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American history of the Great Depression
Us history chapter 12 great depression
Us history chapter 12 great depression
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Recommended: American history of the Great Depression
Hoovervilles
Where do you go when you have no home to go to? During the great depression, thousands of Americans were asking themselves this question. America’s economy was at an all time low, most people were laid off, and the few who weren’t had a major decrease in their salary. A large portion of America’s population was unable to afford their houses anymore. Lots of people went to live with family, but not everyone had a family who was able to take care of them. So where do these people go? The answer is hoovervilles, hoovervilles are groups of random makeshift shacks and any other things people were able to throw together for shelter. Most hoovervilles were in large cities because there were more job opportunities. Since there were so many people living in these camps, it was harder to control them. There was so much crime going on in hoovervilles that officials couldn’t stop it, and sometimes even made it worse. Hoovervilles were not very desired places to live.
Hoovervilles were a huge burden on larger cities such as; New York City, Seattle, and Chicago. Seattle's main Hooverville was one of the largest, longest-lasting, and best documented in the nation. It stood for ten years, from 1931 to 1941. (Hoovervilles and… np.pag.) It was a little over 9 acres, and contained about 1,200 homeless Americans who came to Seattle looking for jobs. They had even established their own unofficial government, this included an unofficial mayor. The hooverville in Seattle was a lot more civilized than New York Cities main hooverville, located in Central Park. People died on a daily basis in New York’s hooverville. They were either killed by sickness, hunger, accidents, or murder. The small amount of resources that the federal government ...
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... home for thousands of American during the 1930’s, even though hoovervilles weren’t the most ideal places to live. Hoovervilles were full of sickness, crime, and death. A large portion of Americans would say that hoovervilles were bad things because of all the crime and death that happened there, but what they don’t realize is that hoovervilles were a huge help to a large number of the victims of America's economic downfall that we call the great depression.
Works Cited
Gregory, James. “Hoovervilles and Homelessness” Depts.Washington.edu. 19 Nov. 2013. Web. 19 Nov. 2013 http://depts.washington.edu/depress/hooverville.shtml
“Hoovervilles.” 2013. The History Channel website. Nov 15 2013, 2:04 http://www.history.com/topics/hoovervilles.
“Hoovervilles.” u-s-history.com. 21 Nov. 2013. Web. 21 Nov. 2013 http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1642.html
Schaffer, Richard, and Neil Smith. "The Gentrification of Harlem?" Annals of the Association of American Geographers 76.3 (1986): 347-65.Department of Geography. Hunter College of the City of University of New York. Web. 25 May 2014. .
The Image of Homelessness, captured by Mark Peterson in 1994, shows two perspectives of how people live their lives. In the center of the photograph you see a short, black, rounded fence, no higher than the old, brown bench placed in front of it. On the bench is a temporary shelter made of cardboard boxes, tied down with strings. To the right of the fence is a thin, sick looking tree with trash and dead leaves surrounding the base of the tree. In the bottom left corner of the photo is a box placed under the bench and reads: “Handle with Care,” which is ironic as the living conditions show a complete lack of care. Above the fence, stretching across the top of the photo, the sun shines on the blurred Burger King
St. Louis, Missouri had one of the largest and long lasting Hoovervilles (Source 2). There were also many in Washington, hundreds throughout the country (Source 2). The main Hooverville in Seattle was one of the largest, long-lasting and best documented in America (Source 2). In Seattle many shacks showed up in many places (Source 2). In late 1935, the city Health Department estimated that 4,000 to 5,000 people were living in shack towns (Source 2). The city tolerated Hoovervilles before World War II (Source 2). In April, residents of the main shack towns were given notice to leave by May 1 (Source 2). Police officers drenches the little shacks with kerosene and lit them as people watched (Source 2). Tacoma hosted a large Hooverville near the city garbage dump. Residents called it “Hollywood-on-the-Tideflats” (Source 2). By the end of a decade it covered a six block area (Source 2). In May 1942, after Seattle destroyed its Hoovervilles, the Tacoma Fire Dept. burned fifty “Hollywood” shacks (Source 2). But the residents rebuilt and it remained intact through World War II (Source 2). Hoovervilles were common all over the United States especially in
Hoover is also vilified repeatedly for his inaction with the Depression. His personal policy and his party’s policy were designed to let the country find its own way, for if it became dependent on government aide, it would be a weaker nation that if it found it’s own way. This was a flawed assumption on their behalf though, because even in the 1920’s, there was a movement from many of the nation’s younger voters advocating change.
the Great Depression did not have adequate food, shelter, or medical care” (2). So, the AAA
Beavan, C. (2013, July 20). America: The story of us - e07 - cities. Retrieved from
Farming was the major growing production in the United States in the 1930's. Panhandle farming attached many people because it attracted many people searching for work. The best crop that was prospering around the country was wheat. The world needed it and the United States could supply it easily because of rich mineral soil. In the beginning of the 1930's it was dry but most farmers made a wheat crop. In 1931 everyone started farming wheat. The wheat crop forced the price down from sixty-eight cents/ bushels in July 1930 to twenty-five cents/ bushels July 1931. Many farmers went broke and others abandoned their fields. As the storms approached the farmers were getting ready. Farmers increased their milking cowherds. The cream from the cows was sold to make milk and the skim milk was fed to the chickens and pigs. When normal feed crops failed, thistles were harvested, and when thistles failed, hardy souls dug up soap weed, which was chopped in a feed mill or by hand and fed to the stock. This was a backbreaking, disheartening chore, which would have broken weaker people. But to the credit of the residents of the Dust Bowl, they shouldered their task and carried on. The people of the region made it because they knew how to take the everyday practical things, which had been used for years and adapt them to meet the crisis.
U.S. cities experienced rapid growth and change, and also faced new challenges following the end of World War II. The consolidation of ghettos in the inner city and the rise of suburbs are two of the characteristics and problems that consequently arose for U.S. cities. One of the biggest projects created as a solution was the public housing project. These public houses however, although in paper they seemed like a great idea, in practice they actually proved not be such a great project because they brought several tensions and problems to cities and neighborhoods.
Camping is a fun activity for friends and family, that’s the time where they share their memories, and also make new ones. On the other hand, camping is when people are trying to stay off the rain, and wild animals form attacking them. That’s when camping is a time their lives depends on it. The article “Camping for their lives” by Scott Bransford talk about small and big cities that is over populated with homeless citizens. The article talks about what is happening in the scene, and what they have to face each and everyday order to survive.
This paper will discuss the many unique aspects of Oakland, California. Divided into five major parts, Oakland is a very diverse city. The five major parts include: Downtown Oakland which is located in the heart of the city, East Oakland which consists of the majority of the city, West Oakland, North Oakland, and the Oakland hills where the terrain is quite different from other parts of the city. While many may perceive the population to mainly consist of African Americans and Whites, there is a significant growing population of Latinos, and Asians. The topics covered in this paper will shed light on the city of Oakland itself, and discuss the unique city that it is. I will also give my personal experience and perception on the city, after living there for 16 years of my life.
... Depression was ended right before the U.S and Japan went to WWII. People who lost their homes during the Great Depression lived in places called “Hoovervilles or Shale towns. Named after President Herbert Hoover. When Herbert Hoover was elected as president, he wanted to eliminate poverty and by the end of the decade millionaires were being established overnight.
“Homeless is more than being without a home. It is tied into education needs, food, security; health issues both mental and physical, employment issues, etc. Don’t forget the whole picture.” (“Boxed In” 2005 pg. 108)
Homelessness in the United States has been a problem for at least 200 years. “In the early 1800s, the rank of homelessness increased for many reasons such as; Migration to the frontiers, displacement caused by the Civil War, immigration from Europe, seasonal employment patterns in agriculture, construction and mining, and severe economic slumps in the 1870s and 1890s” ( Macmillan). This shows that homelessness started to become a huge problem in the 19th century. To help the situation, “Cities developed shelt...
Cities grew simply because that’s where the jobs were. Poor immigrates settled into cites looking for work and often took low end factory jobs to get by. Between 1840 and 1860 4.2 million immigrates moved to the United States, mostly Irish and Germans (Lecture 11). The Irish, who were fleeing the great famine, came to America looking for a new start (Lecture 11). Arriving with little money and no skills, outside of agriculture skills, had to take low paying factory jobs and live in the slums (Lecture 11). The Irish took jobs native American didn’t want like building the railroad and canals, common laborers, servants, longshoremen and factory operators (Give Me Liberty 335). While the Germans who were fleeing political upheaval, arrived with a little more money in their pockets were able to buy land and start their own business (Lecture 11). They established themselves as craftsmen, shop keepers, and farmers and lived in tight knit communities in eastern cities (Give Me Liberty
...ing of the Hoover dam helped bring people, power and money to the area which helped areas such as Las Vegas, Nevada to develop. It continues to bring power, people and money to the region.