The Great Depression

The Stock Market crash ended a six year span of unparalleled prosperity for the American economy. After the first World War American was now known as the most powerful and diverse nation in the world. America was thriving during a time known as “Boom Times”. During this time my family was living the “American Dream”, things couldn’t have been better. I had provided my family with a house and my kids had everything they wanted, my oldest son who was 16 years old even had his own vehicle that’s how good times were for the American economy. This Depression was the longest lasting economic downturn in history. The Stock Market crash caused about 13 to 15 million Americans to become unemployed. Also it caused factories and other business to lose production which caused them to begin to fire their workers.

The Dust Bowl

The Dust Bowl occurred on The Great Plains which was known as the “breadbasket of the world” due to the rich wheat fields that covered its 100 million acres. These strange dust storms were known as “Black Blizzards” which high winds picked up loose soil and created dust clouds.

  Life in the dust bowl was terrible and tragic for many Americans. Daily dust invasions that left homes, fields, and property covered in sand and dirt. These dust storms caused farmers to struggle to grow and maintain their crops which helped provide for the families and farming was how they made their money and what they made a living off of. While women fought to keep the dust from destroying their homes, this was a struggle for women because many became frustrated and some just committed suicide. These storms mainly occurred in Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, and New Mexico.

Hoovervilles

Nearly 2 million Americans were homeless, the highest number in American history. Most all families found themselves out on the streets. Many homeless people built makeshift shacks in public places, these shanty towns were called “Hoovervilles” named after President Herbert Hoover. Hoovervilles were located in several large cities across the nation. Shacks were built out of scrap wood, metal, stone or whatever materials were available to these Americans. People mainly tried to build their shacks in the city because they had resources close to them. Also when people weren’t able to build their shacks in the city, they mainly tried to build them near a water source so they would have water to drink, cook, and wash with. Many of the small shacks were destroyed because they couldn’t hold up to the powerful dust storms.

Fireside Chats

Franklin D. Roosevelt needed a way to communicate with the American people to give them confidence and keep hope that they would get through the Depression. He used radios to send them evening messages each day, this also made Roosevelt popular and gained support from the public. Everyone was amazed because America the great nation we are had never had a President do such a thing before, they began to believe in Roosevelt because of this. This mainly have him support from the public for his programs. All these chats began in 1933 these also provided the people with entertainment.

  Without fire side chats I personally think we would not have been able to get through the Depression, these chats kept people from giving up and committing suicide like many did before fire side chats.