The Great Depression was one of the most severe economic situations in the world, and the effects of it were seen all around the world. It started in the late 1920s and continued on until the early 1940s, and it was known as “the deepest and longest-lasting economic downturn in the history of the western industrialized world”. Stock market crashes, bank failures, and much more left America severely inefficient and struck fear into the American people. Unemployment rates went through the roof, millions of people lost tons of money and savings, and American families were greatly affected. The stock market crash of 1929 started the Great Depression, and World War II ended it. However, The Great Depression would leave a mark on America that no …show more content…
Millions of families lost their savings with the collapse of many banks, and in return, their lives were made tremendously difficult. During this time, the average family income dropped dramatically, families were unable to pay mortgages rent, many were kicked out of their apartments, and some were unable to buy necessities. Both lower, and middle-class families were affected by the Depression. In some cases, two families would crowd together to live in one home or apartment because they could not afford two. Children would typically grow up malnutritioned and with poor clothing. Many teenagers and young adults were traveling by train, or hitch-hiking, trying to find a job that would pay decently. Family roles also changed dramatically. Unemployed men during this time felt like failures when they were unable to provide for their families, and had to rely on their wives and children more than they were used to. Men were supposed to bring home the money that would help his family survive, and when some men could not find work, they felt defeated. These men typically became distant from their families. They may have begun drinking, taking long trips to find work, or deserting their family altogether. The Depression affected divorce rates, as couples decided to put off divorces because they could not pay lawyers’ fees. Birth rates also dropped, because many families either could not afford to raise and care for a child or because they did not want to bring a child into the world during these hard
The Great Depression, which lasted from 1929 to 1939, was the worst economic depression in the history of the United States. The stock market crash of 1929 signaled the start of the downturn and the coming of the Great Depression. This speculation and stock market crash acted as a trigger point for the already unstable U.S. economy. Thousands of people went bankrupt because they had lost their working capital in the stock market crash. Thus, the rich stopped spending on luxury items; the middle class stopped buying things on credit.
The Great Depression was a devastating time for many Americans. From 1929 to 1932, the US experienced an economic downturn that was calamitous to the lives of many people. Millions upon millions of Americans lost everything when the stock market crashed on October 29, 1929. After exiting an era that left people living a life of luxury, the stock market crash came as a surprise. As a result of the stock market crash, many became unemployed and many families were being forced to close their businesses. Although there were many factors that contributed to the cause of the Great Depression, the three main causes were The Stock Market Crash of 1929, high unemployment, a decrease in consumer purchases due to being “stuffed with stuff” during the roaring twenties.
Buttons became too expensive and as a result, people were forced to use zippers. The Depression occasioned a period of self-doubt and self-blame, and men were more psychologically affected than women. This was because they were expected to provide for their families and felt humiliated to ask for assistance. In effect, women took up jobs to feed their families. Minority races who consisted of African Americans and Hispanic Americans were hardest hit by the Great Depression.
In the great depression the are family went through a rough time.In the family because
The Great Depression was an economic downturn in America that lasted from 1929 until about 1939, making it the longest lasting depression ever experienced by the industrialized world. The stock market crash caused a chain reaction that involved problems such as unemployment, deflation, an increase in debt, and general poverty for lower class citizens. Attempts at escaping the depression weren’t altogether successful. In fact, most of the efforts resulted in high consumer debt as well as over optimistic loans given to the public by banks and business investors. The Depression caused severe political changes in the US as well as its obvious economic failures. After three years of the depression, Herbert Hoover lost the presidential election
The Great Depression was a dreadful worldwide economic depression that occurred in the 1930s and it was the most profound and longest depression in the American History, which lasted from 1929-1939. Although the Great Depression began soon after the crash of the stock market in October 1929, it is too straightforward to say that that was the major cause of the Great Depression. This crash did not by itself cause the Great Depression. Even before the year 1929, signs of economic trouble had become evident. (Give Me Liberty! An American History, 5TH Edition, Eric Foner, Pg 811).
Families found themselves setting up in a way unfamiliar before. The Depression bombarded families who lost everything in their saving accounts and were suddenly facing poverty. Around nine million families lost everything they had in the banks creating two kinds of poor; the poor who were already suffering to make a living and new the “new poor ,” middle class Americans losing their homes left and right. Men and women’s roles
The Great Depression was a terrible event for the U.S. This is because of how during this time farmers were hit with a drought, stock markets collapsed, and millions of Americans were unemployed. The great depression affected Americans greatly because of how it destroyed their economy. To begin with, the stock markets crashed and many banks closed. The author states in "The Stock Market Crash", "Since many banks had also invested large portions of their clients' savings in the stock market, these banks were forced to close when the stock markets crashed.
People packed up their homes with their families and lived out of their cars to try and have money to survive this drastic depression. People willingly traveled to try and find work to keep their spirits uplifted. This depression left people not knowing how they were going to provide their next meal. Many farmers even lost their land during the depression, some farmers even left their land because they did not have the means to to provide upkeep for it. Also during this time people had poor sanitation they were hardly ever able to take baths.
Whether or not they bought on the margin everyone was affected. According to Dorothy Kahn, in her interview about the Urban Families in the Great Depression (1931) she describes family life during the Great Depression in Philadelphia. Defiantly a trying time for all families. By the year of 1931 unemployment rates had plummeted to such low numbers that no one was safe. Eviction notices were going up everywhere homes, businesses, and farms.
The Great Depression is one of the most misunderstood events in not only American history but also Great Britain, France, Germany, and many other industrialized nations. It also has had important consequences and was an extremely devastating event in America. It was the longest and most severe depression ever experienced by the industrialized Western world. When the New York Stock Exchange crashed in October 1929, the United States dropped sharply into a major depression. The world was in wide demand for agricultural goods during World War I, but they had rapidly decreased after the war and rural America experienced a severe depression throughout most of the 1920's and even on into the 1930's.
The Great Depression first started as early as 1928, but did not affect the United States until 1929. The Great Stock Market crash started the event of the Depression here in America, but was not the main cause to why it happened. During the early stages of the depression, President Hoover failed to help the economy and continued with his belief system of giving people the least help they needed, so they can earn themselves a rightful spot with pride, not with government’s help. The Great Depression was a very intense experience for us, even until today, the
with no roof over their heads. This along with everything else, took a tremendous, emotional toll on society. Some even saw no other options than ending their lives. The Great Depression had an emotion drenching and ground breaking effect on the generation to go through it.
In many ways men and women experienced the Depression differently. Men were socialized to think of themselves as breadwinners; when they lost their jobs or saw their incomes reduced, they felt like failures because they couldn’t take care of their families. Women, on the other hand, saw their roles in the household enhanced as they juggled to make ends meet. Also, most people during the depression did not have much money to spare. Women daily faced immense pressure from the exaggerated social stereotypes to be beautiful, well mannered, well dressed, good mothers, and dutiful wives, all “under $1,000 a year.
Family pressure during the great depression was unlike any the U.S. has ever seen. Everything about families changed in the 1930s. Couples during the depression delayed marriage, and at the same time the divorce rates dropped because people could not afford to pay for two households. Birthrates also dropped and for the first time in American history below the replacement level. Income was closed to none in all families; regular income had dropped by 35% just in the years Hoover was in office. Families had a lot of stress; some pulled together and made do with what they had others pushed away. People turned to who ever they had, family, friends, and after all else the government. Although there were rich people in the depression as well