Relief Efforts During The Great Depression

The Great Depression was a time of hardship for many. People lost their jobs, home, money and almost half the population were under the poverty line. As the rising number of unemployed men and women grew, the states and private organizations took it into their own hands to provide aid for those who needed it. However, the rigorous efforts of these charities and government did not provide much “relief” in the long term. Many people had been taking advantage of these charity organizations and soon enough the question becomes evident, what really is the American dream now?

The economic crisis began in August 1929 when a recession began, but it was not until the stock market crash of October 1929 that a rapid decline in economic stability had sprout. As a result, a year after the crash, banks began to fail because they invested large sums of client money into stocks. Many people began to withdraw all their money out of deposits thus, adding to the financial crisis. The failure of banks and stocks had created a domino effect in which other industries such as automobiles and appliances also failed as a result of less and less customer consumption. Factory owners had no choice but to lay off many people and cut wages furthering the downfall of the economy.

The Great Depression made its reach to the rural areas of the city when the dust bowl had devastated the farmlands. Conditions of severe drought and deep plowing worsened the land to the point where the soil turned to dust. Making the land useless to grow crops and no other methods of income. Millions of farmers had to migrate to cities from the great plains in search of work. To their disadvantage there were practically no jobs available.

With the increase of unemploymen...

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...ez-faire” practices had been stripped of that ability due to the President’s New Deal policies. However for those directly suffering from the poverty, the government’s forceful actions towards the issues helped get themselves back on their feet through the help of social security, CCC,...etc.

The idea of the American Dream in present day is quite different to what it was. The fact that any individual could improve on their current status in the economy through hard work and succeed their parents financially does not hold true any longer. There is no longer the same opportunity for those who do not have a college degree. In the early 1900's, it was almost guaranteed that a person without a formal education could find a reasonably well paying job through hard work. However, nowadays it is very difficult to find a job if one does not obtain a college level degree.