How Did The Great Depression Affect The Economy In The 1930s

When scholars and adults think of the 1930’s they immediately think of the Great Depression. A crisis that started at the end of the 1920’s lasted throughout the whole entire 30’s. The effects still reminiscent in our culture today. No one remembers or imagines the feats and accomplishments that were made in the 1930’s all they can imagine is children, women, or men on the streets begging for food or money. The Economic Depression as a whole created one of the bleakest decades in US history. Not only was the US suffering the worst economic downfall ever, the Holocaust had just begun. The US was on fire, crashing and burning and there were no solutions. The fairly new established country looked like it was about to come to a crashing halt.

To have plentiful food and three meals a day in the 1930’s was a luxury that only a few had but all sought out for. The Great Depression placed a burden on the US’s society and its economy because it increased unemployment, leading to an increase in crime, which decreased the quality of life as a whole. The Great Depression had a colossal effect on unemployment rates effect on unemployment rates. Unemployment in the US during the 1930’s was at an all-time high. There was such scarce availability of jobs because businesses were careless and placed a lot of money in the bank and on stocks. Once the stock market crashed, businesses went out of business and causing them to release millions of employees (Fremon “The Great Depression” 8).

The Los Angeles Times states that “In 1933, the nationwide homicide mortality rate hit a high for the century up to that point of 9.7 per 100,000 people.” This high of a crime rate was unheard of in the US, back then and it is still shocking today. People began to live in fear for the life, placing a huge mental toll on people. Even people who were considered as saviors resorted to crime because the Great Depression left them in too big of a hole. One example was financier Richard Whitney who was considered as the “white knight” of wall street when he invested millions of his own money to try and balance the economy and the stock market had to commit larceny from his wife's family estate, the New York Yacht club, and the Harvard swim team (Beschloss, Michael. “From White Knight to Thief.” The New York Times). Richard Whitney was only one of the few “good guys” who although tried to help, the effects of the Great Depression caught up to them. To see people who were perceived as heroes commit crimes was demoralizing for citizens to witness. Not only did it demoralize families but also made many people believe that they can resort to crime because no one is good. Crime was so high and the crimes being done were so dangerous that in 1936 little less than 200 people were executed through the death penalty (“Historical Data.” Crime and Justice Atlas). These studies shocked the many that such a