Discussion Posts need to be a minimum of 300 words, while the Discussion Post Responses need to be a minimum of 150 words.
Discussion board question:
Q1: #3. How did the Great Depression impact the American people? ( 300 words)
Q2: I also need a comment on this reply ( 150 words):
The Great Depression impacted the American people in many ways. Americans lost their jobs or had their hours and wages reduced which caused many to lose their homes and farms because they could not afford to pay mortgages on them. Farmers formed the Farmers Holiday Association out of frustration to seek out government aid. They threatened to withhold crops, milk, and livestock from the nations markets, other farmers got impatient and blocked roads to prevent goods from moving, and others threatened judges at bankruptcy hearings (Shi 1154). The National Guard intervened with martial law and the chaos diminished. Unemployment and the need for assistance rose from 4 million to 12 million in a matter of three years from 1930 1932. People were desperate and hungry and did many things for food, whether it was stealing food or selling food, the desperation crossed class lines, rich and poor. Hunger impacted Americans greatly during the Depression. Surveys reported from the nations schools that one-quarter of the children suffered from malnutrition (Shi 1155). Many people lined up at soup kitchens and even fought over scraps of food. By 1933, homelessness was seen throughout the nation. Millions lost their homes. Some were lucky enough to be able to move in with family or friends. But those less fortunate were seen under bridges, in culverts, and on park benches (Shi 1155). Some hobos even lived on railcars and were constantly removed from the freight trains. In New York, the homeless lived on the subway trains and would relish in the act of being arrested simply to be thrown in jail to receive free meals and a bed (Shi 1156). The groups hit hardest by the Great Depression were immigrants, the elderly, women, children, farmers, the urban unemployed and migrant workers (Shi 1156). Crime, prostitution, homelessness, and begging increased. Birth rates and decreased because couples did not want to have children. For the first time ever, more people left the United States than arrived as immigrants (Shi 1156). Working women and minorities were two groups that had major difficulty keeping or finding a job. Working women were typically laid off if they had a husband who had a job. This was to open up the opportunity for a man who needed to support his family by allowing them to take those jobs occupied by working, married women. Minorities such as Latinos, African Americans, and Asians were still struggling to find work and given the lowest paying jobs due to racial discrimination. The Great Depression was an economic disaster with shockwaves felt not only in America, but worldwide, as well. Roosevelts trial and error initiatives of the New Deal brought back the hope that America needed after such a dark period of time.
Shi, David E. America: A Narrative History: Brief Volume 1. 11th ed., W.W. Norton & Company, 2019.
