1930S Decade Essay Essay, Research Paper

1930’s Decade Essay

The 1930’s was a decade of pain, loss, struggle, and eventually, a new

beginning. Through the convictions of a money crisis which started the Great Depression

of not only the Nation, but the World, many citizens lost everything proving that the

Stock Market crash left the 1930’s in full out pain and struggle. To escape the pressures

of the Depression and unemployment, many turned to the likes of entertainment as a

means of relief from the hardships and realities of an unrelenting plague that was felt

throughout the world. Along with entertainment to help shed some light to the country

gone bankrupt, a reformer took advantage of the situation and brought with him, A New

Deal which gave hope for all of America. Needless to state, the 1930’s was a time of hurt

and pain until this reformer came and impacted the nation for the better.

On October 29, 1929, the Stock Market, which a majority of the nation

but their money into, crashed resulting in a nation burried in turmoil and panic. All the

money that the famillies poured into the Stock Market had been lost. The Crash left

millions of the Nation in despair and struggle for a better life. Millions of Americans lost

their jobs and the unemployment rate incredibly rose in a year alone. Many people

blamed President Hoover for the depression which followed the Stock Market Crash for

his indifference to their hardships and his petty actions of trying to make it better when it

was too late ( and too close to the elections ) were undeniably selfish and crude. The

nation turned their backs on him as any Nation looking for a scapegoat would and named

their poor “Shantytowns,” which were places where the poor and unemployed lived;

“Hoovervilles” after the empathetic ruler of their Nation.

Although the Nation was distraught and hopeless, one thing provided a

better light for them to see with, Entertainment. Before Americans escaped the realities

of the World through a theater that provided entertainment, the radio first provided

Americans with sports and news and even soap operas such as ” Lone Ranger” and

“Guiding Light” which later became tv shows. Americans would listen to boxing matches

between Jack Dempsey and Gene Tunney and hear about Babe Ruth’s homeruns for years

but once the depression struck many Americans turned to the theaters. Americans went

to theaters and watched black and white movies as a means of escapism from the harsh

realities of the depression. They’d go and watch movie serials every week and soon,

sound was added to the movies. Gretta Garbough, Humphrey Bogart, Clark Gabel,

Marlene Deitrich, and James Kagney were famous movie stars that millions of Americans came

to see in movies weekly. The most famous movie showed in the theaters was “Gone With

The Wind,” which starred Clark Gabel and Vivian Leigh. Soon, people went to the

theaters to hear of the news and hear updates of their neverending economic crisis.

While Americans tried to escape their reality of a hard World, one man

came up with a plan to help the economy for the better. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was

the Nation’s next hope for a revelation of the Decade. He became the next President after

beating Hoover in the elections. The World needed a new leader and a reformer and they

picked the right one for the job. Franklin Delano Roosevelt had a “New Deal” in mind

that would help the Nation to grow strong. The New Deal consisted of many

organizations that would empower the Nation with forms of relief such as the Social

Security Act which provided money to those who couldn’t afford jobs and it also

provided welfare, unemployment insurance, and medicare. Along with these forms of

reform, he enabled a re-distribution of wealth by taking the money from the rich through

taxes and gave it back to the poor and needy through these organizations. Roosevelt also

increased Government spending and they provided jobs for those who needed them in

infrastructure and with those employees, constructed, built, designed, and opened

freeways, railroads, buildings, bridges, and dams. Not only did Roosevelt’s New Deal

give the World a new beginning, he also gave the World a new hope. With a special

announcement that he directed to the Nation through a radio broacast called the “Fireside

chats,” he let them know that everything would be alright.

At first the Nation spent a lot of their first years of the decade going

through struggle and pain but with the means of entertainment and a warm-hearted

reformer, they dug themselves out of the depression and made a better life for

themselves, their children and the children of the Nation. Just think what life would be

like now if the World had chosen to stay with the same president or if the Nation chose a

different leader who later became a Totalitarian and believed that the master race was

made up of blond haired people with blue eyes.