The Great Depression Of The 1950 ' S

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.

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 United States economy prospered during the war, factories became very efficient. They made weapons and turned out supplies for the war. After the fighting ended, the same factories began making peace time products.” (Corrigan 6) Before the war, many jobs were confined to either farms or handyman jobs. With the demand of wartime products such as guns, ammunition, and uniforms, factories provided americans with millions of jobs. Young, old, skilled, and unskilled, were working long hours in these factories; and they were working for little or no pay. As well as these factories providing jobs for Americans, they also provided jobs to the millions of immigrants, who also worked for little to no pay. Also due to the improvement of technology, came the invention of the assembly line which brought mass production and jobs. Washing machines, microwaves, radios, and automobiles were some of many of the new modern conveniences. “The rich became much richer during this decade, but many poor people did not benefit at all from the country's growth.” (Corrigan 6) The social classes stayed the same, this was a result of the new “American Dream”. The wealthy began to be driven by wealth and money. The two upper classes split into two: ones with new money, and those with old. Those with old money usually inherited it in the form of land, investments, or money. Ones with new money, were often very young and spent their money

Americans were eager to spend their money on goods that had been scarce during World War II. As Stephanie Coontz put it, “the emphasis lay on producing a whole world of satisfaction, amusement, and inventiveness within the nuclear family had no precedents:” Consumerism was also evident in a pursuit of pleasure Americans spend more money on necessities and luxuries. Credit and credit cards were easier to obtain and by that expensive things were also easier to obtain. Debt rose from $5.7 million in 1945 to $56.1 billion in 1960. No other consumer good characterized the era as much as the automobile. The cars were big and powered with accessories lots of chrome and color was marketed. A General Motors designer called the strategies of that time "dynamic obsolescence" to encouraged Americans to see their old car as out of fashion. The number of registered cars in 1945 was 25.8 million. In 1960 it was 61.7 million. This is important for us today because consumerism is ever-present today, advertisement suggesting us what we need in order to live according to certain lifestyles we wish to adept to.

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.

As well as a huge baby boom which caused the population began to expand. The job market was booming with plenty of jobs for all. America was changing from a defective society in the heart of war to a noteworthy and distinguished nation where all was grand. America was changing into the land of opportunity and clearly in its glory days.

Eric Foner once said, “Between the Civil War and the end of the nineteenth century, the United States underwent one of the most profound economic revolutions any country has ever experienced” . This states that this era brought many changes to

The assigned readings offered an interesting and complex view of some of the diverse groups of people who were marginalized in California during the Great Depression of the 1930s. The primary sources shared detailed information on how Mexicans, Filipinos, and White Americas experienced hostility and inequality in California. In Resistance, Radicalism, and Repression on the Oxnard Plain, Frank Barajas discusses how beet sugar growers on the Oxnard Plain cut the wages of Mexican laborers working in their fields. This ignited an uproar and began a strike movement among the betaberleros (sugar beet workers), who felt it was an injustice to lower wages and face discrimination just because they were minorities (Barajaos, 29-51). As commotion was occurring within the Oxnard Plain of California, conflict between the residents of the agricultural community of Watsonville and the Filipino farm labor community emerged. Many Watsonville residents showed a strong anti-Filipino sentiment, as well as social and sexual stereotyping of Filipinos (Witt, 293). This tension between Watsonville residents and Filipinos sparked the Watsonville Riot of 1930 (Witt, 299-300).

At the end of World War II the United States economy improved greatly because more and more people were considered middle class and the United States affirmed itself as the richest country in the world. Companies were growing larger and demand increased as more and more people came to the U.S. During the first decade after the war people taxes increased to 88% and stayed at that level until 1963 when the taxes payed off the war debt. With the collapse of the Bretton woods system the golden age after World War 2 came to an end in 1971. The president dropped the taxes to 70% which gave people more money than they had before and increased their spending and their overall way of life became more expensive to maintain. And around this time Reagan was president and his economic policies caused America’s middle class to stagnate and he also increased the debt of the

The Economy in the 1940-50 was booming due to the money spent on WWII. Billions were spent in this war due to the amount of money borrowed from other countries. This went on until about the early 1970s, the “American Dream” was going on during this era and it was in perfect timing.

At the beginning of the 1920’s, the United States was beginning to recover the economy now that World War I was over. During this decade, America became the richest nation in the world. The 1920’s, also referred to as the roaring twenties, was a period of dramatic and social change. More Americans during this era lived in the city rather than on a farm. The nation’s wealth doubled throughout the roaring twenties, and lead the Stock Market Crash of 1929 where the Great Depression followed after this time period. This time period was known as a noisy period categorized by fast changing lifestyles, final extravagances, and the technological progress. This era made a big impact on the fashion world, especially women’s fashion, hairstyles, and

The end of the war in 1945 brought many soldiers home, but they did not return to the prosperous America that was in existed during the war time. The economy had profited greatly from the war, but now that it was over, the thousands of jobs that had been created disappeared and America's economy suffered because of it. Due to the dropping of the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the war ended more quickly than expected and America wasn't ready for reconversion. This forced the Truman administration to return America's economy to normal, resulting in a period of economic troubles. During and after the all Americans faced struggles that were unimaginable at the time.

The roaring twenties was a time filled with hope and change. President Warren G. Harding promised a “return to normalcy”, which reflected his own conservative values and the voters’ wants for stability and order. Americans felt that they had been through more than enough, and desired prosperity. During the years 1919 and 1920 the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Amendments were passed; the outlaw of alcoholic beverages and the right for women to vote, which ones of the many reasons society was turning their backs on Progressivism. Republicans were beginning to return to their previous dominance. The 1920’s was an economic boom for America, including everything from an increase in jobs, a rise in plentiful goods, new consumer products, and the reduction of taxes. The country was filled with jazz music, dance, and what appeared to be a brighter future. The 1929 crash of stock market was the beginning of a downward spiral leading in to the Great Depression. The stock market crash is often to be confused as the cause of the Great Depression, although that is false. A few of the issues that lead to the Great Depression included; farming (which decreased in demand as farms increased through the states during World War I), banking, and mass unemployment. Capitalism took shape as what was once the individualistic Protestant work ethic was reshaped into industrial work on a grand scale. Each worker contributed to the greater good, and the workers were presided over by a boss

Following the end of World War II, the American economy found its way out of depression. Wartime production aided the economy and spiked the country’s spending power. From the late 1940s, people have been accustomed to spending the money they have on everything they want and need. People then started to figure out and believe that this type of spending, consumerism, improved the economy. The items that were being bought were also different than they were before. “At war's end, the items people most desired included televisions, cars, washing machines, refrigerators, toasters, and vacuum cleaners: the machines that would help