Why Do Families Lose Their Families During The Great Depression

Imagine this. You wake up one morning in the year 1929, in your luxurious, pricey mansion. You then make your way downstairs to eat that nice big breakfast. Then you kiss your family good bye and head off to your fancy job. You come home that evening and suddenly you’re flat broke. Meaning all your money and life’s savings vanished. Unreal right? Well it was real for hundreds of families on October 29, 1929. The day the stock market crashed and when America’s confidence was challenged greatly.

The Great Depression affected many people and families in the 1930s. They had to deal with many different challenges and hardships. These families had to face hunger, unemployment, and some even with being homeless. Some families crowded into a small apartment or house with other families. Others lost their homes and moved into a tent in a Hooverville. To help with fathers being laid off from work, mothers would sometimes go out and look for work. In other cases, teens would travel by freight train or hitchhiking to find a job that they could send money home with. More often the husband would leave his family in search of a new job. This left family relationships torn up. The family would miss their father, but if he were to return without a job things would sometimes get worse. The fathers would feel like failures and would mope around the house. Thus leading to irritated wives which lead to more fights between them. Some fathers

The stock market crash of 1929 sent the nation spiraling into a state of economic paralysis that became known as the Great Depression. As industries shrank and businesses collapsed or cut back, up to 25% of Americans were left unemployed. At the same time, the financial crisis destroyed the life savings of countless Americans (Modern American Poetry). Food, housing and other consumable goods were in short supply for most people (Zinn 282). This widespread state of poverty had serious social repercussions for the country.

“At one point in the Depression, the cupboard was literally bearing of money.” What effect did the Great Depression have on the people who lived through it? The jobs they had, how they had to use their money, and the help they had to get.

The Great Depression was a time of great economic tragedy during the 1930’s. October 24, 1929 was the day of the stock market crash, causing economical shortage everywhere, even globally, and this scared everyone, including the rich. This day was/ is known as “Black Thursday”, where over 2.9 million shares were traded. On “Black Tuesday”, five days later, more than 16 million more shares were traded in another wave of panic. Many investors then lost confidence in their banks and demanded deposits in cash which forced the banks to liquidate loans in order to supplement their on hand cash reserves. By 1933, around 15 million Americans were unemployed and nearly half of the country’s banks had failed. This stopped Americans from purchasing which then led to less production of goods and decreased the amount of needed human labor. In the end, millions of shares ended up worthless, and those investors who had bought stocks with borrowed money were wiped out completely.

During the Great Depression millions of families lost their jobs, homes, and depleted their savings in both urban and rural areas. In 1930, 15 million people became

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.

The Great Depression was one of the most severe economic situations in the world, and the effects of it were seen all around the world. It started in the late 1920s and continued on until the early 1940s, and it was known as “the deepest and longest-lasting economic downturn in the history of the western industrialized world”. Stock market crashes, bank failures, and much more left America severely inefficient and struck fear into the American people. Unemployment rates went through the roof, millions of people lost tons of money and savings, and American families were greatly affected. The stock market crash of 1929 started the Great Depression, and World War II ended it.

From 1929 to 1939, millions of Americans and investors were out of jobs and money. Due to one of the most tragic times in America, The Great Depression. Many were having trouble finding food for their families and keeping their family farms and homes. Though, not everyone suffered from this depression, it’s said that over 13 million Americans had lost their job by 1932. This time in history made many people depend on one another.

The Great Depression Oppression Today’s generations cannot imagine the challenges, depravations, and hardships of the Great Depression. In the early 1930’s the family income was cut in half. With the collapse of the banking system, many families lost their savings and could not afford to pay rent; they were evicted from their homes. Multiple families were forced to crowd together in single-family dwellings.

It was the stock market crash that nobody heard but could be felt deep in people's souls. The Great Depression was a long period of time that destroyed millions of jobs that people needed for money to survive. On October 29th, more than sixteen million shares of stock were sold, and a lot of it was worth nearly nothing. The Great Depression caused an increase in homelessness because many people were unemployed. Farmers and tenant farmers had it rough because there wasn’t any support for them. It wasn’t until President Franklin Roosevelt became president in 1933 and set up the Alphabet Agencies to help poor young men make money so that things improved. The Great Depression impacted many people including those in the cities, on farms, and part of the Alphabet Agencies.

“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.

The 1920s seemed to promise a future of a new and wonderful way of life for America and its citizens . Modern science, evolving cultural norms, industrialization, and even jazz music heralded exciting opportunities and a future that only pointed up toward a better life. However, cracks in the facade started to show, and beginning with the stock market crash of 1929 the wealth of the country, and with it the hopes and expectations of its people, began to slip away. The Great Depression left a quarter of the population unemployed and much of the rest destitute and uncertain of what the future held. Wealth vanished, people took their money out of banks, and plans were put on hold. The most significant way in which the Great Depression affected Americans’ everyday lives was through poverty because it tore relationships apart and damaged the spirit of society while unexpectedly bringing families together in unity.

Stock holders across the United States lost great amounts of money (Sobel, 2002). Numerous stock holders were even wiped out completely. Businesses, banks, and stores closed leaving millions of people broke and without jobs. More than 80 percent of people had to depend on the government or charity just to survive (Sobel). Herbert Hoover was President during the depression.

America’s Great Depression is believed as having begun in 1929 with the Stock Market crash, and ending in 1941 with America’s entry into World War II. In order to fully comprehend the repercussions and devastating effects of the Crash of 1929, it is important to examine the factors that contributed to the catastrophic event which led to The Great Depression. The Great Depression was the worst economic slump in U.S. history, and it spread to most of the industrialized world. Many factors played a role in bringing about the depression; however, the main cause for the Great Depression was the combination of the greatly unequal distribution of wealth throughout the 1920s, and the