The Great Depression was a period of an economic disaster that lasted from 1929 to 1939. The effects of the depression varied across the nation and had a significant impact on all the different classes of the society. The following investigation will explore the impacts of Great Depression on the daily lives of middle-class Americans. Middle-class Americans were severely affected by the Depression mostly because they stood in the most convenient place of the societal ladder, they were neither poor nor wealthy. So, when Depression struck, the middle-class almost disappeared from the ladder because the economic crisis was massive and affected their lifestyles drastically. The first source analyzed was a book by Russell Freedman named "Children …show more content…
The following investigation will focus on how different aspects of the Great Depression significantly affected the way middle-class Americans lived their day to day life. To understand the effects of Great Depression, it's important to know what the great depression was.
The Hard Times, were a time of economic downturn that started in as early as 1928. The beginning of the Great Depression in the United States is associated with the October 29, 1929, stock market crash which is now known to us as the Black Tuesday and the end of the depression period is associated with the start of the World War II, in around 1939. The Hard Times which took place in the United States not only affected the stock market itself and the banking system but it also left its mark on the day to day lives of Americans.
During the Great Depression, middle-class Americans were drastically affected in several ways. Families from different ethnic, religious, regional backgrounds reacted to the depression in various manners. In 1933, the average household income dropped to $1500 which is 40 percent less than that in 1929 family income of $2300. Families not only lost their saving as the banking system collapsed, but they were also unable to pay mortgages, rent and were deprived and evicted from their houses. The effects of the depression were
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In the book "Hard Times" Stud Terkel, summarized a woman's feelings. She described, "The Depression affected people in two different ways. The great majority reacted by thinking money is the most important thing in the world. Get yours. And get it for your children. Nothing else matters. Not having that stark terror come at you again. And there was a small number of people who felt the whole system was lousy. You have to change it." (pg. 462).
The Great Depression in many after the crash of Wall Street, on October 29, 1929, led to a disappearance in optimism n many middle-class Americans. As it brought with it despair, homelessness, bankruptcies and mass unemployment. All this resulted in a rise in suicide rates. Death rates with were an average 12.1 per 100,000 people in the early 1920's jumped to around 18.9 per 100,000 inhabitants in 1929, This suicide rate remained at its steady speed throughout the Great Depression. Stud Terkel quoted in his book "Hard Times," “What I remember most of those times is that poverty creates desperation, and desperation creates violence.” (pg. 195). During the Hard Times crime rate increased as the family lost everything. This ultimately led people, to do anything to gain money. Hence, the growth in crime
With their being little to no jobs, people had a hard enough time making money, and whilst there were a few available jobs, there was no guarantee of a reliable income. The issue of limited jobs most likely engendered company rates to go down. However, whilst the companies were hit hard by the Depression, the people were the most impacted. In addition to having no reliable income source, people had to give up the use of products, in order to save money. In conclusion, the Great Depression put many into poverty, for the majority, there was not a single soul that was not affected by the Great
The Great Depression affected millions of American financially. After the stock market crash in 1929 and particularly after the banking crisis of late 1930, many Americans lost their jobs and were living in poverty. Herbert Hoover was the president of the United States at the beginning of this Great Depression. During the beginning of Hoover’s presidency most Americans supported a laissez-faire system as did Hoover . In a laissez-faire system the market dictates the economic prosperity of the country.
The Great Depression was a roughly 10-year period in the early twentieth century that was shaped by the United States’ national economic crisis, but affected the global economy, as well. It began in 1929, when the stock market first crashed and stock prices began to fall, but only 2% of Americans owned stock and were affected at this time. (1:48) It wasn’t until tens of thousands of people began to withdraw money from banks and hundreds closed across the country, leaving 28 states bank-less (5:32) that the population truly began to suffer. Unemployment rates skyrocket and more and more people begin to go bankrupt, with 34 million Americans left with no source of income by 1932.
The Great Depression was a catastrophic period of economic hardship that lasted from 1929 to 1939. It was caused by many primary and underlying factors that led to a downfall in economic activity and widespread unemployment. Some of the major causes of this event were stock market speculation, overproduction in numerous industries, underconsumption by consumers, high levels of debt, and the fateful crash of 1929. All of these factors combined created a severe economic emergency that resulted in extreme levels of unemployment and poverty for many Americans.
The Great Depression was far-reaching, and impartial. It affected people of all race, gender, status, and nationality. Men and women of almost all social classes felt the hard effects of unemployment and poverty. The Great Depression had devastating economic and political effects on the country during the 1930’s; however, the effects ran much deeper. Social inequality was boundless during this time period: the nation’s wealth was unbalanced, racial disparity was more prominent than ever, and gender still determined who was considered a first-rate citizen (Kennedy 70-73).
The Great Depression era was one of the most severe hardships in United States history. The amount of suffering that ordinary Americans endured during the Depression was unprecedented. The Depression caused big businesses like Ford to layoff much of their workers during the Depression. This massive unemployment caused millions of workers to lose their homes and their livelihoods, puting Americans in destitute situations of extreme poverty. During the Depression the contemporary safety nets that existed to help take care of people when disaster struck had dried up and was unable to assist everyone.
Christian Stagliola Mod: F. History 1/12/23 5.4 Essay Rough Draft The Great Depression of the 1930s was a significant economic and social crisis that greatly affected the American people and the government. Millions of Americans lost their jobs and savings and were forced to rely on charity or government aid to survive.
In 1929, America underwent an economic crisis. It was the longest and most severe depression of the industrialized western world. This was known as the Great Depression. The cause of this tragic event was partially caused by buying stock in credit. Banks handed out loans to people but when the stock market crashed, they couldn’t pay back the loan.
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression that took place during the 1930s. The article by Edwin Gay and pictures compiled by Cary Nelson are both descriptions of how the Great Depression was and the several impacts that it had on the American economy. The range of the great depression is unprecedentedly wide according to Edwin Gay. The great depression was believed to have started from the collapse of the US stock market in 1929. This was shown in a picture as compiled by Cary Nelson
he Great Depression was a time of huge economic downfall. During this time period people lost their homes, money, and everything they had ever earned. Millions of people were affected, including the middle and lower classes, who would just become poorer. People in upper classes, even dropped to the lower class. This downfall began on October 29, 1929, and the leading cause was the crash of the stock market.
The majority of people made under 2,000 dollars a year (Document 9) which was considered the bare minimum to live off of, the buy all of the basic essentials. These people didn’t have any money to spend on luxury items and couldn’t buy on credit. During this time, some companies priced their goods at a higher price than the majority of people made in a year, like boats that were priced anywhere from 10,000 dollars to 35,000 dollars (Document 8). With nobody to buy from them, these businesses were left without a profit and began going bankrupt. An average family before the depression with two people working full time jobs only made around twenty dollars a week (Document 7).
In what ways did the Great Depression affect the American people? After a decade of economic prosperity, what seemed like an era that defined the concept of the American dream, quickly came to an end when the stock market on Wall Street collapsed in 1929. The aftermath of the events that occurred on Wall Street would put its heavy mark on the years to follow among the citizens of the United States. Banks closed down, unemployment rose and homelessness increased. It was a widespread national catastrophe that had its impacts on both poor and rich.
The Great Depression The Great Depression was by far one of the worst times of America’s history, and the world’s history. The Depression affected everyone except for the politicians and the wealthy. During the depression a lot of people lost their jobs which caused the unemployment rate to sky rocket to 14% of America’s population was unemployed, and the number would stay their till World War 2, and the depression started in the 1920’s. Middle class workers were hit the hardest in the depression. Most of the middle class citizens lost their jobs.
The Great Depression was an enormous economic downfall in the history of the United States and was also a very hard time for many Americans. People had lost jobs, markets went bad, banks had shut down, and unemployment rate has gone up. It had lasted from 1929-1939. During the next several years, buyer spending and investment had dropped, causing a decline in industrial output and raising the unemployment level. It began with the stock market crash on October 29 1929, which had lost millions of investors, markets had lost $30 billion dollars in two days, making it ten times more than the annual budget the U.S had spent for WWI, and prices were dropping until the end of November.
The Great DepressionTopic: the great depressionQuestion: How did the great depression affect americans?Thesis statement:The great depression affected americans because it destroyed their economy. Millions of families lost theirs savings as many banks collapsed in the 1930’s. The Great Depression was the worst economic drop of all times in the industrial world1. The Great Depression began because of a stock market crash in 1929 and came to end ten years later in 1939, around 15 million americans were unemployed and about half of the American banks failed. It was one of the darkest era in the United States.