AP Success - AP US History: Herbert Hoover on Rugged Individualism
Republican politicans in the 1920s were against federal government intervention in the economy.
During [World War I] we necessarily turned to the government to solve every difficult economic problem…To a large degree, we regimented our whole people temporarily into a socialistic state. However justified in war time, if continued in peace-time it would destroy not only our American system but with it our progress and freedom as well.
When the war closed, the most vital of issues both in our own country and around the world was whether government should continue their wartime ownership and operation of many [instruments] of production and distribution. We were challenged with a...choice between the American system of rugged individualism and a European philosophy of diametrically opposed doctrines, doctrines of paternalism and state socialism. The acceptance of these ideas would have meant the destruction of self-government through centralization...[and] the undermining of the individual initiative and enterprise through which our people have grown to unparalleled greatness.
Herbert Hoover’s “Rugged Individualism” Campaign Speech, 1928.
Question 1
Briefly describe ONE perspective about the American character described in the excerpt.
Question 2
Briefly explain ONE historical development from 1900 to 1928 that influenced the opinions described in the excerpt.
Question 3
Briefly compare ONE way the ideas expressed in the excerpt were challenged by the Great Depression.
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