Essay Comparing The 1930s And 1940's

The United States in the mid-1900s marked a time of innovation and advancement. However, not everything was a positive attribute. Throughout the 1930’s and 1940’s, the nation was faced with disasters. Domestically, the stock market crash of 1929 led to a decade-long period of economic downfall. Known as the Great Depression, many people were left unemployed and many businesses and banks shut down. Internationally, between 1939 and 1945, the US was heavily involved in World War II. Directly after the US had come out of an economic situation, the country was then dragged into a war to prevent a German totalitarian regime from taking over Europe. However, towards the 1950’s, the US had a booming economy. Since many countries were in debt to the

US plus the additional trade of goods, the US had a phenomenal economic growth. Much like the economy over these three decades, the teenagers of the era were very much similar. In the times of the Great Depression and World War II, teenagers also suffered from the economy, and a generation later in the 1950’s, most teenagers were thriving with better lives.

The 1930’s, in simple terms, were truly a terrible decade. The stock market crash on Black Tuesday was the ignition to a decade full of unemployment, poverty, and economic failure. Teenagers during this time period were greatly affected. When parents had lost their jobs due to insufficient budgets and bankrupt businesses, most families were left with little to nothing. It made it extremely difficult to feed themselves every day. And, many schools had shut down, so teenagers were left without proper education or food. Grinding poverty led most teenagers to leave home. “Between 1929 and 1941, 4,000,000 Americans desperate for food and lodging roamed the land. Of this number, 250,000 were teenagers who rode the rails and grew up fast in speeding boxcars, living in hobo jungles, begging on the streets and running from the police and club-wielding railroad police.”(Uys 7). This method of leaving home was called “riding the rails”. Teenagers mostly ran away from home because they felt they were a burden on their family in a time of poverty. By running away, they were free to fend for themselves, leaving their families less to feed and care for. The railroads were a means of transport, where teenagers would journey up and down the state searching for food or work. For African American teenagers, the Great Depression affected them even worse. Even though overall unemployment rates at this time were very high, many businesses fired African American workers first before white workers. With “Black urban unemployment reaching well over 50 percent, more than twice the rate of whites”(Gale 2), African American teens suffered more than white teens. In extreme cases, some were left to return to the “slave market”, where they worked for white families in exchange for small amounts of food and as little as $5 dollars a week. Even with a more modern era, the “slave market” still consisted of methods of punishment, such as the whip. Even though the Great Depression affected all in virtually the same way, African American teenagers suffered greater consequences than white teenagers.

In comparison to the United States in the 1930’s, the 1940’s was a much better time period.

Despite the world war, domestically, the United States was thriving economically. The war itself allowed the US to distribute goods to other countries. And, since many countries were in debt to the US, the economy was continuously growing and improving. Schools had reopened and employment rates were also rising. Most teenagers and their families no longer lived in poverty. After the New Deal and the international commerce during World War II, most teenagers could return to school and come home to a proper meal. “After the war, many new products were introduced to the American public.”(Carey, 9), allowing teenagers to indulge in entertainment such as movies, sports games, music, and fashion. However, not all of these luxuries were available to African Americans. Post World War II, racial prejudice and segregation still existed. Emma Belle Petcher states: “Two separate, but not equal. White and the blacks. The blacks could not eat in the restaurants. They could not drink in the white fountain. They was separate fountains. Separate sections of the bus that they could not ride in. The trains, if they were big enough, they had separate coach. Separate everything.”(2). Jim Crow laws, especially in the South forced African Americans to use segregated schools, neighborhoods, transportation, public restrooms, and sometimes, hospitals. And in the North, some workplaces paid less to African

Americans than white workers. Teenagers of the African American race often faced scrutiny or some type of prejudice in society during the 1940’s. Although life was improving for white teenagers, African Americans still didn’t have the same rights as them.

During the 1950’s, everyday life in the US was much better than its preceding generation.

Although the 1940’s was a period of improvement, it was really just a time of revitalization as the country was emerging from a terrible nationwide economic crisis. The 1950’s is where the nation really lifts its spirits. By now, the people that had lost their jobs in the Great Depression were back to full employment and many businesses and banks had reopened. The US was getting back into its groove, with more trade establishments and a thriving economy. And during this time, teenagers were living happily as well. “The construction of interstate highways and schools, the distribution of veterans’ benefits and most of all the increase in military spending–on goods like airplanes and new technologies like computers–all contributed to the decade’s economic growth. Rates of unemployment and inflation were low, and wages were high. Middle-class people had more money to spend than ever–and, because the variety and availability of consumer goods expanded along with the economy, they also had more things to buy.”(“The 1950s”). With the development of new products and resources, teenagers began discovering more in the entertainment industry. Music genres such as rock n’ roll became a huge trend, with widely popular Elvis Presley. Clothing trends were becoming more apparent, with new v-neck dresses with puffy sleeves and short jackets. Boys would often wear suits or sweaters with neat hair and

long sideburns. In the film industry, many more family homes consisted of televisions. Movie theaters were also frequented by teenagers, especially with popular movies such as “Vertigo” or “Seven Samurai”. All while white teenagers enjoyed themselves, African American teenagers did not have it as nice. Segregation and racism still existed in society. During this time period however, it was slowly improving. In 1954, the Brown v. Board of Education case declared that separate schools for African Americans were inherently unequal, so now schools could no longer be segregated. However, this outraged many white families. “They withdrew their children from public schools and enrolled them in all-white “segregation academies,” and they used violence and intimidation to prevent blacks from asserting their rights.”(The 1950s”). Many African American teenagers still couldn’t learn in the same classroom as white children, and that same division also occurred in many other public places such as movie theaters, water fountains, buses, and restaurants. The 1950’s was a time period of new technology and a huge societal change. However, for African American teenagers, their freedom was still not fully recognized in the US.

For three decades, and two generations, American society underwent many changes, both economically and socially. From the Great Depression, through World War II, to the 1950’s, it is obvious that the US went from a financially unstable nation, to a nation of prosperity and fulfillment in just two decades. However, for African Americans, not much had really changed. It wasn’t until the mid 1940’s to the 1950’s, did African American rights come to the eyes of white society. The Civil Rights Movement just began it’s momentum in the 1950’s, just simply mandating non-segregated schools. However, even then, many public facilities were not accessible by African American teenagers. The two generations when the US peaked at it’s highest point, African Americans were still seen as the minority. Hardship and struggle was an everyday aspect of their lives, meanwhile, white teenagers were able to go anywhere without facing scrutiny. Two generations of time, and yet, the only good thing that resulted from it for African Americans, was that they could attend the same schools as white children. For the years of scrutiny, segregation, and racism that African Americans had faced throughout history, it took the United States until the 1950’s to realize that they too have some sort of freedom and rights in this country.