Great Depression On American People Essay

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The Varied Impact of the Great Depression on American People

The experiences of Americans during the Great Depression varied greatly. For most, the Great Depression was a time of hardships and trials. The way that people were tried were different though, some languished in a collapsed economy, while others had to struggle to make a living in the remote regions of the country.

The years berween 1929 and 1933 were trying years for people throughout the world. Inflation was often so high money became nearly worthless. America had lost the prosperity it had known during the 1920's. America was caught in a trap of a complete meltdown of economy, workers had no jobs simply because it cost too much to ship the abundance of goods being produced. …show more content…

The Heroux family living in Chicago area was an example of this. Jeanne Heroux was born in 1932, but considers herself fortunate. Her family owned a candy store during the depression, and Jeanne never even noticed that there was a problem.

Jeanne Heroux did experience some common problems of the time though. She was a sickly child, and contracted double pneumonia and whooping cough. She eventually overcame her illness, but was plagued with bad health for much of her childhood. After her case of pneumonia, she would come down with a cold nearly every week, which caused her to miss school for up a week, or possibly longer. Even a cold was a major illness for a sickly child during the 1930's and 1940's; it was not until the invention of miracle drugs such as sulfa pills and penicillin. (Boyle, Jeanne)

When Jeanne Heroux was eight, her father died when nurses administered the wrong dosage of anesthetic to him when he was having his tonsils removed. This event had a great effect upon Jeanne and her family's life. Jeanne's mother went to work at U.S. Steel as a typist, while an elderly great aunt took care of Jeanne and her younger brother, while her older siblings were sent to boarding school. (Boyle, …show more content…

After receiving an education, William married Jeanne Heroux, and had eight children. While living in Chicago during the winter months, William has returned to his boyhood home of Crested Butte nearly every summer, regardless of his health.

While the Great Depression was a difficult time to live in, it was also a very unique and exiting time. Few generations have experienced so much history as those growing up during the Great Depression, and coming of age during World War II have.

Through out the Great Depression, people experienced hardships that seemed foreign to a modern industrial country. People were forced to either return to a way of life unknown to most living in the cities, or seek to build a new life in the remote areas of America. No matter where people were during the Great Depression, people faced common problems, such as the lack of medicines such as penicillin. In the years before the Second World War, peole were fliced with common difficulties, as well as regional

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