Diary Of Man During Great Depression
narrative Essay
570 words
Diary Of Man During Great Depression
Dear Diary,
I am 29 years old and I come from a lower - middle class family. My
ancestors came from England but I was born in Australia. I haven't got
married cause I am having a hard time supporting myself let alone have
a family. I lost my job when the Great Depression began and I got one
about three years later. This is my story and this is how it all
began.
I was going to work on a Tuesday and I had heard on the radio that
there was a Wall Street stock market crash but I hadn't really cared
about it till then. When I got to work the following morning I had the
shock of my life, I saw that I had been fired. The boss had told me he
went out of business. I was scared. I knew this may happen one day but
I never really expected it to. I ran to buy a copy of the newspaper to
see there were at least sixty people ahead of me. I knew they to had
all lost their jobs and they too were nervous. The thought that scared
me the most was that my rent was overdue and I may be turned on the
streets. I got the newspaper and I saw there was one vacancy for a
factory worker. I rushed to get the job but I saw there were already
at least fifty applicants in front of me and I realized I was far too
late to have any chance of getting the job. So I walked into the local
bar and had a drink, and I soon got drunk. I can't really remember it
very well but after going out I went home and fell asleep. The next
morning I knew that I had to do something so I went around trying to
do menial tasks to be able to buy some food and then somehow pay off
my rent. It was hard to imagine that I used to give away money to
In this essay, the author
- Explains that they are 29 years old and come from a lower-middle-class family.
- Narrates how they lost their job when the great depression began and got one.
- Narrates how they heard on the radio that they were going to work on a tuesday.
- Opines that their rent was overdue and they may be turned on.
- Narrates how they thought of asking for help but their ego got the better of them.
- Narrates how they had heard of the horse named phar lap and he had a pretty.
- Opines that they should have gone on the dole earlier, but they thought it would work.
- Narrates how they stayed and were turned out on the streets so they moved back where they were.
- Narrates how they won quite a lot of money and it took their mind of their own.
- Narrates how they hoped to find a job as they were sick two weeks later.
- Narrates how the owner said they could have paid their rent for 2 weeks in a row.
- Opines that dad had done for them when they needed help, and they had let them stay with them.
- Narrates how they felt the shock of their life when they saw that they had been fired. they ran to buy a copy of the newspaper to see sixty people ahead of them.
- Narrates how they realized they were too late to get the job, so they walked into the local bar and had a drink.
- Narrates how they went around trying to do menial tasks to be able to buy some food and then pay off their rent. it was hard to imagine that they used to give away money.
- Narrates how they spent half their life savings on him and the next day he won. they were enthusiastic with the win but for some reason they never saw their winnings.
- Explains that income they were receiving a little bit was going to their mum and dad. they don't know how long they will live so they are trying to make their lives easier.
- Narrates how all the high hopes that they had came to nothing. the next week, the landlord said he had no option but to evict them
Related
- analytical
- explanatory
- The Plight of Ordinary People during the Great Depressionanalytical essayThe Great Depression touched people at every race and income level. It seemed no one was exempt from the emotional and economic toll of the downturn. Lives were turned upside down, and many did not know how to cope. With the financial collapse, kids lost their college funds, and families lost their homes. Families had to resort to making shelter any way they could. Communities were erected in almost every state that consisted of shelters made of crates and metal sheets; these communities were known as “Hoovervilles” (Leuchtenburg, pg. 251). Others would seek refuge in caves, subways, and under bridges (Leuchtenburg, pg. 252). The life savings of many were lost before anyone could comprehend what was happening.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how the great depression affected people at every race and income level, and how families were forced to make shelter in crates and metal sheets.
- Explains that many businesses felt the impact of the depression, as funding dried up, iron and steel production slowed to levels never before seen, and farmers in rural america were displaced by drought and falling crop prices.
- Explains that men and women suffered from unemployment and reduced wages. the average demographic of the person on relief were white males in their thirties usually unskilled and uneducated.
- Explains that in 1933 more than 25% of the workforce was out of work, of which four hundred thousand were women. the federal government made it a priority to hire heads of household, but this resulted in the firing of women who were mostly secondary household earners.
- Explains that coal miners were hit hard by the depression, their wages were cut drastically, and many babies starved to death after going days without food.
- Analyzes how virginia miners' children were so poor that they never tasted milk and went without clothes. they wrote to eleanor roosevelt begging for help to pay household and medical expenses or for clothes so they could attend school.
- Explains how eleanor roosevelt eased the suffering of children through programs such as the national youth administration (nya) which helped youth attend high school or college by offering grants in exchange for work.
- Analyzes how minorities and immigrants, who were already suffering, found conditions intolerable. for african americans, unemployment was the highest in the countryside of the south.
- Opines that they couldn't ask just any body to do this. they had to ask someone who has money and who is good and kind to colored people and does not hate them.
- Explains that the indian reorganization act of 1934 was the new deal for indians. it was intended to ease the injustices that they suffered at the hands of government.
969 wordsRead More - The White Deathexplanatory essaydetermined to finish. I managed to graduate top in my class and was offered a job on the same day. There was young doctor at our graduation looking for graduates to work at a new hospital in...
In this essay, the author
- Describes how they were excited to be offered a job at waverly hills hospital in louisville, kentucky. they learned about the disease and the hospital while in school.
- Describes how the body chute was used to take the dead out of the hospital. the staff knew that having the disease itself was depressing.
- Describes how they walk down the body chute to the bottom of the hill. they hope someday that they make a memorial of this place in honor of lives lost.
- Describes how the state of kentucky built a hospital to treat tuberculosis, which was terribly contagious. the only treatments that showed minimal results were nutritional food and fresh air.
- Describes how they were naive, but wanted to help people and make a difference. they were excited and scared when they arrived at the new waverly hospital in kentucky.
- Narrates how they were overwhelmed by the dreaded tuberculosis disease that had no cure and surrounded by death on a minute to minute basis.
1750 wordsRead More - A Look At Life During the Great Depressionanalytical essayThe United States during the early decades of the 20th Century was a nation at the dawn of a transition politically, economically and socially in the United State. It is during this time that the relationship between employers, employees, and the United States government would change dramatically. The United States by the mid-1930's will see the federal government assume a greater role in the business and personal lives of its citizens. Lizabeth Cohen's book Making A New Deal and Jennifer Klein's book For All These Rights discuss these transformations within the United States during this time period. These two authors wrote two different social histories of this era but the historical approach taken by these two authors differs in content and view point. In this paper, I will critique the similarities and differences between these two books.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how the relationship between employers, employees, and the united states government changed dramatically during the early 20th century. making a new deal and for all these rights discuss these transformations within the us.
- Analyzes how lizabeth cohen approaches the social, working, and economic conditions from a "bottom up" approach that is generated from the perspective of the individual.
- Analyzes jennifer klein's approach to welfare capitalism, which examines the early 20th century, the great depression, and beyond from the perspective of the insurance industry.
- Compares cohen's approach to welfare capitalism and its impact on workers. employers believed that workers had to be driven to labor efficiently and respect the boss' authority.
- Explains that enlightened corporations created a variety of programs to assist workers, including employee representations programs, development of personnel and human resource functions, wage incentive programs and life insurance.
- Analyzes how industrial workers in the 1920's relied on corporate benefits in conjunction with mutual benefits societies, mass culture, ethnic institutions, and banks.
- Explains that workers sought to strike a "new deal" with employers and failed ethnic institutions. the federal government responded to the cries of the workers with new legislation that created the works projects administration, bank act, and social security act.
- Explains that the workplace became another location where workers sought intervention from the government. new deal programs such as national industrial recovery act encouraged "fair competition."
- Explains that workers looked to the federal government to provide additional benefits that welfare capitalists and unions could not provide.
- Analyzes how jennifer klein, author of for all these rights, views security at the center of the new deal.
- Explains that group insurance plans allowed a single policy to cover large groups of people. death benefits and disability policies were the most commonly marketed insurance policies to corporations.
- Explains that workers did not have a direct say in the running of these insurance programs. payroll deductions and corporate participation paid for these programs, but companies paid the entire premium.
- Argues that workers voted down many of the plans for union run benefit options, fearing they would shrink their already small paychecks. the development of group insurance plans prevented the intervention of unions as well as the state and federal government from providing welfare assistance.
- Analyzes how klein and cohen state that companies offered employees pension plans, but many workers would never receive the promised money. klein states that many pensions were underfunded and/or workers were denied access to these funds.
- Explains how insurance companies appealed to corporations that it was in their own best interest to insure their pension plans.
- Analyzes how cohen and klein handled the role of women during the great depression differently. women were hired in greater numbers than their male counterparts.
- Analyzes how cohen eludes to the fact that women were able to be successful members of the cio and advocates how they successfully won pay increases in packinghouse workers organization committee.
- Analyzes klein's contradictory approach toward gender and the role of women in the great depression era workplace.
- Analyzes klein's assertion that the pension system was based on a "man’s work history, wage, retirement age, and benefits "his wife" would receive, suggesting that pensioners were surely expected to be male."
- Concludes that the books making a new deal and for all these rights stress different aspects of life during the 1920's to the great depression.
2057 wordsRead More - A 360 View on Life During the Great Depressionanalytical essayIn 1929 the United States had entered an economic slump known as the Great Depression. The Great Depression was the longest financial decline in American history. The sudden, devastating collapse of US stock market prices on October 29, 1929, known as Black Tuesday, was just the beginning of this economic decline. The Great Depression changed society, socially and economically in many ways, including: family life, crime rates, and businesses.
In this essay, the author
- Describes the great depression as the longest financial decline in american history. the sudden, devastating collapse of us stock market prices on october 29, 1929, known as black tuesday, was just the beginning of this economic decline.
- Explains the impact of the great depression on many families. the economic collapse was overwhelming in the way that it was affecting citizens.
- Explains how families were affected emotionally by the great depression. many children and teenagers were taken out of school and not offered an education due to lack of money.
- Analyzes how the great depression led to a rise in crime rates in the united states.
- Analyzes how the economic decline of the great depression affected businesses and owners, but it should not have been anything that was surprising.
- Describes how the great depression changed the lives of farmers, and it changed america.
- Explains that the great depression had a tremendous impact on the country and created many major consequences. families were torn apart and started losing everything.
- Narrates federico's "not guilty? agriculture in the 1920s and the great depression." the journal of economic history 65.4 (dec 2005).
- Analyzes how the great depression hit iowa farms and cities in the 1930s.
1090 wordsRead More - Essay On Hardships In The Great Depressionanalytical essayHardships in the Great Depression The economic crisis of the 1930s is one of the most recalled periods of American history. Scholars have studied the economic crisis from all angles and have gathered facts about the depression, analyzing reasons of the great depression, showing the effects. The great depression began in 1929, following the stock market crash, arguably and lasted for almost 10 years. The depression began on October 29, 1929 when the stock market crashed causing banks to lose money and people to lose their investments. The loses in the stock market made people feel poor, resulting in a decrease in demand for goods.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes the economic crisis of the 1930s, which began in 1929, following the stock market crash, and lasted for almost 10 years.
- Analyzes how the depression characterized poverty and a damaged economy. people were forced to steal to feed their families, eat leftovers, pick up trash, etc.
- Explains how farmers' incomes dropped, causing them to go bankrupt and lose their farms. the average american family's income dropped from $2,300 to $1,500 per year.
- Explains that the name of the towns originated from herbert hoover's name, along with "hoover stew", a famous soup kitchen dish.
619 wordsRead More - Essay On The Great Depressionexplanatory essayThere were many events that led to the Great Depression. Every event affected the people worse and worse over time. The Great Depression started in the early 1930’s during Hoover’s presidency. However, before the Great Depression life was great, there were many new technologies that made life more advanced. Nobody expected such a horrible event to occur during the time of the “Roaring 20’S.”
In this essay, the author
- Explains that the great depression started in the early 1930's during hoover’s presidency, but before it, there were many new technologies that made life more advanced.
- Explains that the "roaring 20's" was a time when life was great. there were new inventions and technologies.
- Explains that the economy was doing very well during the 1920’s and the stock markets were doing just as well. the stock market crashed on october 29, 1929.
- Explains that the dust bowl was a giant wind storm of dust/dirt in the midwest. many veterans and families marched in washington d.c.
- Explains that president fdr had three r's — relief, recovery, and reform. relief is the immediate action to help the united states.
601 wordsRead More - Essay On The Great Depressionexplanatory essayThe Great Depression The Great Depression is a time when the entire world faced financial and economic collapse .The Great Depression lasted for 10 years (1929-1939) and it was affected millions of Canadians. It was also the first modern economic catastrophe to be experienced at that time. The Great Depression changed the lives of many Canadians as businesses went bankrupt, people lost their jobs and there was less trade between Canada’s provinces.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that the great depression affected millions of canadians and was the first modern economic catastrophe to be experienced at that time.
- Explains that canada suffered from the great depression because it was dependent on exports of its natural resources. us stopped trading with canada because of the depression.
- Explains that many canadians were begging to use the stock market to pay off their debts. they frantically tried to sell their stocks to avoid going bankrupt.
- Explains that before the great depression, canada had an economic boom and was doing well economically. in 1930, 400 000 cars were built and only 260 000 were sold.
- Explains that the drop in prices of canadian wheat was the biggest cause of the great depression. in 1929, the prairie provinces had a devastating drought.
616 wordsRead More - The Great Depression Essayexplanatory essayThe Great Depression occurred from 1929 and lasted to the early 1940’s. It was a deep and tragic period of time where everyone was affected in some capacity. This period marks the longest most widespread depression in American History. It has devastating effects to both the rich and poor. Cities all around the world were hit hard by this crisis.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that the great depression occurred from 1929 and lasted to the early 1940's. it was a deep and tragic period of time where everyone was affected in some capacity.
- Explains that before the great depression, the united states was flourishing with technology and consumer spending. the roaring twenties brought prosperity to the economy.
- Explains that life expectancy began to decrease during the 1920s. suicide peaked when unemployment rose. men felt useless and worthless to their families once they lost their jobs.
- Explains that the jazz period took its wings in 1933. the eighteenth amendment prohibited alcohol, even though it did not ban the consumption of alcohol in most households.
- Opines that the grapes of wrath, written by john steinbeck, was their favorite book about the great depression.
- Explains that the great depression began with the stock market crash of 1929. stockholders lost more than 40 million dollars two months after the crash.
- Explains that over the 1930's more than 9,000 banks had failed. with people spending less money, fewer items were produced, and thus less jobs were needed. the drought conditions in the mississippi valley contributed to the loss of farmers land.
- Explains that the smooth-hawley tariff act stopped european trade due to high taxes on importing. it was not productive and not helping the depression.
- Explains herbert hoover was the president at the time of the stock market crash. he founded government agencies, supported local aid for public works, appealed to every outside source for funding except the federal government.
- Explains that investors started taking their money out of banks because they didn't feel safe. hoover and his administration did their best to fix the situation.
- Explains that president roosevelt introduced "the new deal" to announce a four-day bank holiday and addressed the public over the radio. he thought it was important for the american people to know what was going on.
- Explains that he needed reform and to protect the banking industry. he created the fdic (federal deposit insurance corporation) and the sec (securities and stock exchange).
- Explains that fdr produced a series of programs to boost the economy and create jobs for the people in 1933 when he took office. there are ten major programs that helped accomplish these goals.
- Explains the ccc, the civil works administration, and the national recover act.
- Explains that fdr enacted as many programs as possible to help the recovery of the banks, unemployment, and losses that everyone felt. he put into effect the emergency banking act.
- Explains that the new deal led to increased federal regulation, introduced many programs for the labor force, and a growing power of labor unions.
- Analyzes how fdr's wife, eleanor, was a strong advocate for black rights but the new deal programs prohibited discrimination. she helped her husband during his presidency.
- Explains that fdr created various programs to address the high rates of unemployment and poverty that echoed across the united states.
- Explains that fdr initiated a series of programs for the homeowners, such as the hola (home owners loan act) of 1933 and the fha (federal housing act).
- Explains that the united states housing act created the u.s. housing authority and built public housing. shanty towns were created for people who could not afford to live in their homes.
- Explains that the great depression was the worst economic crisis in the u.s. world war 2 ended the depression with better balanced markets and lower taxes.
- Opines that after many years of hardships and recovery, our world is standing tall. the depression was definitely a gruesome and difficult time for many.
1558 wordsRead More - Essay On The Great Depressionexplanatory essayThe Great Depression. The Great Depression was the longest lasting economic downturn; lasting from 1929-1939. Not long after the stock market crash of October 1929 the Great Depression followed, this sent Wall Street into a panic and wiped out millions of investors. Consumer spending and investment dropped dramatically over the next few years.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that the great depression was the longest lasting economic downturn, lasting from 1929-1939.
- Explains that unemployment levels in some cities reached staggering levels during the great depression. at the height of the depression, roosevelt addressed 100,000 people at washington's capitol plaza.
- Explains that roosevelt asked congress to end prohibition and allow people to buy beer. he also signed the tennessee valley authority act, allowing the federal government to build dams along tennessee river reducing flooding.
- Opines that president roosevelt's programs and policies did a lot for the nation, including ending the great depression.
627 wordsRead More - The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depressionanalytical essayThe Great Depression tested America’s political organizations like no other event in United States’ history except the Civil War. The most famous explanations of the period are friendly to Roosevelt and the New Deal and very critical of the Republican presidents of the 1920’s, bankers, and businessmen, whom they blame for the collapse. However, Amity Shlaes in her book, The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression, contests the received wisdom that the Great Depression occurred because capitalism failed, and that it ended because of Roosevelt’s New Deal. Shlaes, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and a syndicated financial columnist, argues that government action between 1929 and 1940 unnecessarily deepened and extended the Great Depression.
In this essay, the author
- Argues that government action between 1929 and 1940 unnecessarily deepened and extended the great depression.
- Analyzes how amity shlaes tells the story of the great depression and the new deal through the eyes of some influential figures.
- Analyzes how shlaes supported wendell willkie's vision as president of commonwealth and southern, arguing that growth and production fit better the goals of the u.s.
- Analyzes how shlaes is more sympathetic to the willkie's forgotten man than roosevelt.
- Analyzes shlaes' example of the schechter family, who ran a kosher-chicken business. they were brought to trial by the government for selling unfit chickens.
- Explains that by 1940, world war ii had already begun and roosevelt and his colleagues had begun to lose their desire for reform and confrontation.
- Analyzes the government policies in the great depression and argues that the private sector could have done more to restore the country had it not been subject to attack on the tax and legal fronts.
- Analyzes how shlaes sets the book because she does not advance a general interpretation of her own. she lets the reader arrive at the same conclusion as she did that the government made the great depression last longer.
- Analyzes how shlaes sees roosevelt and his republican antecedent herbert hoover as bad economists. roosevelt's sin was an urge to punish the rich and a lack of faith in the marketplace.
- Analyzes how shlaes's book, the forgotten man, shows that roosevelt and his men were prepared to act courageously by experimenting.
- Analyzes how shlaes' the forgotten man is seen as a sideswipe at the obama administration's efforts to tackle the recession.
- Opines that the forgotten man is an enlightening story that reminds readers of the dangers of excessive intervention and the difficulty one has to face in times of crisis.
- Analyzes how shlaes' "the forgotten man: a new history of the great depression," harpercollins, 2008.
1508 wordsRead More