The Human Cost of the Great Depression
The Economic boom of the 1920s, a period of economic prosperity, success and glamour in the United States, led to the Great Depression. Consequence of the country’s internal weaknesses, the 1929 financial crash lead to an economic crisis; the one to be agricultural as well as industrial. Starting in the 1930s and finishing in the 1940s, during which 5000 banks went bankrupt in only 3 years, the Great Depression caused a severe social crisis in the American society
To begin with, unemployment increased massively during the Great Depression. Indeed, only 3.2 % of the labour force was unemployed in 1929 compared to 16.3 % two years later, or 25.2 % in 1933, which corresponds to a 22% increase in 4 years. Moreover, many were those desperately looking for jobs, often wandering in the streets explaining their situation. Furthermore, those earning money faced a major decrease in their salaries, since wages dropped in a matter of a few years. Manufacturers earning 27.3 % dollars a week in 1929 earned 18.18 in 1932. In the same time-lapse, metal minors faced a 38.2 % decrease. Coal miners, worst of all, earned, in 1932, 55.1 of their 1929 salary.
Men looking for jobs during the Great Depression in the United States
Consequence of massive unemployment and the strong decrease in the average earnings of the workers, the population faced a harsher life. Access to food became problematic, therefore some had to turn themselves to extreme solutions: “a hundred people or more coming to the dump each day (…) she picked up the meat”, describes the “New republic magazine”, from February 1933. Though eating from the rubbish surely was the unhealthiest solution, others had to rely on charities, which distributed food in soup kitchens, or make the choice of eating in cheap restaurants, where one dollar could buy 20 meals. Secondly, homelessness became common, as many had financial difficulties, albeit unable to pay the accommodation rent: “Homelessness followed quickly joblessness once the economy began to crumble in the early 1930s”, claims an article on the web. “Hooverville”, reference to the president Herbert Hoover, thought to be responsible of the crisis, were improvised logins and “shack towns”, spread by dozens in Washington State only. These despairing habitats, made of materials collected from the dumps, produced a great impact on life conditions. In order to avoid living in a “Hooverville”, renters transgressed the law and squatted, therefore “defying eviction”. Lucky were the ones who “squeezed in with relatives”, though the majority of them had to live in the streets, facing discomfort and danger.
Finally, great disparities between social and ethnical classes emerged during the Great Depression. Indeed, concerning ethnical classes, white Americans were favoured over African Americans and migrants, meaning by this that an employer would fire them last. “African Americans and Mexicans were particularly hurt. By 1932, 40 to 50 percent of black workers in Chicago were unemployed”, depicts an extract from the Encyclopaedia of Chicago. In addition, Mexicans were encouraged to leave through diverse initiatives: “A free transportation offered from Chicago”, was one of them. Concerning the disparities on the social aspect, some classes were more impacted than others. For instance, farmers and ranchers suffered a succession of events that made their economic activities impossible. The after war overuse of the land, the over-production and “the harsh weather conditions that followed”, describes source 10, led to the creation of the Dust Bowl, eight years during which land in Central United States was unusable for any agricultural practices. Consequently, land parcels were sold for a bargain, “One farm (…) was mortgaged at $4,100 and sold at $49.50”, therefore farmers migrated to the west, especially in California, transcendental flux observable in source number 12, where a seemingly family is seen to travel on foot. In contrast with this global misery, American dynastic families led luxurious lives, and held parties “to escape the reality on the street and the grander the better”, as described in an extract from PBS 1930s high society.
Dustbowls, “black blizzards of dust”, in Central United States during the Great Depression
In conclusion, the American Depression caused a global unemployment leading to a poorer quality of life in the United-States of America. Though the majority suffered from these 10 years, a small minority ignored the social crisis, enwidening the already existing disparities.