1939)
How People Survived
“The Great Depression was an economic slump in North America, Europe, and other industrialized areas of the world that began in 1929 and lasted until about 1939. It was the longest and most severe depression ever experienced by the industrialized Western world.” (The Great Depression)
The hardest hit were Black Americans, the elderly, those in areas where factories shut down, Farmers caught in the Dust Bowl era, and those in coal mining regions. All were marginally poor before the Depression- barely making ends meet. The country’s overall economic difficulties left them to struggle amid poverty, hunger, and illness. (Research)
The Great Depression brought a new way of life to all classes of people. Practically everyone had to deal with major losses and drastic changes. Children had to cope with the loss of a stable life and an
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education. Farmers had to live with the loss of their farms and the inability to support their families. The middle class had to deal with the loss of their money and the potential disappearance of their social class. Middle class families survived by taking in boarders, bartering, and stretching every dollar earned. These homes were left without city water, without gas for their ranges, and ice to help preserve their food. Farmers were the hardest hit when prices for their food was deflated and they refused to sell at such low prices. After being evicted from their farms, many farmers became known as vagrants or migrant workers. In 1932, as many as 25,000 families were wandering around the country searching for any job they could find. Supporting their families was extremely difficult and many slept in their cars or stayed in campsites established by other migrant workers. Disease and illness ran rampant because of the lack of proper food and shelter. These farm families were some of the hardest hit. Women played a major role during this difficult time. Many had college educations but were unable to secure employment. Women had the responsibility of keeping their families together and making do with what they had on hand. Many of these women took on jobs that men usually performed. These women worked as hard as they could to support their families during difficult times. “In another period of depression, it has always been possible to see some things which were solid and upon which you could base hope, but as I look about, I now see nothing to give ground to hope- nothing of man.” Former President Calvin Coolidge, (1933). The Great Depression kept families together even though economic hard times affected their life styles. The really wealthy were the only class of people that did not face these hardships. The middle class, the working class, and upper class all sought ways to make ends meet. They sewed their clothes at home, “made do” with the food prepared by stretching it to last and being creative with the leftovers, to doing all their home repairs. To “keep up with appearances” the ladies would shop at second hand dress shops. The depression had many effects on families such as post-phoned marriages, fewer babies, grown children stayed at home longer, and the combining of families to help needy relatives. Even with all these measures, families were torn apart due to the stress of the economic strain. Georgia’s economy in the 1920’s was decreased by over production, foreign imports, and man-made materials. Farmers needed expensive farm machinery the help them keep up with the declining prices they received for their crops. Only the very wealthy were able to purchase this equipment. Georgia’s dependence on cash crop agriculture (crops grown for sale instead of for personal use or to feed livestock) led to farmers planting all available land. Many of Georgia’s urban residents were not as affected as the rural families. Seaports, the pulp industry, textile and cotton seed-oil mills helped sustain families during their economic crisis. Georgia’s manufacturers were not exempt from national market trends and occasionally had to reduce workers hours, their pay and sometimes they had to lay off workers The economic downturn that had begun ten years earlier only worsened.
The New Deal program, implemented by President Roosevelt in 1932, was only effective in certain areas. Governor Eugene Talmadge stalled the New Deal Plan. He thought it was an intrusion into the state’s local affairs and a “communist Experiment”. Talmadge did everything he could to stall the New Deal plan and did little to address the economic distress of his state. In 1936’ E.D. Waters was elected governor and he worked with legislators to put in effect some of the programs of the New Deal. With the plan in effect, federal funds were received for dependent children, the aged, the blind, and helped support federal unemployment and workers’ compensation. (Mazarri)
The New Deals impact on the state’s lowest income population was mixed and benefits for poor white farmers were minimal. Georgia’s politics of white supremacy led to the federal governments bowing down to the state’s wishes and curtailing benefits for blacks. President Roosevelt’s farm policies aided in the decline of the cotton plantation and this led to more hardships for these
people. Migrant workers and other people of color were impacted even more than the tenant farmers or sharecroppers. They had little to eat, often slept in shanties or rag tents, few clothes and no shoes to wear. These people were the first to be let go in the industrial and agricultural businesses. They were refused the benefits of their white counterparts. Some of the Mexican and American Mexicans were deported due to the demand for labor in the United States. (Nancy A. Hewitt) With the ending of the Great Depression by World War II, The New Deal program laid the foundation for a more balanced economy and a more secure standard of living. World War II saw prosperity return to the United States and increased economic opportunity.
Coming into the 1930’s, the United States underwent a severe economic recession, referred to as the Great Depression. Resulting in high unemployment and poverty rates, deflation, and an unstable economy, the Great Depression considerably hindered American society. In 1932, Franklin Roosevelt was nominated to succeed the spot of presidency, making his main priority to revamp and rebuild the United States, telling American citizens “I pledge you, I pledge myself, to a new deal for the American people," (“New” 2). The purpose of the New Deal was to expand the Federal Government, implementing authority over big businesses, the banking system, the stock market, and agricultural production. Through the New Deal, acts were passed to stimulate the
The Great Depression, beginning in the last few months of 1929, impacted the vast majority of people nationwide and worldwide. With millions of Americans unemployed and many in danger of losing their homes, they could no longer support their families. Children, if they were lucky, wore torn up ragged clothing to school and those who were not lucky remained without clothes. The food supply was scarce, and bread was the most that families could afford. Households would receive very limited rations of food, or small amounts of money to buy food. This led to the starvation of families, including children. African-americans faced tougher challenges than most during the Depression due to discrimination. The classes hit hardest were middle-class
The Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933 was established to raise the value of crops in America. Through tax implements on companies producing farm products, famers were paid subsidies to reduce agricultural production. Farmers were not allowed to plant on all of their available land and were to kill off extra livestock in order to reduce any surplus. Supply and demand for farm and agricultural commodities were now a policy of Congress. The New Deal plan controlled seven basic crops including; corn, wheat, cotton, rice, peanuts, tobacco and milk. Though seemingly completely justified, the Supreme Court ruled the AAA unconstitutional. The basic concept was later rewritten and passed into law. The Agricultural Adjustment Act had a major influence to farm families during the Great
The New Deal was a set of acts that effectively gave Americans a new sense of hope after the Great Depression. The New Deal advocated for women’s rights, worked towards ending discrimination in the workplace, offered various jobs to African Americans, and employed millions through new relief programs. Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR), made it his duty to ensure that something was being done. This helped restore the public's confidence and showed that relief was possible. The New Deal helped serve American’s interest, specifically helping women, african american, and the unemployed and proved to them that something was being done to help them.
People, especially blacks, were being put out of work everywhere; the wave of depression had hit the entire country. Banks were failing, and the cities, in a desperate attempt to provide relief, were running out of money. Because President Hoover was confident that business conditions would soon improve, federal funds were not used to provide relief; relief was the responsibility of private charities. City allowances soon ran out, and there was no money left. Pennies were used to buy food and fuel. Many people went without food in order to p...
For John, everyday living like a depression that he had to adjust daily. His livelihood began to spiral downward following the stock market crash, which was the beginning of the Great Depression of 1929. People were feeling what John had felt for years as a person struggling to survive. Black workers in the city begin to experience increasing difficulties in keeping their current jobs. Unemployment Blacks in the city reached well over 50 percent, more than twice the rate of whites. John was laid off from his porter job due to increased threats from desperate unemployed whites. Some charities refused to provide food to needy Blacks. To make matters worse, violence rose against blacks during the 1930s, carried out by whites competing for the
The Great Depression lasted from 1929 to 1941. It ended in 1941 once America prepared to enter WWII.It was the most forbidding and expanding depression ever. The Great Depression created a countless amount of
The Great Depression occurred from 1929 and lasted to the early 1940’s. It was a deep and tragic period of time where everyone was affected in some capacity. This period marks the longest most widespread depression in American History. It has devastating effects to both the rich and poor. Cities all around the world were hit hard by this crisis.
The 1930s brought the deepest and longest-lasting economic downturn of the Western industrial world (http://www.history.com). This economic downturn was known as ‘The Great Depression’ (http://www.history.com). The Great Depression in the United States soon began after the stock market crash of October 1929 (http://www.history.com). Consumer spending and investment dropped which caused a decline in industrial output and led to rising levels of unemployment (http://www.history.com). During this time period money was scarce. People did what they had to do in order to make their lives happy (http://wwwappskc.lonestar.edu). The Great Depression was hard on the economy which in turn affected how people lived their lives and spent their money.
African Americans were also seen as the most impacted because they were often the first to be fired or laid off from their jobs. The great depression also took place in the time of the dust bowl. This meant that farmers couldn’t harvest their crops and that led to the people to the United States having little to no food to
Life was an incessant struggle for African-Americans living in the Depression era. Very few were employed and those who were lucky enough to have some kind of work were forced to give them up to a white man who had lost his job. Many became homeless and crammed inside small shanty homes with several other people (Depression 211). Many jobs faced boycotts and riots that quickly led to violence, such as the burning of a paper factor in St. Louis (Lynch, African American Life). The Great Depression was a result of a stock market crash on October 29th, 1929. More than half of the population was unemployed and could not afford to feed their family. Thankfully the New ...
The Great Depression was the most powerful worldwide economic depression, having its origins in the United States. It began in 1929 and lasted until 1941, causing the economy of the U.S. to drop off 50% in the first 5 years, raising the unemployment rate from 3.2% to almost 25%, and making 50% of the banks fail. During that time factories were shut down, farming, especially harvesting crops, became worthless, mines were left, while people went hungry. The American economy was declining during the summer of 1929, as the amount of money that a consumer would spend was diminishing and unsold goods began to expand, which resulted in slowing down the factory production.
The Great Depression was the worst economic depression in the history of the United States of America. It caused many Americans to experience and encounter hardships during this difficult time. The United States went into a Great Depression on October 24, 1929 (Great Depression, 2009). This Depression lasted for many years; for a decade to be exact. The Great Depression occurred due to the crashing of the Stock Market.
The Great Depression was a period of time when the majority of the population was unemployed which caused the United States economy to plummet. People’s personal income decreased dramatically, the profit people and companies made decreased, the governments tax revenue decreased as well, the price of things dropped because the value and worth of things dropped as well. During this time many people lost their homes due to foreclosure because they did not have a steady source of income to be able to pay off their debts. The majority of families decided to go on the road and try to find a place that was looking for workers so they can settle down and have a place to live. The Depression lasted over a decade and has been the worst economic depression
The Great Depression was the deepest and longest-lasting economic downfall in the history of the United States. No event has yet to rival The Great Depression to the present day, although we have had recessions in the past, and some economic panics, fears. Thankfully, the United States of America has had its share 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.