Beginning Of The Great Depression

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The Beginning of the Great Depression One of the most historical events took place from 1929 thru the 1930’s. It took place in one city, but it affected the whole country of America. This well known episode is described as the first era of The Great Depression. The one situation that sparked this chaotic event was the major stock market crash that occurred on October 29, 1929. (Rothbard &Newton, Intro) During this time Herbert Hoover was president and the American culture was spiraling out of control. Massive bank failures occurred more and more each year causing almost everyone to fall into major debt. People soon lost many of their loved items, such as their homes. Those who were forced to the streets either lived in areas known as…show more content…
Many ran out of money and ultimately lost their farms. It was reported that nearly 750,000 farms were lost through bankruptcy or sheriff sales. Those who were lucky enough to keep their land had to deal with a new problem that was named the “Dust Bowl”. (Newton, Page 707 & facts.randomhistory) With many losing homes and struggling for money divorce rates were at their all time low. However, that did not stop husbands from leaving their wives and families. They would pack up in the middle of the night and leave. They would go in search of better jobs and ultimately ran from their problems. After many of these cases occurred, about 1.5 million husbands had deserted their family. (Facts.randomhistory.com) With families now fending for themselves, people were in search of ways to keep entertained. Many ventured to the movies about once a week. A record of 60 to 80 million Americans went to the movies every week between the years of 1930 and 1935. Meanwhile, others who were lucky enough to own a radio gathered around to listen to local talk shows or dance. Some even took part of parlor games and board games. One of the new and most popular was the game of Monopoly.…show more content…
Many had chosen to cancel and neglect their medical and dental care. Along with their newly planted gardens in the back yard, they were also canning food, purchasing new items such as bread. For their shoes they had stuffed cotton and cardboard inside to use as the soles. With everyone pinching pennies, the food market took notice and lowered many prices. This was a great attempt but many families still chose to go without milk or meat. In NYC the milk consumption declined a million gallons a day. (Montana,
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