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Introduction about great depression
Introduction about the great depression
Depression investigate
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Pause to recall a picture of the Great Depression. Was this image happy or sad? Maybe it was a scene of a family enjoying the radio, children reading comics, a group of young men playing baseball, the movie theatre, or even children playing Monopoly; however most people would picture a migrant mother with her children, an adult holding a sign asking for a job, a family living in a shack with barely any food, or starving, dirty children. “For those born after the 1930’s, the Great Depression is something that can be visualized only through photography and film (This Great Nation Will Endure)” and when asked “What picture do you think of when you hear the words the Great Depression Era?” all thirty high school students recalled a negative image. Today’s mass media’s selection of harsh extreme images of the 1930’s Great Depression Era fail to portray the positive aspects of American life during the time period. Many of the photographs exposed by today’s media and some of the most popular photographs of life during the Great Depression were produced by the FSA or Farm Security Administration. Founded by President Roosevelt the government agency’s goal was to provide loans benefiting tenant farmers and sharecroppers (pg. 772). The FSA launched a photography project whose mission was to demonstrate the hardships of families living on farms to the city residents (Ganzel). The agency hired many photographers and over eighty-thousand photographs were captured through the years 1935-1943; the majority portrayed American life in a negative way (This Great Nation Will Endure). Two of the most well-known photographs taken by the agency, also which are used in several American history textbooks are icons of the Depression Era. Both symboliz... ... middle of paper ... ...produced, radio shows and movies were being produced and several Americans were enjoying life during the 1930’s. These positive aspects of life and positive photographs of the time period are not well-known to the American public today and many people picture the Great Depression only in a negative way. “For those born after the 1930’s, the Great Depression is something that can be visualized only though photography and film. Certain images have come to define our view of that uncertain time: an anxious migrant mother with her three small children; a farmer and his sons struggling through a dust storm; a family of sharecroppers gathered outside their Spartan home” (This Great Nation Will Endure). Today’s mass media focuses on the harsh, extreme images of the Great Depression and fails to portray the happy, positive aspects of American life during the 1930’s.
The Great Depression was one of the hardest eras America has ever had to face. It tore families apart, leaving them with nothing but despair. Wood and Shahn use their pictures, American Gothic and Rural Rehabilitation Client, to depict this feeling of anguish. American Gothic displays the anxiety of those who experienced the first ripples of the Depression and Rural Rehabilitation Client shows the sheer desperation of those who lived during the worst days of the Depression. Through these two works of art, the feelings of hope and hopelessness are powerfully represented.
“…when the nation was balanced precariously between the darkness of the Great Depression on one side and the storms of war in Europe and the Pacific on the other…..Once again the American people understood the magnitude of the challenge, the importance of an unparallel national commitment, and, most of all, the certainty that only one resolution was acceptable.”(p3) This quote is from the opening paragraph of the chapter in Brokaw’s book, “The Time of their Lives.” These ordinary people surmounted times of great destitution while courageously facing the epoch of the Great depression. They comprehended the necessity for commitment in order to preserve their independence. Brokaw uses imagery including “the Darkness of the Great depression” to reveal to the reader the severity of their situation. He depicts the Great Depression not just as a time of hardships, but as an era when thousands of men and women starved to death, parents could not provide for themselves or their families and unemployment was so high that a days work would yield, at most, a loaf of stale bread to feed an entire family. Although he does not say these things directly, his use of imagery causes the reader to have these thoughts and to see these images.
Palladino creates a historical background of the thirties in order to show how history related to and effected the personal experiences early teenagers were having. When Palladino wanted to talk about the challenges and repercussions faced by teens of the 1930s, how they were beginning to go to high school and develop a social group of their own, she first had to explain the historical context teens of the thirties were living in which was the Great Depression. Describing the historical context without directly bringing in teenagedom shows Palladino uses sociological imagination by implying a relationship between the Great Depression and the personal experiences of early teenagers. Palladino explains, “But the realities of economic depression, severe and unrelenting by the mid 1930s, altered their plans. Between 1929 and 1933, professional incomes dropped 40 percent, and the supply of white-collar workers dangerously exceeded demand...During the great depression there were 4 million young Americans sixteen to twenty-four who were looking for work, and about 40 percent of them--1 million boys and 750,000 girls--were high school age” (Palladino, 35-36). Later she elaborates to explain that much of teenage life was affected by this historical occurrence, showing that she understands history connects to the personal lives of the early teenage societal group. Palladino does this again when analyzing teens of the forties, “Although the nation had been gearing up for war ever since the fall of France in 1940…” (Palladino, 63), Palladino creates a fuller awareness of the historical context teenagers were living in, in order to examine the group by showing their relation to societal forces as a whole and the history being made around
... after nine at night, but in those days [we] ... did not think of our day in terms of hours. We liked our work, we were proud to do it well, and I am afraid that we were very, very happy.” The 1930s were a time of struggle and sadness. However, American citizens continued to work and search for the happiness they once knew. Although the Great Depression stretched through the 1930s, putting a damper on the economy and liveliness of the nation, the decade cannot be solely defined by it. Art and photos illustrate the decade’s sentiments, while acts of society and architecture reveal much more regarding a common citizen's lifestyle. A tragic photo, a vast-spread psychological struggle, and a famous building, are all examples of artifacts taken from the 1930s that have changed, they way we perceive our country, the American way of living, and America’s skyline forever.
Watching films from the Great Depression era today, we can see how people survived and made a living during the crisis. Everyone’s common goal was to find work and would do whatever they could to be able to provide for their families and themselves. Work could be very demanding when trying to make a pretty penny. Some ways people made a living was by working in a factory, as shown in Chaplin’s Modern Times, or in a more dangerous way of the ...
In the 1930s, several economic, political, and environmental factors caused Americans to lose hope of a future beyond the extreme circumstances in which they had to survive. America prospered during the roaring ‘20s, but the stock market crash of October 1929 set off a devastating chain of events; banks and factories closed and one out of every four Americans found himself unemployed. The sudden economic collapse began the era of the Great Depression, in which millions were jobless by 1933 and countless others wandered the country in search of work, food and shelter. “The core of the problem was the immense disparity between the country’s productive capacity and the ability of the people to consume” (Nelson). The economic downturn coupled with the ecological disaster of the Dust Bowl in the Great Plains resulted in foreclosures on farms, inflated food prices for the consumer, and the ruination of the agricultural industry. Meanwhile, the film and entertainment industry provided an escape for many Americans from the long-term struggle of the Great Depression. Shirley Temple, the dimpled, curly-haired child star dubbed “America’s Sweetheart,” was one such film star who brought hope to those affected by the Great Depression and left an enduring impression on the United States of America.
In the Great Depression, with no money and nothing else to do, people turned to anything to keep their attention off of their own poverty and misfortune. They distracted themselves by turning to entertainment, art, and literature. Even in a dark time, the country’s traditions and culture prospered.
Modern Times was unlike most movies produced during the Great Depression era because it is featuring a view on the unemployment and rough conditions that people f...
The year 1920-1941 was an era of destitution in America. Even if the 1920’s were recognized as period of prosperity and new technology, the poverty that followed was unimaginable. The situation affected all types of people regardless of skin color and social status. When the banking system collapse people stopped spending in fear of loosing everything, because of this business owners had to reduce production as well as workers, as a result many lost their job and suffer in deep poverty. The seen of starving children and desperate parents on a street has become common. Americans fell in to despair, homelessness and suicide rate increased in a way that had never been seen before. (Foner, 790).
The arts played a significant role in the Great Depression- not only as a means of escapism for some people, but also a psychological and ideological role that provided inspiration and optimism in a time of severe doubt and fear. For example, film provided an escape for a couple of hours, but also portrayed success during this time period. Many films focused on social realities of the time period, so that people could relate to these films. Films gave images of hope and success because they portrayed ordinary people, such as a girl winning a role in a play, or a man and a woman randomly meeting and falling in love. Andrew Bergman explains the effect of these films in his article Hollywood and the Great Depressi...
"FSA Photographers Document the Great Depression." FSA Photographers Document the Great Depression. Web. 12 Feb. 2014.
The Great Depression is a time in the history of the United States that people have learned and gained knowledge from. Its harsh times and conflicts have been written about in books, seen in movies, talked about on radios, and told to families throughout the generations. Seeing how life was during the 1930s in the movie, The Cinderella Man, was a great eye opener to how the people of this time truly survived and kept their true humanity in times of havoc. The time of the 1930s should be an inspiration to the nation and cause many to do well and live life smart and prosperous.
The Great Depression was a time full of fear and uncertainty in the U.S. The unemployment rate was above 20% and hundreds of banks had failed resulting in a delicate and arduous economic situation. While many industries suffered greatly through this time, one industry seemed to do just fine: film. Film was a relatively new industry without many regulations which had become the most exciting and influential form of media that existed. During the Depression, this importance was identified by both private and government organizations, film technology advanced, and stories were tailored to the needs of a suffering population. As a result, film during The Great Depression was characterized by innovation, censorship, and escapism.
Although there was many photographs during the Great Depression, one photograph of a woman holding her children in her arms sums it all up. Children that once danced around with joy and happiness, are now distressed from the tragic event. The mother displays the sorrow from losing everything that she once owned. This specific piece of history is one of the most significant and thought provoking images
The Great Depression was the deepest and longest-lasting economic downfall in the history of the United Sates. No event has yet to rival The Great Depression to the present day today although we have had recessions in the past, and some economic panics, fears. Thankfully the United States of America has had its shares of experiences from the foundation of this country and throughout its growth many economic crises have occurred. In the United States, the Great Depression began soon after the stock market crash of October 1929, which sent Wall Street into a panic and wiped out millions of investors ("The Great Depression."). In turn from this single tragic event, numerous amounts of chain reactions occurred.