A Comprehensive Examination of The Far-Reaching Effects of The Great Depression

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The Depression affected the varying economic and social classes in different ways. The experience of the Depression obviously had a negative impact on the country as a whole but some groups of society were still able to flourish. In addition to economic and social class, geographic location also played a role in experience of Americans during the Depression. Those unlucky citizens that lived in the Great Plains states were also dealing with the effects of the Dust Bowl during this time. Some citizens were lucky enough to find themselves working in Depression proof jobs such as the cigarette and shoe manufacturing industries (Kennedy, p. 163). However, most people had to adjust to a new norm of searching for subsistence level or even lower wage jobs and struggling to find food and shelter. The plight of families, factory workers, farmers, businessmen and minorities alike was well documented during the Depression and their experience reflects one of the darkest periods in American history.

Harry Hopkins, who was President Roosevelt’s federal relief administrator, dispatched Lorena Hickok to travel around the country and talk to average Americans so the federal government could get a feel for the suffering. Hickok had previously served as a journalist while Roosevelt was on the campaign trail and had developed a close personal relationship with his wife Eleanor. Hickok was even accompanied by Eleanor on some of the legs of her trip. The mission was to find out the extent of the suffering and what was needed to ease it with regular reports back to Hopkins. These experiences of Hickok took a negative toll on her. She at one point told Hopkins that she was beginning to agree with some of the people she encountered that a Fasc...

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...ad large black populations. In short, things were bad for minorities during the Depression and did not start getting better even when the rest of the country started to recover.

In conclusion, the Depression touched all demographics of the American society, some worse than others. There was also a psychological impact that was felt by families and children as the dynamics of the typical American household shifted. Men were not was always able to support their families and felt they were no longer respected by the wife and children. The work done by Lorena Hickok provided the government and now historians with an accurate depiction of what the average American experienced during the Depression.

WORKS CITED

Kennedy, David M., Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929-

1945, New York: Oxford University Press: 1999.

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