I have a hard time understanding how the US could have gotten out of the Great Depression without the Great Depression.
I've heard that the focus of the Civilian Conservation Corps and other programs designed to ease the burden of poverty during the Great Depression were aimed primarily to benefit white Americans - is this true? Were the programs biased? Or did they help hard-hit Americans equally?
Was it a perfect storm of bad choices, high risks, and dusty windy weather? Or is it something that can happen anywhere to any country, if their luck just happens to be bad that day/month/year?
When reading the Grapes of Wrath one thing that stuck with me was how all the migrant families believed California was the place to go for work, when in reality that work was mostly low wage farm work. It made me wonder if there was anywhere in the country they could have gone that would have had better work available.
To clarify the parameters of the question we'll say that the main time of interest is 1929 to 1939.
These foods probably became staples and likely structured what would eventually become known as the regional cuisine.
Grits, chili, stews, etc.
Was there a significant change in instrumentation because of economic pitfalls?
Did song lyrics ever reference the Depression? How popular were songs that did reference it?
What effect did the Great Depression have on the quality of life in the United States? Not just in comparison to roaring 20s but compared to the European countries also going through the depression?
I'm asking in response to /u/Georgy_K_Zhukov 's statement in this thread about Hitler's endgame during the second world war. I asked why anyone would want to emulate the United States economically during the great depression. He said that I overestimate the impact on American quality of life that the great depression had. I am at best an amateur historian but my understanding was that the depression had an immense impact, especially in comparison to the 1920s; breadlines, Hoovervilles, the dustbowl, Steinbeck and Woody Guthrie. So yeah, do we overstate its impact in the present day?
Wouldn't one figure that due to the economic failure of the "free market", or the great depression, that Communism or radical leftism be an excellent alternative? The 1st red scare didn't make sense since the roaring 20s was about to occur. And history provides us with that reason as well as evidence. But there was a moment, from 29-33 where FDR was elected that the U.S. seemed to be left out to dry. That being said FDR's policies weren't yet implemented yet alone theorized and provided to the American public. No fireside chats, no New deal policies, nothing. In other words no hope on the horizon. So wouldn't some type of movement start since the future looked bleak at best?
I read this short story in high school and loved it, but I have since forgotten its author, title, or anything about it really to send me back towards it again.
I've looked through some of my E.B. White and Steinbeck collections, but have not been able to find it.
It's a fairly small short story set in the southern United States during the Great Depression (and also possibly during the Dust Bowl). If I recall correctly, it is little more than a scene involving two characters and zero dialog.
In it, a migrant worker is walking down a dirty road, desperately poor. He sees a gleaming silver object in the sky--a plane--and the perspective shifts to a wealthy man flying above in a (private) aircraft. The crux of the story is the juxtaposition between the two: the impoverished, crude laborer down below, and the thoughtless ease of the rich man above, both residing in the same place but living in two completely different worlds.
Does this strike any bells?
In the US we are taught that the Great Depression was caused through a mismanaged credit system that led to a stock market crash that led to a economic panic. The context of this for me at least was taught from a uniquely American point of view with no little to no information given to the rest of the world. (I think my teacher said something about it hitting Germany pretty hard too, which led to the already fucked post WW1 economy getting even worse). But how was the Great Depression felt across the world, did some places get hit harder than others? What were the effects on European colonies such as French West Africa, Portuguese Angola, British South Africa, India etc. how was it felt in China and the various warlord controlled regions? Were isolated countries like Ethiopia and Iran and Paraguay connect enough to the global economy to feel anything or was it only really a handful of wealthy European countries outside of the US. Did it effect the closed nationalized economy of the USSR? What were the effects on Argentina and Brazil? Did it actually indirectly benefit any country?
How connected were rural Americans to what was going on in the world around them beyond newspapers?
Was it common for people in agricultural areas to have access to radios? How far would those early radio stations have even reached?
Did rural Americans generally have access to and visit movie theaters at similar rates that urban Americans did in the late 1920s? If so, how accessible would these movie theaters have been? Were they affordable enough for average and poorer households to afford and were they prevalent enough to be close to many rural areas?
I wanted to see how the executive powers of the united sates were affected during the great depression and see whether or not the powers were increased or decreased. Thanks in advance.
I think a lot of people were taught in school that the Great Depression was caused by the famous stock market crash. As I understand from this comment thread, that is not the case. What, then, was the cause, and what role did the market crash have in the recession?
Let assume the great depression hit the USA so hard that in a last ditch effort to cause a allied victory the United states nuked japan,Italy,and Germany before collapsing in on themselves
