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Americans React to the Great Depression
The Great Depression began in 1929, when stocks on the New York Stock Exchange lost 50 percent of their value in ten weeks. As the stock market continued to fall in the early 1930s, businesses closed and unemployment rose sharply. By 1932, one out of every four workers was unemployed. Banks failed, life savings were wiped out, and many Americans were left destitution. With no jobs and no savings, thousands of Americans have lost their homes. -
Labor Unions During the Great Depression and New Deal
Although the future of unions looked grim in 1933, their fortunes would soon change. The great achievements of labor unions in the 1930s were due in part to the pro-union stance of the Roosevelt administration and legislation enacted by Congress in the early days of the New Deal. -
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Art and Entertainment
With the addition of sound, movies become more and more popular. Comedies, gangster movies and musicals help people forget their troubles. In the early 1940s, some of the great plays of American cinema made their way to theaters. Radio is also popular, offering a variety of programmes, from sermons to soap operas. -
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The Dust Bowl
With the onset of drought in 1930, the overcultivated and overgrazed land began to blow away. The wind blows across the plain, raising clouds of dust. The sky can be dark for days, leaving a thick layer of dust on furniture even in well-sealed homes. In some places, dust rose like snow, covering farmhouses and houses. Nineteen states in the heartland of the United States became a giant dust storm. -
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Race Relations in the 1930s and 1940s
The problems of the Great Depression affected almost every group of Americans. However, no group has been hit harder than African Americans. By 1932, about half of African Americans were unemployed. In some northern cities, whites called for African Americans to be laid off whenever a white man lost his job. Racial violence became more common again, especially in the South. Linchins dropped to eight in 1932 and soared to 28 by 1933. -
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President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the New Deal
In the election held in the fall of 1932, Roosevelt won by a landslide. On his first day in office, Roosevelt passed the banking Reform Bill, the Bailout Program, the Labor Relief Program, and the Farm Program. Then the Second New Deal; It includes union protection programs, Social security laws and programs to help sharecroppers and immigrant workers. Many New Deal acts or agencies are known by their initials.