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American literature shapes America
Impacts of the great economic depression
Essay on idea that informs a view toward “american literature” or “the american experience” in our literature
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The sources for the aspects that define identity have change over time with social climates altering moral priorities. This fluctuation of values was seen over the course of the great depression as tragedy befell millions of Americans who lost everything that they had spent most of their lives striving towards. The most common examples were families being foreclosed and thrown out of their homes because of lack of work. There were more and less extreme examples all having the same devastating effect of eroding away the things that they used to identify with; there houses, jobs, clothing, family keepsakes, and more just to survive. The economic depression during the 1930’s lead to the destruction of American morale as individuals’ identities rooted in their homes and jobs suddenly disappeared leaving people with no foundation. Motivated by personal crisis, Americans wrote political figures hoping to regain some semblance of normalcy without having to forfeit their pride when describing the loss they had experienced to strengthen their pleas.
One object that many Americans had pride in was their ability to provided for themselves and as they were threaten they began to write their letters to political figures to help them keep their pride as self-reliant American citizens while still asking for assistance. One example was the letter from a mother-to-be asking for provisions for the baby she was about to have clearing stating, “I do not want charity, only a chance … to repay the amount spent for the things I need” that she would not accept the charity only the opportunity to become independent again. This was a common theme throughout many letters written during the great depression to leaders. Americans firmly held the belief th...
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... there families from the burden of taking care of them.
The great depression put strain on thousands lives. Obstacles from those dark days served as the petri dish for the creation of social welfare from the federal government and with this increased responsibility more power. These challenges also provided examples for Americans to reference for other social disasters to see how citizenship and the government needs to stay in constant flux to deal adapt to the needs of the victims and solve the source of the problem. These letters expressing the threats to their American identity should be used to formulate what constitutes American identity and how does one defend it.
Works Cited
McElvaine, Robert S., ed. 1983. Down & out in the great depression: Letters from the forgotten man. Twenty-fifth Anniversary ed. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.
Weize Tan History 7B 3/09/14. Chapter 23 1. What is the difference between a. and a. What were some of the causes of the Great Depression? What made it so severe, and why did it last so long? a.
The Great Depression often seems very distant to people of the 21st century. This article is a good reminder of potential problems that may reoccur. The article showed in a very literal way the idea that a depression can bring a growing country to its knees. The overall ramifications of the event were never discussed in detail, but the historical significance is that people's lives were put on hold while they tried to struggle through an extremely difficult time.
Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War 1929-1945. Oxford History of the United States: Oxford University Press. Davidson, J. W., Delay, B., et al. (2005). The 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary'.
However, for the worst affected, the most difficult effect on morale must have been the lifelong memory of seeing their children and family suffer, and having no power to change this. For the lack of power to change the future is the exact opposite of the ‘American Dream’. References: Prosperity, Depression and The New Deal, Peter Clements, 2001, Hodder and Stoughton, London Letters To The Roosevelts, various authors, date and publisher unknown An Editor Loses His Job In The Great Depression, Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression, Studs Terkel, 1978, Pantheon Books. Brother, Can You Spare A Dime? , Jay Gorney, 1932, Warner Bros. Music The Great Depression, Mc Elvaine R., 1984, Times Books, New York
Due to severe discrimination in the South, aid from New Deal programs often did not reach blacks. Many blacks were also fearful for their life and the wellbeing of their families and refrained from signing their names when writing to officials and President Roosevelt. African-americans wrote letters to President Roosevelt complaining about conditions they faced when trying to participate in New Deal programs. One writer complains that, “som gets a little and some gets none” whenever a shipment of food arrives in the town (McElvaine, 83). Another african-american complains that provisions never reach them and that the officials in Georgia are using everything that is sent for themselves (McElvaine, 83).
Nelson, Sheila. Crisis at Home and Abroad: the Great Depression, World War II, and Beyond,
"America's Great Depression and Roosevelt's New Deal."DPLA. Digital Public Library of America. Web. 20 Nov 2013. .
McElvaine, Robert S, ed. Down and Out in the Great Depression: Letters from the Forgotten Man. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1983.
The Great Depression America 1929-1941 by Robert S. McElvaine covers many topics of American history during the "Great Depression" through 1941. The topic that I have selected to compare to the text of American, Past and Present, written by Robert A. Divine, T.H. Breen, George M. Frederickson and R. Hal Williams, is Herbert Hoover, the thirty-first president of the United States and America's president during the horrible "Great Depression".
While many remember the Great Depression as a time of terrible trials for Americans, few understand the hardships faced by Mexicans and Mexican Americans in the U.S. This paper examines the experiences of Mexicans in America during the Great Depression and explores the devastating impact of repatriation efforts. America has an extensive history of accepting Mexican workers when they are needed for cheap labor, and demanding that they be deported when the economic situation is more precarious in an attempt to open jobs for Americans. In the 1930s, “Americans, reeling from the economic disorientation of the depression, sought a convenient scapegoat. They found it in the Mexican community.” Mexicans were blamed for economic hardships and pushed to leave the United States because Americans believed they were taking jobs and draining charitable resources; however, few understood the negative repercussions of these actions. During the Great Depression, the push to strip jobs from Mexicans and repatriate them had the unintended consequences of adding more people to welfare rolls, contributed to labor shortages and forced out legal citizens of Mexican descent which created feelings of bitterness and rejection.
zShmoop Editorial Team. "Politics in The Great Depression." Shmoop.com. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 13 Mar. 2014.
In the words of Joseph Margulies, “National identity is not fixed, it is made.” Through the event of 9/11 our national identity has changed significantly. Before we dive into the now and the changed national identity, lets set a foundation of where national identity started. In the nineteenth century, Protestant Americans were incomparably dominate. It was argued that the Enlightenment and the Western intellectuals of the eighteenth century were still the foundation of national identity in the nineteenth century. However, from the writer, Samuel Huntington, the religious foundations of American society were based off the Anglo-Protestant heritage. (Page 24) On the other hand, in Who Are We? The Challenges to America’s National Identity, the author stated the American culture was dwindling Anglo-Protestant heritage. The original values were based off the Anglo-Protestant heritage included liberty, equality, individualism, democracy, and the rule of law under a constitution. Later in the nineteenth century, the European heritage grew and the ideas of individual freedom, political democracy, and human rights grew as well. (Page 19) The nineteenth century introduced the “well-being and integrity of the community and the virtuous citizen’s obligations to the community’s welfare (page 20).”
As one of the presidents during the Progressive Era, Theodore Roosevelt led the United States of America through a series of dramatic changes that interrupted the lives and ideologies that Americans during the time were more than familiarized with. Industrialization, women’s suffrage, the sexual revolution, imperialism, and “muckraking” journalism were just a few of the controversial, yet significant characteristics of this era. However, perhaps one of the largest and most vital influences during this time period came from the outside. Immigration was an issue that Roosevelt himself addressed rather perceptibly in his paper entitled “True Americanism,” which first appeared in a magazine called The Forum in April, 1894. However, it is not the idea of immigration that vexed Roosevelt; rather it was his concern and fear of the possibility that the increase in immigration of foreign people and cultures would culminate the concept of American patriotism, or “Americanism” as a whole. This paper will analyze the different elements of Roosevelt’s “True Americanism” by exploring the historical context of the document, highlighting Americanism as Roosevelt explicates it, observing the rhetoric used throughout the document, and discerning Roosevelt’s intended audience.
"Great Depression in the United States." Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 2001. CD-ROM. 2001 ed. Microsoft Corporation. 2001
McElvaine, Robert S. The Depression and New Deal: A History in Documents. New York: Oxford UP, 2000. Print.