Great+Depression

=The Great Depression!= By C. Henry

 What is the Great Depression? How did it start?

The Great Depression is the economic crash that happened in 1929, over the **New York Stock Exchange. ** It was called the //GREAT //Depression, not because it was a great thing, because it was the largest econo mic calamity the United States It started because of the famous day in history, called ** Black Tuesday **. ** Black Tuesday ** is when the American Stock Market officially crashed, on October 29, 2010. They lost at least 30 billion dollars by the end of the week. 

What did people do for money?

People did **bank runs**, which were when people went to the banks and took out all of their money, some people found jobs building the __Empire State Building__ and the __Golden Gate Bridge__, below is a picture of of people lined up for a bank run, as you can see it was a popular idea to do back then. Some also moved to California, because they had the best farming at the time. They earned $7.00 after 6 weeks of picking peas. What was life like during the Great Depression?

More than half of the nation's children were growing up in poor families that couldn't provide an adequate food, shelter, and medical care. Some people were so poor that they went hungry, and their children fainted in school, they also often got rickets (a disease). Since the Great Depression was 12 years long, one quarter of the work force was unemployed, 5,500 banks closed, and 32,000 businesses went bankrupt. A lot of people didn't have to money to pay for their houses so they sold them and they payed people to rent a room at their houses. Some people were affected so badly that they moved to Appalachia and ate dandelions and blackberries for their staple diet. Some people got so hungry, they would try to eat their hands. Even though the times were hand a record of 60-80 million Americans went to the movies a week.

How were people affected during the Great Depression?

During the Great Depression women's fashion changed a lot. Because of the economic crisis going on many fashion designers made easy affordable clothes with longer hemlines, slim waistlines, lower heels, and less makeup. Women were also affected because nearly 1.5 million women were abandoned by their husbands (usually to go and find work). Most families weren't able to put food on the table so there was a Government Relief Agency that helped the families. Banks had stopped lending money to investors, merchants, and homeowners because they could not collect the loans they had made. During the Bank Runs most people believed that their money was safely stored in the bank, but most people's cash had disappeared. When people were "Ill-Housed" it meant they could not stay warm, keep food cold, or take a bath or shower. In 1934, 42% of the city homes and 92% of farm dwellings had no central heating. The nation as a whole, 27% lacked refrigerator equipment, 31% had no running water, 32% had an outdoor toilet/privy, and 39% did not have a bathtub or shower. 34 million men, women, and children had no income at all.

What was segregation like during the Great Depression?

African American people were the hardest people hit during the Great Depression and they were often the first to get laid off. Also, Mexicans were accused of taking jobs away from the "real" Americans, and were strongly encouraged to go back to Mexico. How did the Presidency help?

When President Roosevelt was elected in 1933, the issue got worse. Eleanor Roosevelt received over 1000 letters from young Great Depression children and teenagers. They told her about their problems and asked for help. They often asked for things like small personal loans (for school), for clothing, and for holiday gifts, and she often did what they asked her to do. When President Franklin Roosevelt was elected, he tried really hard to find jobs for the suffering people. While President Herbert was in office he didn't do anything to fix it, he thought it was just a passing issue. The presidency came up with a program called New Deal to keep this from happening again.

this is a breadline. A breadline is where people lined up got free bread that was provided by the government. []