Riding The Railss During The Great Depression

October 29, 1929 was a dark day that made the textbooks as 16,410,030 shares of stocks were sold in swarms, consequently beginning the Great Depression. This day will forever be known as “Black Tuesday”, when the stock market went from an upbeat roaring to a screeching halt. The Nation’s economy diminished, banks failed, and people everywhere suffered from scarcity and insufficiency of resources and job opportunity. Which left more than 10 million unemployed workers and their families submerged into the pit of poverty (American Heritage Center). A response of some people, usually teenagers was to “ride the rails” in order to survive during the lack of basic necessity. Later on, the people were in a foul disposition as the presidential campaign

With no promise of reaching a destination they lived meal by meal and day by day by hopping freight trains which was at the time illegal. “Teenagers that were new to the road had high hopes to where there journeys would lead”(Riding the Rails). These people were identified by the phrase “hobo(s).” Historians described riding the rails as having a “romantic appeal but a harsh reality” (Ganzel). What they found was that many were in more danger than it appeared during the depression since it was a popular solution for many of the young folks. With a train going 60 or 70 miles an hour a small turn could throw you right off the train if you weren’t paying attention; many people died that way. In the documentary Riding the Rails a woman shared that the first thing she had been told to do was to, “slap your knees down so a switch won’t snag you off, right into eternity,” which had struck fear and doubt into her at the beginning (Riding the Rails). Often times railroad workers would hire extra hands to watch cars to prevent the homeless from hitching rides on their freights. The solution to this usually was violence by the road employees whom would beat or kill the hitchhikers who refused to get off at the next stopping

Roosevelt overall proved himself to be a valuable asset during this time by introducing his New Deal that brought the country back to life. Although the slumps through this time in history seemed impossible to overcome, there was much success in improving most, if not all of the fundamentals of the American society. It was an immense recovery without being a tremendous victory. While riding the rails was exhilarating it was also dangerous and consisted of many who became outsiders to the life they once knew. While taking risks and fighting for their lives, most “hobos” survived when many were conquered by starvation and violence. As a result of all aspects present during this time the country eventually triumphed over the distraught that filled lives by the success of their leader and cooperation of the people that had not come easily.

Works Cited

American Heritage Center "Franklin D. Roosevelt -New Deal." Franklin D. Roosevelt . N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Mar. 2014.

Beattie, Andrew. "What Caused The Great Depression?" Investopedia. N.p., 26 Feb. 2009. Web. 13 Mar. 2014.

Ganzel, Bill. "Riding the Rails during the Great Depression." Riding the Rails during the Great Depression. Ganzel Group, 2003. Web. 19 Mar. 2014.

Kennedy, David M., Lizabeth Cohen, and Thomas Andrew Bailey. The American Pageant: A History of the American People. Boston, MA: Wadsworth