The Great Depression Hit America

Former President Calvin Coolidge said, “In other periods of depression, it has always been possible to see some things which were solid and upon which were solid and upon which you could base hope, but as I look about, I now see nothing to give ground to hope- nothing of man” and to some extent it was true. Americans lost all hope in life entering a deep dark tunnel with no light in the end. The Great Depression was not something that appeared out of thin air; it grew over time like a tumor and eventually plagued America with an excessive disease. No decade was more terrifying in the twentieth century than the 1930s. The stock market crashing, due to people buying stocks on load, the debts from WWI farmers and consumers in deep debt, and

The 1930s was one of the most challenging times in US history, where the Great Depression caused millions of Americans to suffer through hardships because of the economy. Many people were out of work and unemployed, and the government at the time, believed that the best option was to stay out of its affairs, leaving the struggling people hung out to dry. It was not until Franklin Roosevelt was elected president, that the state of the country began to change. And that was due to the creation of the New Deal; a plan to alleviate the state of the country, providing help through increased government spending and programs, that led to its eventual recovery after the second World War.

The 1920’s was a decade of discovery for America. As mentioned in “who was roaring in the twenties? —Origins of the great depression,” by Robert S. McElvaine America suffered with the great depression due to several factors but it managed to stay prosperous at the end. In “America society and culture in the 1920’s,” by David A. Shannon there was much more to the great depression. It was a time of prosperity an economic change. Women and men were discovering who they were and their value to society in “The Revolution in Morals,” by Gilman M. Ostrander. Even if Racism still existed as mentioned in “ The Tribal Twenties,” by John Higham, the 1920’s still was time of change that affects people today.

This act was created in 1974 there are many events that could have impacted the need for such a policy. One event that impacted the need for the RHYA is the Great Depression. The Great Depression led to about 400,000 young boys being homeless. Another important event is the Vietnam War, though it was coming to an end around the time that the act was passed, it lasted for many years and effected the family structure of American households. The draft caused by the war made a lot of families turn into one income families, which could have made teens need to leave home before they were old enough to support themselves in order to leave more resources for the rest of the family.

The Great Depression is probably one of the most misunderstood events in American history. It is routinely cited, as proof that unregulated capitalism is not the best in the world, and that only a massive welfare state, huge amounts of economic regulation, and other Interventions can save capitalism from itself. Among the many myths surrounding the Great Depression are that Herbert Hoover was a laissez faire president and that FDR brought us out of the depression. What caused the Great Depression? To get a handle on that, it's necessary to look at previous depressions and compare. The Great Depression was by no means the first depression this country ever had, but it was clearly the worst. What made it different than the rest? At the time

The Great Depression was extremely devastating to the Americans because the stock market crashed, which caused the wealthy and poor to become similar. On October 24, 1929; Black Tuesday; stockholders lost billions of dollars, banks began to fail, and unemployment increased rapidly. Furthermore, banks were failing because deposits in the bank was uninsured to where people lost their savings completely and banks that were open made life for people stricter based on how they communicated business. Moreover, many couples did not participate in being married during the Great Depression because of the low income being brought in and many people did not have children during this time.

As stated before, each character within the novel represents a different social stance in society; some are weaker stances and some are of stronger stance. Five characters especially represent weaker, discriminated stances within society. Crooks represents segregation, especially of blacks during this time. Curley’s wife represents gender inequality. Candy represents those with physical handicaps. Lennie represents mental disabilities, something that was not well understood during the time period, and George represents the common man.

During the 1930s, stock market harshly affected the people. It also affected agricultural production in the United States and other countries. The Great Depression has left an everlasting impression on the U.S. and the world because of the hardships it caused the people.

“The Great Depression was the most severe, prolonged economic crisis in American History. It displaced thousands of families, created hardships for millions of people, shaped an entire generation, and reshaped the way Americans viewed the role of their government,” (Cravens). Although the Great Depression had devastating effects on the United States, its impacts on family life and structure were the most devastating. Children had to take on more responsibilities by attempting to find jobs in a market where there were a scarce amount of jobs even available for adults. These children suffered a lot from the depression since their parents didn’t have the money to take care of them, but more children started finishing high school and going to college to get better jobs. Mothers were greatly affected by the Great Depression as well, they had to start working to help take care of their families. Most of the jobs a woman could find were very difficult, low paying jobs with long hours. Women additionally started separating from their husbands and started having less children. Families had to make do by budgeting, changing their shopping habits, and finding alternate ways of bringing money home.

Many during and not during the time of the Depression remember that this was one of the worse things that America has faced. Before the Depression took place and tortured the land where families lived. Some had a milkman, iceman, and city-water. The made a very cool system in my opinion of how to get ice from the iceman. They would have a four cornered black-and-white cardboard sign. When the iceman came this cardboard sign would tell how much ice the wanted. Some kids had to go down with a wagon full of things to buy some ice. Other kids went to get whatever their family needed.

The Great Depression in the United States triggered when the American stock market crashed, causing America’s economy to have a downturn. The two long-term causes of the Great Depression were the stock market and consumer spending. When the prices were rising and wages became stagnant, people started to buy with credit and slowly reduced the amount they spent. The stock market was one of the long-term causes of the Great Depression because of speculation and abusing the stock market. Speculation is when the stock prices began to rise and it inflated a company’s worth. People also began to buy on a margin, which led to copious amounts of debt. Hoover was elected in 1928, before the Great Depression started. Hoover believed in voluntary cooperation, rugged individualism, and that the economy has cycles of up and down. Voluntary cooperation was a belief that the government should not force or control the people. Rugged individualism was the belief that people should only succeed through their own efforts. Since Hoover believed that the economy has cycles of up and down, his main approach was to wait and see. FDR was elected in 1932, during the time the Great Depression was in action. FDR was the kind of president who had a “try anything” philosophy. Because of this, he created the New Deal, which was when lots of laws and programs were passed in order to help reform, relief, and recover from the Depression. The New Deal in America was a success because of FDR’s efforts..

A major event in American history that has shaped society today is the great depression that began in 1929 and ended in 1939. The official day the stock market crashed was a a day known as “black Tuesday”. At the time, the American government was not prepared nor did they have policies in place that made them well prepared for such an event to take place. This unfortunate event threw Americans into a an economic crisis unlike any event experienced before in history and left millions of hardworking Americans in a state of poverty and misery for nearly a decade.

For years people across the world have looked up to America as the land of opportunity. People save their whole lives to come to America to start a new life. These men and women came to begin lives away from their old countries. With the great depression came the end of the american dream. With no hope in sight Americans elected Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the first step in the wrong direction. FDR’s New Deal failed in its goal of ending the depression and bringing the economy and American People back to where they should be.

The Great Depression was a ten year, economic downward spiral in the U.S that spanned from 1929- 1939.

During the 1930s, which was also called “the Great Depression”, banks failed in larger numbers than at any other time United States history. Almost one-third of the depository institutions in operation at the onset of the downturn disappeared during the contraction. Therefore, the economic, especially the bank’s system, also was hurt painfully and terribly. Of course, the Pacific Northwest area could not be out of that list. So the main point is how the Great Depression affects to the Pacific Northwest in general and Washington State specifically economy especially about the banking system.