections, directly corroborating Thorne's claim of structural exclusion and accommodation of racial hierarchies.
(Alternative valid examples: Federal Housing Administration [FHA] institutionalizing discriminatory redlining, the Agricultural Adjustment Administration [AAA] disproportionately benefiting large landowners over displaced tenant farmers/sharecroppers, or Mexican repatriation initiatives).
One major difference between Vance’s and Thorne’s interpretations is their assessment of the depth and intent of New Deal reforms. Vance views the New Deal as a fundamental, permanent transformation in American governance that shifted power toward democratic oversight and established a durable welfare state to protect ordinary citizens from economic volatility. In contrast, Thorne interprets the New Deal as an inherently conservative measure designed to preserve the existing capitalist system and protect elite interests, thereby reinforcing existing racial and class hierarchies rather than enacting systemic redistribution.
Part (b)
One historical development that supports Vance’s interpretation is the passage of the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 (the Wagner Act). By federally guaranteeing workers the right to unionize and engage in collective bargaining through the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the federal government fundamentally rebalanced power between corporate employers and organized labor. This directly aligns with Vance's argument that the New Deal created new structural regulations and democratic authority to limit unchecked corporate dominance.
(Alternative valid examples: Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 establishing minimum wage/maximum hours, Securities and Exchange Commission [SEC], Tennessee Valley Authority [TVA], or Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation [FDIC]).
Part (c)
One historical development that supports Thorne’s interpretation is the structural exclusion of agricultural and domestic workers from key New Deal legislation, such as the Social Security Act of 1935 and the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. Because a disproportionate percentage of African American and Mexican American laborers in the South and West were employed in farming and domestic service, southern segregationist Democrats conditioned their legislative support on these exclusions. This preserved Jim Crow racial hierarchies and left marginalized minority workers without federal pensions or unemployment protections, directly corroborating Thorne's claim of structural exclusion and accommodation of racial hierarchies.
(Alternative valid examples: Federal Housing Administration [FHA] institutionalizing discriminatory redlining, the Agricultural Adjustment Administration [AAA] disproportionately benefiting large landowners over displaced tenant farmers/sharecroppers, or Mexican repatriation initiatives).
評分準則
Part (a): 1 point
- 1 pt: Accurately describes a substantive difference between the two historical interpretations (e.g., transformative expansion of federal regulatory power/social welfare state [Vance] vs. conservative preservation of corporate capitalism and entrenchment of racial/class disparities [Thorne]).
- 0 pts: Merely restates words without contrasting arguments, or misidentifies the central thesis of either author.
Part (b): 1 point
- 1 pt: Explains how a specific piece of historical evidence from 1932 to 1941 (not cited in the excerpt) supports Vance’s claim of substantial federal intervention, regulatory authority, or worker protection (e.g., Wagner Act / NLRB, Fair Labor Standards Act, FDIC / Glass-Steagall, SEC, TVA, creation of the modern welfare safety net).
- 0 pts: Mentions an event without explaining how it supports Vance's thesis, uses an event outside 1932–1941, or uses evidence explicitly named in Vance's excerpt.
Part (c): 1 point
- 1 pt: Explains how a specific piece of historical evidence from 1932 to 1941 (not cited in the excerpt) supports Thorne’s claim of conservative limits, corporate accommodation, or racial/class inequity (e.g., exclusion of agricultural/domestic workers from Social Security/FLSA, FHA redlining practices, AAA payments enriching planters while evicting Black sharecroppers, failure to pass federal anti-lynching legislation due to reliance on Southern Democrats).
- 0 pts: Mentions an event without demonstrating causation/mechanism, gives an example outside the date range, or fails to link the evidence to Thorne's critique of systemic inequality/preservation of capitalism.
- 1 pt: Accurately describes a substantive difference between the two historical interpretations (e.g., transformative expansion of federal regulatory power/social welfare state [Vance] vs. conservative preservation of corporate capitalism and entrenchment of racial/class disparities [Thorne]).
- 0 pts: Merely restates words without contrasting arguments, or misidentifies the central thesis of either author.
Part (b): 1 point
- 1 pt: Explains how a specific piece of historical evidence from 1932 to 1941 (not cited in the excerpt) supports Vance’s claim of substantial federal intervention, regulatory authority, or worker protection (e.g., Wagner Act / NLRB, Fair Labor Standards Act, FDIC / Glass-Steagall, SEC, TVA, creation of the modern welfare safety net).
- 0 pts: Mentions an event without explaining how it supports Vance's thesis, uses an event outside 1932–1941, or uses evidence explicitly named in Vance's excerpt.
Part (c): 1 point
- 1 pt: Explains how a specific piece of historical evidence from 1932 to 1941 (not cited in the excerpt) supports Thorne’s claim of conservative limits, corporate accommodation, or racial/class inequity (e.g., exclusion of agricultural/domestic workers from Social Security/FLSA, FHA redlining practices, AAA payments enriching planters while evicting Black sharecroppers, failure to pass federal anti-lynching legislation due to reliance on Southern Democrats).
- 0 pts: Mentions an event without demonstrating causation/mechanism, gives an example outside the date range, or fails to link the evidence to Thorne's critique of systemic inequality/preservation of capitalism.