"Great Depression: People and Perspectives" by editor Hamilton Cravens, is a book on the people of the Great Depression era. It shows how minorities dealt with the traumatic turmoil of the times, including rural Americans, women, children, African Americans, and immigrants. Furthermore, it offers different viewpoints on the conflict between the social scientists and the policymakers responding to the crisis, the impact that the Great Depression had on the health of U.S. citizens, and the roles of American technology and Hollywood movies that played in helping the nation survive and later prosper. The author’s thesis is that even though the there was a 25 percent unemployment rate, 5,500 banks declared bankruptcy, and 32,000 business declared bankruptcy as well, the Great Depression’s impact was extensive and catastrophic, however, the impact it had on the day-by-day lives of ordinary American citizens was the strongest indicator of the Depression's devastation. …show more content…
“Rather than highlighting politics or battles, these titles focus on how individuals and groups–including women, youth, African Americans, Native Americans, and various religious minorities–fared and were shaped by events during significant periods in American history. In addition to the attention to diverse groups, chapters in Great Depression explore the myriad problems faced in urban areas versus the countryside, and the impact of both technology and Hollywood movies during the 1930s,” (Review of the book, School Library Journal, citation [4]). This quote is from a review by School Library Journal on this book and it further expresses the idea that the focus of this book is on minorities and how the Great Depression affected their lives and changed their roles in
The Great Depression was a dark and hopeless time for all Americans. In An article titled “Sinking Deeper and Deeper”
The Depression changed social structure in America forever. “The real story of the 1930’s is how individual families endured and survived, whether battling the despair of hunger and unemployment in the city of the fear of unending drought and forced migration in the dust bowl of the Great plains.” (Press, Petra pg 6)
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
Think about the character you used during the “Living the Great Depression” activity. Is your character male or female? How old is your character? What is your character’s position in life? What is your character’s background? Does your character have other people who are dependent on him or her? Everything about a person and his or her background can influence the thoughts and opinions a person has.
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.”
The 1920’s were a swinging party of an era. People learned what having a good time and living the American dream truly meant when they began partying all night, seeing movies, placing imaginary money into a new system called “credit”, and ignoring the impending doom that sat on the horizon. On October 29, 1929, tragedy struck America; the newly founded stock market crashed, and suddenly people were trying to sell off their bad stocks to people with no money, who were being hounded by banks trying to reclaim the imaginary money that turned out to be not so imaginary after all. This date marked the start of the era known as the Great Depression. The Depression would control the 30’s, leaving some on the lower levels of society struggling to survive,
Originally the summer of the 1929’s began as a recession and later became known as The Great Depression in the United States. Little did American know that October 29, 1929 would make history because on this date the stock market crashed. This catastrophe had been fermenting for years. During this time America’s unemployment rate rose to over 20 percent which roughly estimated over 15 million Americans unemployed. In Northern cities and in the South were most African American were highly populated during the 1930’s unemployment rates were incomparably greater for blacks than for whites. Economic circumstances were especially dreadful. It is believed that the one of the causes of the Depression was because of overproduction. Whereas
Americans felt desperation during the time of great economic shortage. If they were to survive this era, they needed to condition themselves mentally and psychologically for the tougher times that might stretch on for years on end. Millions of families lost their savings as numerous banks collapsed in the early 1930’s. Incapable of making mortgage or rent payments, many were deprived of their homes or were evicted from their apartments. Working and middle class families were immensely affected by the Depression. The cultural change that happened in America during the Great Depression can be divided into two types: one was type of culture that accepting and embracing the extreme poverty and by finding logical ways to stay alive. The other
On Thursday, October 24, 1929, United States witnessed it’s first national crisis when the stock market crashed. It was eight months after former President Herbert Hoover was elected. The Great Depression caused a myriad of changes in American economic policies and society, many of which linger to this day. In the onset of the Great Depression many American were shocked into poverty. The Great Depression challenged American families in major ways, placing great social, economic and psychological strains. Many ethnic minorities like Mexican Indians, American Indians, and the African Americans fared rather poorly.
Have you ever wondered what it would be like during the Great Depression? We could imagine that it was no walk in the park. In fact, it was a battle every day to find work, pay for bills, and provide the necessities for the family. The Great Depression gives us a look into the past of the hardship and dedication that the American people had in times of a crisis. The Great Depression affected people across the nation, everyday people were losing hope and falling deeper and deeper into a state of depression.
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 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.
As “prosperity 's decade” came to a symbolically harsh and sudden end on Thursday, October 24, 1929, the United States government, led by President Herbert Hoover, was thrown into the unknown. No such downturn had ever presented itself before, which compounded itself with the lack of economic understanding present at the time. Yet it had seemed that the economy was healthy before the crash. Employment was high and inflation was low. Yet these conditions only served as a mirage for many Americans. As industrialists became wealthy using new age technology and selfish business methods, 70 million people lived below the poverty line. Many of these men and women lived in
In this film, Chaplin addresses the issues that the great depression and pre-WWII brought to the people like unemployment, soup and food kitchens, shelter, industrializations and the the suppression of the citizens protesting. The great depression began after the stock market crashed in 1929 and it was a lasting economic downturn for people, businesses and banks. “By 1930, 4 million Americans looking for work could not find it; that number had risen to 6 million in 1931. Meanwhile, the country’s industrial production had dropped by half. Bread lines, soup kitchens and rising numbers of homeless people became more and more common in America’s towns and cities.
The Great Depression is a defining moment in time for not only American, but world history. This was a time that caused political, economical, and social unrest. Not only did the Great Depression cause a world wide panic, it also caused a world wide crisis unlike any before it. This paper will analyze both the causes and the effects of the Great Depression in the United States of America.