How The Great Depression Affected People's Life

People lost the ability to pay for things they once owned. People bought many things on margin in the years before the depression, they soon found this to be a rather unwise practice as they could no longer afford these purchases once the depression hit. Millions were out a job, and soon their homes followed; foreclosed on by the banks, the items they once purchased sold back. This left many families with little possessions and even fewer places to turn to and many ended up in shanty towns and Hoovervilles. There they lived out of cars and in makeshift tents like the family in picture 5. These places were overrun with undernourished people that rarely had their basic human needs

The stock market crash of 1929 sent the nation spiraling into a state of economic paralysis that became known as the Great Depression. As industries shrank and businesses collapsed or cut back, up to 25% of Americans were left unemployed. At the same time, the financial crisis destroyed the life savings of countless Americans (Modern American Poetry). Food, housing and other consumable goods were in short supply for most people (Zinn 282). This widespread state of poverty had serious social repercussions for the country.

The stock market crash, called Black Tuesday. Unequal distribution of wealth was a key factor during the time period as well. The day know as “Black Tuesday” was the day the stock market crashed. This led to the fall of stock prices, in fear, people sold their stocks and gathered the money they could. The people who didn’t, lost all of their stocks. Those who bought them on credit, they were now in debt. Investors lost a collective amount equal to the amount spent in WWI, that’s billions of dollars gone, approximately thirty-two billion dollars (32,000,000,000). As bad as the crash was, unequal distribution of wealth did not help. The rich saw an income increase of 70%, and the poor saw an increase of 9%. More than 70% of families earned less than $2500/year. Many of these families couldn't afford household products, such as the flood of overproduced goods. Only one out of ten families owned an electric refrigerator. One thing many people overlook when on the subject of the Great Depression is the president's influence on the situation. The two presidents during this time were Herbet Hoover and Franklin D. Roosevelt. Hoover was in office during the collapse of the economy, he didn’t believe in national relief, he believed in self-prevalence and self-help. His beliefs didn’t get the confidence of the people, in 1933, a fourth of working American’s were out of a job, that’s more than fifteen million people unemployed. Many people disliked Hoover, so when they needed to make a home out of paper, glass, tin, or whatever they could find, they named the towns constructed from these items “Hoovervilles”. They were found mostly on the outside of cities. Hoover's idea of self-reliance didn’t get him reelected, he lost to Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933. Roosevelt brought forward a new strategy to take on the economic problems, it was called the New Deal. The New Deal was a series of actions him and his

Americans felt desperation during the time of great economic shortage. If they were to survive this era, they needed to condition themselves mentally and psychologically for the tougher times that might stretch on for years on end. Millions of families lost their savings as numerous banks collapsed in the early 1930’s. Incapable of making mortgage or rent payments, many were deprived of their homes or were evicted from their apartments. Working and middle class families were immensely affected by the Depression. The cultural change that happened in America during the Great Depression can be divided into two types: one was type of culture that accepting and embracing the extreme poverty and by finding logical ways to stay alive. The other

Not everyone suffered from the epidemic of the great depression, this is because the cost of living dropped drastically in comparison to the wages. So in this case, if the wages dropped less than the cost of living, then people could actually afford many things that they previously couldn't, for example, a cleaning lady.

The Great Depression shut down down many banks and took away everyone’s money in the 1930’s. The Great Depression caused many people to not have foods and it didn’t rain that much during 1930’s. They lost their jobs and they didn’t have any money to afford things. They also made their own jobs just to get money to buy stuffs. They did everything just to get money. In the Great Depression the dad works a lot for his family. He has to farm foods for so they could eat. Also they work really hard but they don’t get money. That’s why they're poor and they have to work hard to protect their family. The Great Depression weather wasn’t that nice because they have a really dry land.

The Great Depression Oppression Today’s generations cannot imagine the challenges, depravations, and hardships of the Great Depression. In the early 1930’s the family income was cut in half. With the collapse of the banking system, many families lost their savings and could not afford to pay rent; they were evicted from their homes. Multiple families were forced to crowd together in single-family dwellings.

Imagine that you are working hard all day, but can’t get a job. You have sweat dripping from your face from turning over fields, because it hasn't rained. You are trying to support other family members to do their best, but it does no good. This is how most people were during the Great Depression. The Great Depression hurt the men, women, and children of the time.

The Great Depression had a major effect on people.The Great Depression started on October 29, 1929-1939.This period was a time where many things went wrong.For example the family had to do without everyday essentials, “...the winter crop has spindled out and died.” said the farmer to his family, and the [people had to get help from the president with stuff they owned.

The Great Depression was an event that occurred on October 29, 1929 that happened for the reason of the stock market crashing. When this occurred most of the nation fell into debt. The Great Depression had a big effect on the nation and that’s when poverty was added in the picture.

“The familiar faces: pitted, seamed, lined, desperate, beaten, often shamed to be photographed with their poor possessions and their misery.” This was just one account of the daily life during the Great Depression. During the Great Depression, the terrors of that decade impacted everyone differently based on their age, wealth, and social position. 40 million people had no jobs. Almost the entirety of the United States, even the world, couldn’t provide for their family (1). The terrors that walked the streets, slept in homes, and enacted violence on citizens is something no one likes to speak about.

A significant outcome of the Great Depression that impacted society was unemployment. Many people lost their jobs as a consequence of businesses becoming corrupt and often ceasing to operate. Due to the growing unemployment rates, people could “ill afford to maintain [homes]” (Text 3). Left without money or shelter, people were forced to beg for food and money.

One cause was the over spending on materialistic things. Another reason was investing in the stock market, being greedy for money. Banks were giving out too many loans and people weren’t paying the loans back. When the stock market crashed many people lost everything homes, jobs, etc. In the poem “Pantoum of the Great Depression” it says, “It was the ordinary pities and fears consumed us. We gathered on porches; the moon rose; we were poor.” This relates to the Great Depression because everyone was poor and losing money. In the poem the author only speaks about one part of the Great Depression and doesn’t evaluate the whole situation of it.

Because of the Great Depression, many people suffered from poverty. The poem “Debts” explains that a family has no water because the family cannot water a crop. This also means that the family has almost no food. They are poor, so they cannot buy any food and water. So, they are in a horrible predicament. Also, in the passage “Digging In,” the only money that a family had at one point was some diems and some nickels! How would

The Great Depression started during the 1920’s when there was a amplify use of Credit when the installment plans were introduced to the markets, many Americans lived on the margin buying(The Crash and Great Depression), acquiring consumer goods by using Credit as a form of payment this way of lifestyle caused overproduction of many household items. The Farming Industry declined when the price of Wheat had severely decreased after the end of World War One, the Dust Bowl affected abound numbers of Farmers in growing crops. The Great Plains were affected farmers who had borrowed money suffered from foreclosure of their lands, many farmers fled this economic nightmare by migrating