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Hooverville's Economic Depression

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The Wall Street Crash of 1929 caused an economic depression throughout America that impacted on its society in many varyingly devastating ways. Some of which includes many Americans becoming poverty stricken, unemployed and suffering in terrible living conditions. However, to a lesser extent, the crash also laid the foundation for future prosperity and began many new optimistic development plans and employed many people on the rebuilding of the USA. Either way, the Wall Street Crash had a veritable impact on the lifestyle, livelihood and overall morale of the American people because it was so direct and so interconnected in its devastation. This widespread effect exacerbated the situation for most Americans, but more specifically the poorest …show more content…

These long queues show the expansive cases of hunger that were present due directly because of the crash. The fact this food was “free” (10) really shows that people did not have any money. Consequently, all this unemployment led to terrible living conditions. Many Americans had to live in “Hoovervilles” which was a “survival technique used by the unemployed “ to alleviate their increasingly undesirable living conditions (6). Hoovervilles were make-shift houses that were basically shack-like in size and structure and they were the only alternatives to living homeless. These shacks were made out of cheap materials, which people used to shelter themselves. Hooverville’s came about as a result of people not being able to afford to pay rent and having had nowhere to live. These conditions were terrible with no proper sanitation, basic amenities or clean water. The people siting around and doing nothing characterized the unemployment situation as no one could work. All the problems given to Franklin Delano Roosevelt like “unemployment, bank problems, economy measures, and farm problems” (4) capture the terrible conditions these American citizens had to face during the Great Depression. Thus the unemployment created from the market crash resulted in terrible living conditions and hunger among American citizens. The stock market crash also caused many businesses to close down because …show more content…

“We need enthusiasm, imagination and the ability to face the facts” (2) this source discusses what Franklin D. Roosevelt was asking for when he introduced his Alphabet Agencies and his systemic reforms. America had lost these vital aspects because of the Wall Street Crash. Americans were becoming depressed and were losing the impetus they needed in order to restore their hope to better their lives. The Crash started having terrible mental affects on American citizens and forced many into psychological depressive states and even pushed hundreds of Americans to commit suicide to ease the burden of their losses. “The country demands bold, persistent experimentation” (2) this shows the appalling state America was in and that they were in great need of change in order to fix the devastating affects of the crash. “Bank problems, war debts, budgets, economic measures, bank problems, unemployment” (4) from source 4, shows the enormous burden that Franklin D. Roosevelt was saddled with by President Hoover. It also reinforces the destructive effects of the crash and the level of effort Roosevelt would have had to exert in order to get America to be prosperous again. President Hoover transferred ownership of this enormous burden to Roosevelt showing that he could not handle the effects of the crash and the inefficient service he provided

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