Analyze The Effects Of The Great Depression

The Great Depression was an economic slump that spread from the United States to Europe, and other industrialized areas. The Great Depression began in 1929 and ended around 1939. The Great Depression was caused by the collapse of the stock market in October of 1929. According to About the Great Depression, “By 1932 the stock market dropped by 20 percent and ruined many people’s jobs, and individual investors. By 1932 United States manufacturing had fallen from 54 percent and unemployment had risen to 12-15 million or 25-30 percent. By 1933, 11,000 of 25,000 United States banks have failed.” “By 1933 unemployment had soared to 25 percent, up from 3.2 percent in 1929. Industrial production declined by 50 percent, international trade plunged 30

As stated by “Radio and the Great Depression”, “While movie houses closed, nightclubs languished, and theatrical stock companies disappeared, radio boomed. Thousands of families gave up their vacuum cleaners, cars, and their furniture, but kept up on their radios. In 1916 wireless receiving sets were being sold between $35 and $200, but in the early thirties the prices dropped down to $10. The change in price reflected the middle and lower classes. The radios served as a distraction to many people during the Great Depression. Radios also served as a social outlet to many people. As stated on the website, “Radio and the Great Depression”,” An estimated 60 million people listened to President Roosevelt's first talk about the bank crisis.” Most of these people were listening from radios. In 1935 the FDR started the REA or Rural Electrification Administration, which gave about 10 percent of the nation's farms electricity, but in some places the percentage was lower than that. The use of electricity quickly spread, and so did the use of radios. Once people got use to the convenience, many people became accustomed to the pleasure of ready music; they did not want to live without it. Throughout the twenties, silent films were accompanied by a musician, and sound effect people were added to movies. Sound was added to movies starting in 1927. The first full length films premiered in 1928. Between 1930 and 1940, one

Many whites caused this because they fired blacks from any job as long as there were whites without a job. According to “Blacks and the Great Depression”, “ Blacks faced unemployment of 50 percent or more, compared with about 30 percent for whites. Black wages were at least 30 percent below, those of white workers, who themselves were barely at subsistence level”. The National Recovery Act (NRA) of 1933, was soon called the Negro Removal Act by many blacks. The goal of the NRA was to have nondiscriminatory hiring and equal minimum wage. For many years racism was the main topic in the debate over craft vs. industrial unionism. Industrial unionism organized a plant-wide union, regardless of the particular job, meaning that Blacks in the most dangerous, dirty and low paid jobs would be in the same local as the the better-paid whites. During this time there were many fights or lynches between blacks and whites. At the time many blacks were voting republican, as President Roosevelt was elected these voting patterns were changed. Throughout this struggle, in the end black and white workers were able to overcome racism and