Reflection On The Great Depression

The Great Depression was a dark time in American history that lasted from1929-1939. It began after the Stock Market crashed on October 19, 1929. According to A Biography of America: FDR- The Great Depression, “It was the deepest and longest lasting economic downturn in American History” (A Biography of America). As a result of the Great Depression one out of every four Americans was out of work. The Great Depression resulted in a life for Americans that was plagued by overproduction and under-consumption of products, starving families were forced into bread and soup lines, and thousands of agricultural workers became migratory workers in order to survive.

In conclusion, the Great Depression was a downside of America’s history. But, in the dark times, one of our nation’s best presidents came into light. Franklin D. Roosevelt once said “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself”. This meant in those times that Americans were doing more harm than good. When they withdrew their stocks and money from the banks, they were causing more damage to the economy. With shutting down the banks and getting congress together, they were able to solve the dilemmas of the Great Depression through actions taken by federal and state

When most people hear the phrase “The Great Depression” they only associate it the crash of the stock market and the hard times that followed. Here in the Midwest, when we think of the Great Depression we also think of the Dust Bowl and the Dirty Thirties. The Great Depression was a very climactic end to a series of poor choices that greatly affected the entire United States.

The Great Depression was a time of economic loss. People lost their homes, and lost everything they had earned. It affected the middle and low class americans, and the rich become richer and the poor become poorer. People in upper classes even dropped to the lower class. It began on October 29, 1929, and the leading cause was the crash of the stock market. Everyone who put their money into stocks had lost everything they had, including the Braddock family. In the movie Cinderella james braddock and his family show the struggle of life during the great depression. Overall Cinderella Man showed many of the different aspects we covered, and was worth the watch during the class.

The Great Depression had resulted in a lot of people suffering. The horrifying event lasted from 1929 to 1939. It was the worst economic downturn in history. The Great Depression happened in October 1929 when the stock market crashed. It had wiped out millions of investors and sent Wall Street into panic. In the movie “Cinderella Man,” it tells the story of James Braddock, a boxer, and his struggles throughout the depression. It shows him steady on his feet in the 1920’s, suffering from the outcome of the depression, and then how he got back on his feet. “Cinderella Man” portrays the struggles of the Great Depression through James Braddock’s harsh complications.

The Great Depression in the U.S history was a time where there was very little jobs and some money. Banks had very little money so most people couldn’t get money out. It was a hard time in U.S history for people when this was going on. The stock market crash a horrible time for people when they had some money and very little jobs. Franklin D. Roosevelt tried to help by creating The New Deal. The great dustbowl affected farmers and the change in farming affected the economy. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, the author Harper Lee illustrates The Great Depression was a worldwide economic slump of the 1930’s.

The election of 1932 focused primarily on the Great Depression, the recent economic crisis that had swallowed the nation. At this time, thirteen million people were unemployed and 774 banks were shutting down annually. Economically unstable, Americans turned to Franklin Delano Roosevelt who claimed, “better days were ahead” with his New Deal reformation. He promised economic “recovery, job creation, investment in public works, and civic uplift” (Harvey 88). Immediately upon entering the white house, he began his 3 R process: relief, recovery, and reform (Bateman and Taylor 73). While this revolution would bring reform to U.S banking systems and help improve unemployment, the restoring of economic stability would go unmet; therefore, we must question the true effectiveness of this reformation. Roosevelt is considered to be one of the nation’s greatest and most influential presidents, yet he did not end the great depression as he was expected to. Was FDR as potent as we credit him to be? By exploring society before the depression, comparing presidents prior to FDR, as well as dissecting the success and failures of his New Deal reconstruction, we can analyze and conclude FDR’s true role in healing the nation.

While the documentary listed some of the causes of the Great Depression, it lacked in detail and explanation of each cause. If provided I feel like the documentary would have a little more clarity and enhance its overall effect. While money and a booming economy are highly looked upon when judging a good economy from a bad economy, I believe that the 1920’s blinded many Americans from the easily noticeable deterioration in the economy with high consumerism and care free attitudes. While some blame can be placed upon American excessive consumerism much of the blame can also be placed on the government and Federal Reserve for its tight monetary policy, high tariffs, and reduced money

I watched this film in my ninth grade English class. Here, we had to compare the movie to the Odyssey. When I watched this movie again and related it to the Great Depression, the movie actually made a lot more sense. I understood why people were doing such things as the kid asking the men if they were the bank, why the Ku Klux Klan was still in existence, why the area was flooded, and how such music came into existence. In my opinion, I think this is the reason why people would not know how these little situations compared to the Great Depression. I am glad that I chose to watch this film for the second time because it helped explained situations for a more reasonable experience.

The 1960s to many Americans at the time, was, and continues to be referred to as the

Cecchetti, Stephen G. "Understanding the Great Depression: Lessons for Current Policy ." Monetary Economics (1997): 1-26.

In 1929 the stock market crashes due to an unstable economy, over speculation and Government policies. Many people think that the stock crash was to blame for the Great Depression but that is not correct. Both the crash and depression were the result of problems with the economy that were still underneath society 's minds. The depression affected people in a series of ways: poverty is spreading causing farm distress, unemployment, health, family stresses and unfortunately, discrimination increases. America tended to blame Hoover for the depression and all the problems. When the 1932 election came people weren’t very fond of Hoover, but Roosevelt on the other hand introduced Happy Days and everyone loved that idea.

The world had faced two main economic problems. The first one was the Great Depression in the early of 20th Century. The second was the recent international financial crisis in 2008. The United States and Europe suffered severely for a long time from the great depression. The great depression was a great step and changed completely the economic policy making and the economic thoughts. It was not only an economic situation bit it was also miserable making, made people more attention and aggressive until they might lose their lives. All the society was frightened from losing money, work and stable. In America the housing market was the main factor of the great depression. A crisis of liquidity appeared in the banks forming a credit crunch. This period was influenced by over extended stock market shortage of water in the south and over trusting. The American government put down some regulations to control the productions which were essential for the war.

The Great Depression of the 1930s was the economic event of the 20th century. The Great Depression began in 1929 when the entire world suffered an enormous drop in output and an unprecedented rise in unemployment. World economic output continued to decline until 1932 when it clinked bottom at 50% of its 1929 level. Unemployment soared, in the United States it peaked at 24.9% in 1933. Real economic output (real GDP) fell by 29% from 1929 to 1933 and the US stock market lost 89.5% of its value. Another unusual aspect of the Great Depression was deflation. Prices fell 25%, 30%, 30%, and 40% in the UK, Germany, the US, and France respectively from 1929 to 1933. These were the four largest economies in

“personal assertion of existential meaning in a universe of potential cosmic meaninglessness” (Mast, 246). In the adventure films and Westerns, heroes are willing to challenge authority for their personal beliefs and feelings. They take actions based on individual beliefs, definitions of right and wrong, and the urge to complete their personal goals and dreams. The helpless antiheroes in screwball comedies present the situation during the Great Depression from another aspect. They cannot make choices themselves because of others’ intervention, and unfortunate things just happen to them. The denial of humanness is one feature of antiheroes. Powerlessness of antiheroes in the ridiculous world definitely reflects the desperate situation faced by the Americans during the Great Depression.