The Great Depression In Colorado

When the Great Depression began in the 1930s the politicians and large business owners in the state of Colorado largely believed that the calamity could not affect them. Their hubris would soon be revealed as the economic crisis eventually reared its ugly head, as conditions unique to the state actually caused Colorado to be devastated. However, government aid programs that benefitted Western states more than the rest of the country, would greatly benefit Colorado; even though these efforts would be resisted by many of the states more well to do residents. ,

According to our textbook when the Great Depression began most Coloradans would have denied that it was having any effect on them, “Look at the Denver Post and the Rocky Mountain News,

Agriculture and mining, the bulwarks of the Colorado economy would eventually get hit hard, just like the rest of the country. With the failure of the national economy, there was there was less of a demand for the coal and mineral wealth coming from the mines in Colorado. Agriculture, in particular, would be hard hit by the Great Depression as drought (combined with ecologically unsound farming techniques) and a drop in grain prices( that had been artificially enhanced by demand created by WWI) would eventually lead to the dustbowl of the 1930s.

When Franklin Delano Roosevelt became president he initiated the “New Deal” to help the nation overcome its problems. “ The western population at large grew by one-eighth, nearly twice the national rate. In part this was because massive federal spending under Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal provided precious jobs. Outside the West the Midwest was most blessed with federal work relief, direct relief, and loans—$380 per person. The Rocky Mountain states got $716 per capita and the Pacific states

Even after a state sales tax was implemented Coloradans voted in a pension plan for retired Coloradans (aged sixty and over) that ate up much of the revenue. Despite the benefits from the New Deal programs state and local legislators, “claimed to scorn“ the money that was helping Colorado get back on its feet.

Eventually rain would return to the drought ridden southeastern portion of the state and World War II would help bring Colorado, and the rest of the United States, out of the great depression. , However, “In their attitudes, Coloradans joined other westerners who replaced Roosevelt supporters with Republicans or conservative Democrats. Between the Missouri River and the California coast, the New Deal was often lambasted as an alien program actuated by an alien philosophy. In essence, Colorado’s wealthy and middle classed residents benefitted from Roosevelt’s policies – and then spit on his