The Great Depression And Religion Essay

The Fall of 1929 the United States’ stock market crashed in what today is known as Black Tuesday. Its effects did not discriminate. It impacted both the rich and the poor, young and the old, educated and uneducated. It was a time of great economic stress on every area of life. Industrial prices rose out of the reach of the average consumer, and crop prices drastically plummeted. It was a time when many roles within families and the government were changed. The Great Depression greatly impacted religion, work environment, and the family structure within the home. However, many forget that these impacts still exist in today’s society and continue to impact our homes.
Religion played and continues to play a large role in many families’ lives especially

Religion is often displayed as a solution to many problems whether it be death, disappointment, or guilt. However, during The Great Depression many religions struggled to reach their audiences. What message could they give to a people that was struggling to simply put bread on the table? “Grace Fuller in one of the many sermons she wrote for her husband Charles, the Los Angeles radio evangelist: "In every cup of bitterness that God offers us or permits Satan to offer us, there is a sweetness that we could have in no other way” (Butler 576). These slightly dismal yet simple messages of hope were widespread during throughout this time period. Getting through the hardships ahead would lead to a better future. Jon Butler’s Article entitled, “Forum: American Religion and the Great Depression,” states that the Great Depression became a “historical laboratory for religion” (Butler 577). Religions were formed and drastically changed to fit the economic hardships ahead of them. Service which many churches are founded upon was needed in large supply, but there were few that had extra to give. For a people who had so

Many programs that were created during The Great Depression are beginning to haunt our governmental institution even today. Programs such as Social Security and the Welfare systems are creating a substantial amount of debt within our country. According to the article titled “Perils of Price Deflations,” “Two decades ago, worrying about deflation was like worrying about a shortage of pigeons in Trafalgar Square. But now that inflation rates are near zero, periodic deflations are much more plausible” (Carlstrom 1). Deflation has many negative effects. Within Charles Calstrom’s article he names three “dangers of deflation” (1). The first is nominal interest rates. These cannot fall below zero percent and therefore, deflations can increase real interest rates. These high rates discourage investment spending and decrease economic activity. The second is that employers are unable to reduce nominal wages so deflations increase the real wage discouraging employment growth. The last is that these effects can lead to large redistributions of wealth” (Carlstrom 1). In an ideal economy supply equals demand in both work and goods, however, especially in times of economic difficulty this ratio becomes very skewed. Thus resulting in high prices of goods. Often the most negative effect is the redistribution of wealth that follows deflation. “Shocks that