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The Great Depression

Decent Essays

“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself,” is a famous quote once said during the Great Depression by Franklin D. Roosevelt. After one world war, great financial fallout, and another world war to follow, the twentieth century was already shaping out to be a handful. When the Great Depression was coming to an end and the economy was trying to turn around, jobs started opening up and a new wave of immigrants came into New York, the Puerto Ricans. For some the American dream was to come to America and start a new life, but for others already here, it was about making it big in show business. “West Side Story”, a twentieth century musical, was greatly influenced by the immigration during that time.
Before West Side Story was written, there were some major events that occurred. For instance, in 1914 America entered WWI. Then in 1920, women were given the right to vote and women’s suffrage was a big focus of the twenties (Unstend 6). Soon after in October of 1929, the Great Depression followed, causing massive economic downfall to the United States. Families during that time were very poor, but millions still went to watch films at local theaters (Unstend 12). One technological advance was the first television which began in 1936 (Unstend 30). After the Great Depression hit, WWII came shortly after and America entered the war on December 7, 1941 after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor (Unstend 18). In 1945, the U.S. possessed the atomic bomb helping to protect the U.S

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