1930′S Essay, Research Paper

The “roaring twenties” was an era when our country prospered greatly. The stock market was booming and everyone was trying to get rich fast. But on ” black friday” when the market crashed, this was a factor which caused the American economy to capsize. This all took place in the late 20’s. So as the 30’s came into view, they weren’t going to be as “roaring” as the twenties. Because of the maldistribution of wealth between all classes, the poorer just got poorer. Nobody was in store for what the 30’s would bring, because of the 20’s they were all leed to believe that everyone would become rich.

“Black or white, it didn’t make any difference who you ere, ’cause everybody was poor” (Louis Banks). Times had dramatically changed. People who had everything lost it, andthose who never had it, became even poorer. There wasn’t any money going around, so it became harder to buy goods. In the movie “Brother Can You Spare a Dime?,” It was illustrated that you could trade things for food. Money was so scarce in those days. You could give up you bike for a meal. Many lost their jobs, and because of this they also lost their homes. Families began moving out of their homes in order to find jobs elsewhere. But this Depression was going on nation wide and it spread to most industrialized places of the world. So in most cases their search for jobs came up empty. “Men who lost their jobs dropped out of sight” (Caroline Bird). Men were embarrased, and ashamed when they lost their jobs. In those days a man must provide for his family, and when he couldn’t, he was considered a failure.

Families were out on the street and had no where to go, most had recieved hand bills stating that there was work in California. There was work in California, but for maybe a couple hundred people not for the 10 thousand that showed up. Times were very hard. And there was no place to stay. Families set up, hoovervilles made up of make shift tents and cardboard. These places were called Hoovervilles because President Hoover, was doing nothing to help the situation. It wasn’t until President Franklin D. Rousevelt stepped in and saved the day did the 30’s get a little better.