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Life During The Great Depression

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For most people, it is difficult to imagine what life during the Great Depression was like, however, due to many resources, both primary and secondary, we can get a glimpse into what living during this time period consisted of. First, the stock market crash caused chaos among the government, bank owners, and the common citizen. Also, the unemployment rate reached the highest it has ever been in the history of the United States and millions of people were left with no source of income. Lastly, many families were torn apart because parents could not afford to pay for the expenses of their children. Overall, the Great Depression was a very difficult time to live through because of the high unemployment rate, lack of money, and because it caused families to split apart. …show more content…

As shown in the movie, Cinderella Man, the main character James Braddock lost all of his money as a result of the stock market crash. Since he was the primary source of income for his family, they quickly fell into poverty and he struggled to find work. This shows the story of not just one person’s life during the depression, but the story of the millions of people who were also affected. Furthermore, following the stock market crash in September/October of 1929, the majority of the American banking system began failing. As people worried about losing their money, they began withdrawing it from the bank which ultimately caused the falling out of the United States’ economy. As stated in the Prentice Hall United States History textbook, by 1932 many Americans thought that no banks would be left standing (Prentice Hall, 2008). In summary, the spark that caused the downfall of the American economy was the stock market crash and the failure of the banks in the

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Joshua Youngworth Mr. Wall Period 4A 1-13-23 Stock Market Crash and the Great Depression Prior to the Great Depression stocks started to be purchased much more commonly as people assumed they could only gain profit from them. After the stock market crashed in 1929, the Great Depression soon began and the United States fell into a state of financial struggles. The Great Depression was a time where these struggles were common for tons of people all over the country and unemployment rates skyrocketed. The stock market crash caused the Great Depression because families couldn’t pay for anything, businesses started to fail, and banks closed.

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The great depression was an economic problem in the United States that started with the first domino to fall in 1929 with the stock market crash. In one day alone the United States lost over 14 billion dollars which this dramatic loss alone America’s industries would slowly start to fall 2 months after the crash in, stockholders had lost more than $40 billion dollars. During the 1930s, more than 9,000 banks failed. Bank deposits were not insured and, therefore, as banks failed, people simply lost their savings.

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The great depression in the US, which began in 1929, and ended in 1938 was caused by many different things all happening at the same time in the economy. The wall street crash in October 1929 was one of the main causes, when the stock markets crashed. This was caused by many things, but the main reason for it was a deflation (which is an event where the general level of prices in an economy are reduced) On October 24th (black Thursday), share prices dropped by 14 billion dollars in a day, and more than 30 billion in a week. This forced many of the banks to close, due to them investing their client’s savings in the stock market.

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The Great Depression was a difficult time in American history. Many families and businesses suffered due to the stock market crash. Despite the stock market crash being a contributor to the Great Depression, the Depression did not happen because of it. There were causes that led up to the crash such as the get rich quick mentality, the Smoot Hawley Tariff, and the bank failures that led to the stock market crash and contributed to the Great Depression. Wall Street was seen as a “money trust” and “a place where insiders fleeced small investors” (Give Me Liberty, Eric Foner, pg 786).

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Regardless of location, the American people suffered during the Great Depression. It all started with the Stock Market Crash of 1929. People used credit too often and didn’t have the money to pay for what they were buying. Levels of unemployment started to drop as companies started to laid off workers. From 1929 to 1933, one in every seven businesses failed.

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Many economists trace the start of the Great Depression back to the 1929 stock market crash in the United States. This impacted the United States in a major way causing many laborer’s to find themselves jobless. There was a dramatic drop in trade, income and taxation that was felt by every country in the world. In the United States the unemployment rate reached 25%. Put in perspective this means that 1 in 4 people during the 1930’s had no form of income.

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In 1929, the stock market crashed, bringing economic devastation to all of America, and much of Europe. Many Americans were jobless and homeless, causing many problems all throughout America. The American citizens and people frantically tried to create coping methods fro life in poverty, and did what they had to survive, as our government was working to improve life for the American citizen. These fateful years would later be known as, “The Great Depression”, the greatest economic crisis in American History.

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Those who put their money into stocks lost almost everything, including the Braddock family. In the movie Cinderella Man, James Braddock and his family show the struggle of life during the great depression. James, with no work available, struggled to win fights in boxing, in order to put food on the table for his family. Overall, Cinderella Man depicted many of the different aspects of the depression, and can provide a good explanation of what it was like for many families during that time.

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The Great Depression was a devastating period in United States History, the economy collapsed, and a staggering 25% of the population was unemployed. During this time, there were large wage disparity gaps that were very prevalent, there was no middle class, you were either wealthy or you were poor. It was hard for family life to continue, parents had to take up two and three jobs to make sure their kids were staying safe, and well. Most of these jobs were odd-jobs, and were temporary with no sense of security. It was a struggle to find work, and no job was too demeaning for you to do, because you may not find work again.

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October of 1929, the month that sent all of Wall Street into a panic and wiped out millions of investors across the United States. Steep declines in employment rates lead to failing companies and more than half of the country's banks, destroyed. The initial start of the great depression. Over the next 10 years, repossessions and foreclosure climbed, leaving many sleeping on the streets and struggling to collect food. The Great Depression found a grew the cracks of democracy in the United States triggering challenges to a great extent.

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Everything was normal, people were happy with jobs and being able to provide a home and food for their families. Until things weren’t normal. The stock markets crashed on October 29, 1929. This was the beginning an economic downfall throughout the nation and most of the world. Many people had lost their jobs and were homeless.

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Could you imagine living in a world with limited electricity, food, water, and other daily necessities? This is the kind of world people had to live in during the Great Depression. The Great Depression was a dark period of time in which the economy collapsed. Many people lost their jobs and money, but the government tried to give hope. To lead off, the Great Depression put millions out of work.

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The great depression was the worst economic recession in the history of the industrialized world. Majority of the population was homeless and starving. People were running out of food and there were very limited number of jobs. Whenever a job came available, people were forced to move to support their families. The struggles and adversities citizens were obligated to face was unreal.

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