Bartenders, chiefs, lawyers even government officials were losing jobs and losing money. Entire businesses were going bankrupt and riding themselves from every worker they had. With no jobs available to anyone, money was unevenly distributed throughout the United States of America. The Great Depression affected the American people in many ways, from the poor all the way to the government itself. It frightened civilians, caused people to cut back on expenses, bankrupted companies, and hurt the economy in the government. The Great Depression terrified and caught the American people by surprise. The middle class and the poor did not expect to be affected by the economic downfall. They believed only the rich would be affected by it. However, a few days after Black Thursday millions of people began to realize the financial disaster didn’t just affect the rich but them as well (Hayes). They thought they were safe in their “small world” but the disaster hit and panicked everyone (Hayes). Pretty soon people were losing jobs and jobs began disappearing (Hayes). …show more content…
Some cut back on clothes, furniture, maintenance, music, and toilet paper (Hayes). Since most people were without a job, they never had any money, they lost their homes and cars, so shelter was never around. These unfortunate people had to live in Hoovervilles and build scrap houses for their families. Those who still owned a home, watched as their neighbors lost everything, one by one each home in a regular neighborhood was lost and sold to whoever had any money (Hastings). The economy was so terrible, “one person’s misfortune led to another’s” (Hayes). People had to find new ways to reuse their belongings in every way possible (Hastings). Grocery bags turned into clothes, cardboard turned into shoe soles, and soda turned into toothpaste