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Great Depression Dbq

Decent Essays

After the Civil War, America started experiencing prosperous times in terms economic boom. However, in September, 1929 things took a different twist when the stock prices fell abruptly, eventually leading to the stock market crash the following October. This, combined with rising personal debt triggered the Great Depression, the worst economic collapse since the onset of industrialization. The ensuing effect was collapse of banks, closure of businesses and a quarter of the employed Americans lost their jobs. Further, families became homeless and some resorted to camping out on the Great Lawn in New York City, which was an empty reservoir then. Others, built shanties which were commonly referred to as “Hoovervilles”. Men left their families in an attempt to look for work hence breaking their families. In addition, many became very conservative even after the Great Depression ended. …show more content…

Buttons became too expensive and as a result, people were forced to use zippers. The Depression occasioned a period of self-doubt and self-blame, and men were more psychologically affected than women. This was because they were expected to provide for their families and felt humiliated to ask for assistance. In effect, women took up jobs to feed their families.
Minority races who consisted of African Americans and Hispanic Americans were hardest hit by the Great Depression. Half of all the African Americans lived in the South while Hispanic Americans resided in the Southwest states. The rural southern black communities lost their farms due to a drop in the prices of cotton and other produce. The result was two thirds of those farmers earning nothing hence pushing them into debt. Moreover, in the cities, they lost their jobs as white men took their low-paying

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