For example, spending was lessened and investment was dropped. Businesses went through a downward spiral, and unemployment skyrocketed. When The Great Depression reached its climax more than 14 million Americans were unemployed, and many banks closed. The Great Depression brought about emotional anguish and physical suffering to many Americans. Yet, the United States Government was able to be an aid
More people were moving to the cities and towns; however this meant that more people from the middle/working class were coming together and radical ideas were to starting to rapidly become popular, such as parliamentary reform - radical ideas which were inspired by the French revolution. This popularity caused events such as the Spa Field Riots, which forced the government to follow the reactionary policy of suspending Habeas Corpus to discourage civilians from the idea of a revolution. Moreover influential radical leaders were a vital reason why the government followed reactionary policies. For example take Henry Hunt, the incident in Peterloo in 1819
The collapse of stock market happened because it had a weak foundation. In fact, it was dependent on borrowed money; banks would lend money to the population to buy shares in the market without making sure the borrowers were able to pay back. Moreover, facing the crisis over nine thousand banks were obliged to close, for they invested their client's savings in the stock market. Going through rough time financially, Americans are drastically forced to reduce their spending which lowered the amount of production; therefore, employers slashed the numbers of employees that caused the unemployment rate to rose from 4.2 in 1928 to 8.7 in 1930 and to 23.6 in 1932. In the middle of the crisis, several social classes experienced a harsh time.
The U.S. was truly stepping up its game, but at a cost. Entire groups of people were slighted and mistreated, but this led to the formation of unions and groups of people who worked for and wanted the same thing.
However, during the Great Depression, getting a job was very difficult. There were many Americans in need of jobs, and only a few were able to work per day. Even with the job, there was not enough money to pay for the houses. Many families at that time sent their kids away to keep the safe. Many Americans lost control of their lives.
There are many ways people become homeless. It is usually a series of events, such as losing a job, getting divorced, dropping out of college, facing a death or tragedy, drug addiction, mental illness, etc. Some homeless people have a job but can’t afford to have a home because minimum wage isn’t a living wage. Many homeless people feel there are no opportunities left for them because they learned this behavior. Many just need the right opportunities shown to them to change their whole perspective on life.
When they did work, the pay was so low that they were unable to save any money for the times when they were unemployed. During those times, they would have to rely on the help of family or “poorhouses,” or even charities. There was also the problem of transportation, Katz explains, which was not affordable for most people. Therefore, many people had to look for work close to home. Most of the time, there were not any jobs available close to home and many people were forced to move to where there were jobs.
For a decade after World War I, the United States went through a time of economic downfall called the Great Depression. The stock market crashed and suffered catastrophic losses that lasted from 1929 to the start of World War II in the early 1940’s. Banks closed by the hundreds. Businesses went under by the thousands. The Midwest was turned into the largest desert in the United States due to drought like conditions brought on by over farming of the Plains and lack of rain.
(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
As the United States saw unprecedented industrial growth following the Civil War an unprecedented demand for labor, mostly cheap and unskilled, also grew. The vast majority of these "new immigrants" came here seeking work and the dream of going from "rags to riches". More so than before, this group of new settlers faced more of a hardship in terms of acceptance. There was a well-known group called the “Know Nothings” who were strongly anti-immigration. Anyway, this wave of immigrants helped aid in the induction of new neighborhoods such as Little Italy and China Town.