American History 2
4-5-13
Dr. Billy Akins
The Great Depression As we all know, the Great Depression was a severe economic depression. It was world wide and happened in the years before World War II. The greatest of despair for the community that I live in was the years from about 1930 until 1934. My family has lived here forever, just above Tellico Plains in the mountains is a little community called Coker Creek. This is where my family has lived for years and years. Even at the time of the Great Depression. Including my Great Aunt Lucille. She had jus turned eleven years old. Her worst memories came from the years of the depression. It began when she was eleven and lasted until she was fifteen. This paper is written in our words from her memory. She is 94 years old now. Her daddy dealt with banks a lot during the depression. He did not lose much money (mainly because they had no money to lose). "Mostly we just had enough money to buy our food, and if there was any extra cash daddy kept it at home put away" Lucille stated. Back in those times when she was a little girl and if you wanted something, you either worked really hard to get what you wanted or you just did not get it. Plain and simple. They did not just go over to the bank and borrow however much money they needed. They had an account at the general store to buy things that they needed for every day use, and when payday came around the family pulled all of their money together and pay all of their bills first. Lucille stated that "we were dirtfloor poor well before the depression hit so we never really felt the affects when Wall Street crashed." They knew it was going on because of hearing about it on the radio stations. They kept up with the news, but all the bad things they were hearing of on the radio seemed to never reach them. In all reality things were worse for them before the depression hit, they were just use to living the way they did and did not realize that the things they were hearing on the raido was not as bad as they were living. The family lived in the small, rual community of Coker Creek, TN. What was known as that time as a farming and logging area. "The main jobs in our area were timber harvesting. There were several sawmills around in our area" she stated. Almost each and every mill was family owned. These family ran business's provided lots of jobs for people in our community and people on the outside bringing timber in. Job shortages did not happen, and people in this community did not realize what the panic was around the world. They thought everyone was timber cutters or sawmillers. In there line of work there would always be jobs. This community did not have job shortages like they were talking about around the world. With the community being as poor as it was, the affects did not even bother the people. That is how poor these people were. Although wages were not a lot during those times, her daddy was still able to provide enough food for the family. "We always had bacon, ham, apples, potatoes, and lots and lots of beans." She told me how her mother made the best bread she had ever ate. Food was in a very short supply and they had to have some stamps to be able to buy some of the things that they needed. They were fortunate enough to live on good ground that had great soil. They grew their own food in a garden. They would work hard during the spring months getting it all planted, then during the summer months when it was time to harvest the food they picked it all. After picking it they would can all the food they could, or find some way to store their food. They were self sufficient. Her daddy cut timber and hauled it and made more money that a lot of the other locals did. They were a lot better off than most of the people in their community (but they were still very poor). As a matter of fact, her daddy loaned money to people that would come by and need some help financially. Back then peoples word was as good as
July 25, 2013 The Great Depression The Great Depression was a big tragedy that left a lot of Americans out of work and hungry. It affected many people’s lives and a lot of people suffered and even died. The depression lasted roughly 12 years. Many believe that the Federal Reserve Board had many failed policies. They caused a shrinking of the money supply that made economic conditions worse. The stock market crash on October 29, 1929 signified the beginning of the depression and lasted until…
The Great Depression was a very complicated economic depression which had many factors contributing to it. To pinpoint the exact causes of the Great Depression is so complicated because all the factors relied on each other. When one thing went wrong, other things were soon to follow. Over production and under consumption, the stock market speculation, and the inequity of wealth distribution would be considered majors causes that led to the Great Depression. The over production and under consumption…
The Great Depression Table of Contents Final Draft Sources Pictures The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade before World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations. But it most countries is started in 1930 and lasted until the late 1930s or middle 1940s. It was the longest, deepest, and most widespread depression of the 20th century. The Great Depression is commonly used as an example of how far the world's economy…
States history was the Great Depression. This had brought one of the greatest and strongest of countries to its knees. I believe there are three main reasons that contributed to the economic collapse of the United States. New York stock Market crashed, The Dustbowl, and thousands of migrants move to the Northwest. But there are also three causes that helped U.S. recovered from this tragic event. They were Roosevelt’s New Deal, Grand Coulee Dam, and World War II. The Great Depression began with New York…
Many people were affected by the Great Depression. After the stock market crash in 1929, the country changed in a lot of way. Many people lost their jobs because of this downturn in the economy. During the Great Depression practically every person had to adjust to a different way of living than what they were used to. This tells how life changed for all Americans. During this time many children didn’t receive education because many communities had to close their schools down during the 1932-1933…
The Great Depression was a worldwide event that was an economic meltdown. Most people agree that the beginning of the Great Depression was Black Tuesday on October 29, 1929. According to Taylor, on that particular Black Tuesday, “the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell almost 23 percent and the market lost between $8 billion and $9 billion in value.” During this time, there was widespread unemployment, homelessness, a major drop in industry, debt deflation and an 89 percent drop in stock prices…
or have learned something about the great depression and the effects it had on the United States. There are a list of issues the created the great depression, but have we actually thought about it, and tried to understand it before? In the 1920’s the American economy was going strong, for the most part, and the vast majority of Americans had witnessed economic growth, however, stock prices fell, more and more issues arose, and then came the great depression which created uneven distribution of wealth…
Mr. Santomenna APUSH February 14, 2013 The Great Depression and the New Deal The 1930’s was one of the lowest points in American history. The stock market and economy was at an all-time low. As many Americans began selling their stocks, the market plummeted. This caused many people to lose their money and investments due to them buying on margin. During the election of 1932, President Hoover was removed from office and in came Franklin D. Roosevelt. Roosevelt went to work right away and passed…
The Stock Market Crash of 1929 led the United States into one of the most unforgettable time periods in history- the Great Depression. During this economic disaster, political, economic, and social institutions were in turmoil. In attempt to solve the corruptions brought about by the Great Depression, actions were taken by the government, various groups, and subtly by individuals. Unemployment levels in the United States reached as staggering 25%. This rate was so high due to the decrease in consumer…
Causes of The Great Depression Fundamental cause – contraction in spending i.e. aggregate demand. Decline in production as inventory level at manufacturers and merchandisers increased. Transmitted to rest of the world mainly through the gold standard. Variety of other factors also fuelled the downturn in various countries. Major causes are discussed here. Stock Market Crash Decline in output occurred in the U.S. during the summer of 1929. Stemmed from tight U.S. monetary policy aimed at…