Roger O. Schafer's Life

Many consider the Great Depression a tragedy but few actually know the ways in which it actually affected the people who lived through it. One way it affected the people of the time is the hopelessness it brought. During the early 1920's many men returned from the "Great War" jaded and angry. The same effect was seen in most people during the depression. It was this hopelessness that spawned modernist literature and thought. Another way the depression affected the everyday man was the loss of homes. Many homes were foreclosed during the depression and this left many homeless. In fact the "Okies" were people left homeless after farm foreclosures. The last way the depression affected people was the broken homes it caused. The number of father's leaving their families rose dramatically during

The great depression was a terrible time for many families in the United States. After the economic boost of the 1920’s, many people spent their many on stocks and credit. Everything went wrong after the stock market crash on October 29. 1929. People lost the money they had in banks when they panicked and tried to get all their money out at the same time. The banks didn’t have enough money to give back.The Braddock family suffered economic hardship, emotional distress and family unity during the great depression. The Braddock family had trouble with finding money, paying bills, keeping it together- both their emotions and family.

The Great Depression was a very influential era in American history, affecting many future generations. One of the most prevalent impacts it had on society was the extreme poverty that swept across the nation, affecting both people in cities and in the country. The main cause for this poverty was the mass loss of jobs among the middle class. Millions lost their jobs and consequently their homes. Families lived out of tents and cars in shanty towns or Hoovervilles. In these camps, many people didn’t have their basic human needs met, children and adults alike starved. They lived in clothes that were caked in dirt and tattered, too small for growing children and too cold for the frail elderly. Government relief programs attempted to help but offered little support to the now impoverished families of the millions that lost everything.

“The great war proved how confused the world is, the depression is proving it again.” When reading John Updike’s short story “Son” (2) pg.1070 I can see the affects the great depression had on his family. When reading through it I found out the affects it had on his parent’s confidence. An example of how his father were affected is “His father’s old sorrow bore him down into depression, into a hatred of life.” (2) pg. 1072 As a result of his father not enjoying life his health began to decline as if on que. John held a job as a paper boy at a very young age in order to help provide for his family during the hard times. In Johns past, he was surrounded by the gloom of his father and it has shaped his style of writing into

The Great Depression affected Americans no matter their educational stance or social class. For example, a college educated woman named Vera had extreme problems with acquiring a job. Due to her inexperience, no one would hire her. The didn’t care if she had a college

The Great Depression had a huge impact on society and many economic causes to go along with it. But, what mattered the most was how they got through it. Upton Sinclair once stated, “The remedy [the Great Depression] is to give the workers access to the means of production, and let them produce for themselves, not for others… the American Way.”

It is 1929, the stock market has unexpectedly crashed, and we are currently in the deepest and darkest economic decline. Industrial output is in a downward spiral and levels of unemployment are quickly rising as a result of failing companies disposing of their employees. It is now 1933, and 20% to 25% (13 to 15 million) of Americans are unemployed with nearly half of the country’s banks failing and depositors have lost over $140 billions in savings. Millions of people are starving and are living in ghettos or hoovervilles. Poor farming methods have led to an increase in the Dust Bowl, which is destroying towns and farming fields. Over a third of farmers defaulting on loans taken out during years of prosperity, selling land at records levels.

This shows how the great depression impacted many americans lives. After the lousy fight that ensued all that Braddock received a broken hand, and was decommissioned. This made life for the Braddock family even tougher as Braddock needed to work. With a broken hand this made moving large heavy bags difficult at the docks. Soon Braddock could barely support his family and his children were sent away.

There is no doubt that we have entered a time of great pessimism and downfall, in which we all know very well as, The Great Depression. I see families being evicted out of their own homes on a daily basis, businesses going bankrupt by the minute, and families forced to wait in extensive bread lines and soup kitchens not knowing when their next meal would be. Families of America, my name is Hugh Chapman and I would like to take a few minutes of your time to reassure you, this is not the end! Throughout my lifetime, I have witnessed America and you, the people, push through the toughest of situations and prevail. Unfortunately, the 1920’s, commonly called “The Jazz Age”, combined with the poor efforts ex-president

When someone learns about the great depression, it’s just like any other topic, but when you hear real story’s from real people it become something else. It becomes more personal to the person learning about the great depression. When I interviewed Rev…… sure he didn’t have the worst of the depression, but that didn’t mean he just walked around all day.

Even though the conditions were rough for a lot of Americans, the great Depression has some what of a positive effect on the people of this countrie. The Great Depression made people realize that they need to be thankful for what they had because everything can go wrong in a short amount of time. I also believed it showed people that having a positive attitude, even in the roughest of times, is what will pull them through the hardships in the end. All three of the passages that I read has these two things in common. Everyone in all of the passages maintained a positive attitude and believed that things would get better eventually. They also all were thankful for everything that they had, even though they all had very little.

American life prior to World War II may have not been the best from 1931-1939. Already in the Great Depression that started in 1929 people were left very discouraged and hopeless. In 1932 the economy was the worst it had ever been, it had hit rock bottom (p. 850). Many had lost their jobs and over 11 million Americans could not find work (p. 850). America was at its worst and people were hungry, suicide rates had risen and people were having less children than ever before. People’s reaction to the

The Great Depression broke people and their relationships apart. It strapped Americans of their money, way of life, and societal pattern. In Russell Baker’s memoir, Growing up, he talks about this and the experience his mother, Lucy Elizabeth, endured when giving up her youngest daughter Audrey. After the death of his father, George Baker, his mother was left with only “a few dollars of insurance money, a worthless Model T, several chairs, a table to eat from… no way to earn a living, and no prospects for the future” (Baker 84). She couldn’t care for her entire

The Great Depression was a time of utter sadness, poverty, struggle, and disparity. Hopes and dreams were destroyed, and new ones were not to be built for years to come. Having someone by your side was always helpful to get through those tough times. George and

During the Great Depression many Americans suffered in various ways with some of the most prevalent being lack of food, education, clothing, and shelter. Within the transcript Lending a Hand a woman that was lucky enough to not have as many struggles as others during the depression recalls some of what she calls “bums” from the time. She describes a family that while traveling didn’t have clothing for their children, enough food for the parents to eat, or a way to get to their option for shelter. This family was an example of just how much some were suffering during the Great Depression. The letters sent to Eleanor Roosevelt expressed the lack of clothing causing children to not receive an education for the simple reason of not having the sufficient