ven if you’re no fan of the New Deal, you would have to agree it was kind of a big deal. It profoundly reshaped the United States, not just institutionally but also — as this map shows — physically. Each dot represents the tangible heritage of a New Deal project: a building, a mural, a park, and more.
The birth of Big Government
“New Deal” is the catch-all term for the reforms and programs implemented from 1933 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to counter the devastating effects of the Great Depression. Before the New Deal, the federal government was small and interested mainly in regulating commerce. After, there was Big Government — but also Social Security.
That transition was motivated by the misery of 1930s America, with millions out of work, in poverty, and going hungry. The central tenet of the New Deal was that the federal government could, and should, take action to improve the lot of its citizens.
