A Little History
Open a newspaper or turn on the TV news and you hear a lot of information about the Great Depression. Our grandparents could probably tell you much about that time period in the late 1920’s and 1930’s. Ever wonder why grandma and grandpa were so frugal with their money? Ever wonder why they didn’t spend frivolously? Ever wonder why they hid their money under the mattress? It’s simple; when you go through something like they did in the 20’s and 30’s there is an impression that remains which never goes away. You always remember the tough times and hopefully, it teaches you a lesson. In the United States, history is often soon forgotten. It often repeats itself and we treat it like something new, never before experienced. The truth is that what is happening now in this state and in this nation is not something new. It has happened to us before and will again.
History does repeat itself and it takes a leader with vision to help start the digging out process, both at the state and national level. Are we currently in a depression? Or is more of a severe recession? That’s up to the experts to debate. Whatever we are currently struggling with, one thing is for certain, it has happened before and will happen again. Hard choices need to be made and people need to get back to work. Jobs need to be created and government needs to lend a hand, just as FDR did back in the 1930’s and 40’s with his New Deal programs. America is a nation that has risen and fallen and risen again. As long as we have leaders and programs that promote economic growth and invest in the people of this country, we will rise once more. But before we do, a little history lesson for you:
-The Great Depression started in 1929
-The Stock Market Crash was one of the main reasons for the Great Depression. Billions of dollars of stocks were lost.
-The Stock Market crashed on October 29, 1929. This day is known as “Black Tuesday.”
-As a result of the crash unemployment went up, people lost their homes, people were very poor and could not afford the necessities of life.
-Fifty percent of the children in the United States did not have “adequate food, shelter, clothing, or medical care.” Some went completely without these necessities. Children started fainting because they did not have enough to eat.
-Many people had to go to soup kitchens to get food. The lines were very long. People would spend all day waiting in line just to get a small meal. Soup kitchens were run by charities.
-Some people did not even have a soup kitchen to go to. People had to pick trash to find food.
-In the 1920s there were no governmental programs to help those who had fallen on hard times. As a result of the Great Depression we know have many governmental agencies to help in times of need.
-People did not have money for necessities so there was no way they were going out and buying things they did need. Companies that sold items such as car and other appliance that were selling like crazy before the depression were not selling anything. Production factories stop making money so more people lost jobs.
-People who did have jobs made barely enough to survive. Hired farm hands only made $216.00 a year. A doctor made $3,382.99 a year.
-A few years later things became worse for Americans when the Dust Bowl started. In the area of the Dust Bowl people suffered from a severe drought and dust storms.
-Dust was everywhere: lungs, food, drinks, houses, furniture, bodies.
-Many people fled their homes to get away from the dust. They had little food and no place to stay. They lived in old cars, boxcars, and some on the streets.
-The Dust Bowl most of the crops in the affected region. So there was little food to go around.
-Many people were headed west to start over where there was no dust. Many people went to California. Others had no choice but to stay behind and suffer.
-People who had savings in banks lost all their money. Banks had lent the money out and there was no money to pay it back. Today we have protection when we put our money in the bank thanks to laws past as a result of the Great Depression.
-Many people lived in settlements where they built shacks out whatever they could find. These settlements for called “Hoovervilles,” named after President Hoover.
-President Herbert Hoover was in office in the beginning of the Great Depression. He was blamed for “doing too little too late.”
-Some people would go into restaurants and pretend they were going to order when the waitress went back into the kitchen they would poor all the stuff on the table like ketchup, salt, pepper, etc into their water. They would drink it down before the waitress came back and then they would tell her that they changed their minds and they didn’t see anything on the menu they wanted. This drink mixture was called “Hoover soup.”
-African Americans were hit hardest during the depression. Companies laid off African Americans before others.
-Many farmers could not pay off their loan they had taken out so the bank would take their belongings and auction them off.
-In order to protect each other friends and neighbors would go to the auctions and pay low prices for the property and give it back to the original owner. They would refuse to pay very much money. These auctions are referred to as penny auctions.
-In 1933 Franklin D. Roosevelt became president.
-Mrs. Roosevelt received thousands of letters from children begging for money, clothes, books, food, and other things for their families. Segregation prevented them from finding many options for housing.
-Franklin D. Roosevelt came up with a New Deal policy to help get America out of the Great Depression.
-Some programs created under the New Deal are still around today: Social Security, National Recovery Administration, and Securities and Exchange Commissions.
-FDIC was created as a result of the Depression. This makes sure we do not lose money we put in the bank.
-FDR used to talk to the nation on the radio. His talks are known as fireside talks. He would encourage the nation during his speeches.
-The Great Depression is said to have ended in 1939.
-World War II made the United States economy go up. Factories and farms were once again needed to produce products and food overseas.
Source: University of Maine
Tim Gray
Director of Communications
Rhode Island General Treasurer
