The Great Depression In America

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The Great Depression was the longest lasting economic decline in the history of the United States. After the stock market crash of October 1929, the Great Depression followed. The event caused Wall Street to go into complete dismay, and wiped out millions of banks. For the next decade, social fabric was changed as well as the role of government. 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…show more content…
Roosevelt’s New Deal programs. The Great Depression caused Americans to be homeless, which brought emotional anguish and physical suffering to their lives. During the Great Depression, many photographs were captured that directly concentrated on the facial expression of the affected people. From the images taken during this time, observers interpreted worry and agony from the individual(s). For example, emotional anguish is shown in Dorothea Lange’s photo, “Migrate Mother” through the Mother of three by her facial expressions showing despair and hunger. Moreover, the woman is trying to provide for her three children on her own, during this painful time in history. The Great Depression gave Americans…show more content…
No matter whom you were, the Great Depression affected everyone. Through President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal programs, many Americans received some type of recovery, relief, or reform. Programs such as the Work Progress Administration created jobs and aided those who could not get one on their own. The WPA focused on providing jobs that produced public works of lasting value. Grown men that were once a part of a program called the Civilian Corp. Conservation were interviewed. One man said because of the new deal program "[his] life changed for the better." Another man said he was embarrassed of "holes in his shoes" as a young teen, and when he came to the CCC, they gave him a new pair and from that day on he had hope for better days. While Americans were having a hard time finding a job, health issues increased. For example, an image taken of children at eating lunch at school shows WPA workers serving children their lunch meals. Unfortunately these hot meals for the children were their only meals of the day. In another political cartoon, it shows a line wrapped around a building to receive food from a soup kitchen. Soup kitchens and bread lines were among the ways that people tried to help. Sickness was another health issue. A poster titled "Who have you exposed to syphilis?" rests as the governments want to make the nation a safer environment.
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