Hardship and Suffering During the Depression

As you read about how people coped with hard times, use the headings below to summarize the Great Depression’s effects on various aspects of American life.

Employment
The Great Depression had a huge effect on employment during the time. The unemployment rate grew greatly, higher then it had ever been during this time, especially for African American's who were already the lowest paid employees and were no suffering from job loss even more so then the white Americans. Most men were accustomed to providing for their families, so when they lost their jobs, they would go out and look for a new one and try to get hired again because they felt they needed to fill their role as a provider for their family. 

Housing
As the reading says "During the Great Depression, as many as 300,000 transients-- or "hoboes" as they were called-- wandered the country hitching rides on railroad box cars and sleeping under bridges" many people were losing their houses because they could no longer pay for them so they were forced to live on the streets during this time. Some even slept in sewer pipes.

Farming
As the reading says "Between 1929 and 1932, about 400,000 farms were lost through foreclosure" There was however an advantage to farming, families could raise their own food and everyone could pretty much eat, but with debt and raising prices during the time, many farmers soon lost their land and could no longer provide for themselves and their families. 


Race relations
The Great Depression hit everyone hard, but the hardest hit were the African Americans. These employees already had the lowest pay and then they started struggling with unemployment as well. According to the reading, the unemployment rate of the African Americans was over 50 percent but the overall unemployment rate was somewhere around 25 percent. In addition to this they had to deal with racial violence and were constantly competing with white Americans for jobs. 

Family life
Although the Great Depression was a struggle placed on families, families were a very positive thing to have during this time. People believed in strong unity of their families during hardship, and instead of being sad, they would spend time together entertaining themselves with board games and listening to the radio even though times were tough. It was important for them to stay strong together. 


Physical health
obviously the physical health of most people decreased during the Great depression. People were starving because they couldn't afford a decent amount of food, for one thing. Another being that people were facing foreclosure and were forced to live on the streets, and this is not a good condition for living and optimum health. to add on to that, some people would sleep in sewer pipes and wrap themselves in newspapers, which is unsanitary. lastly, people often had to give up going to the doctor's or the dentist because they couldn't afford to. 

Emotional health
To start, a lot of people were demoralized to the point where they didn't want to try and survive any longer. During this time the suicide rate rose more then 30 percent and three times as many people were being admitted into mental hospitals compared to the norm. Also, young adults would have to give up their dreams of going to college which is crushing as well as people putting off getting married and having children because they couldn't afford to.  

Explain or define each of the following:

 Dust bowl
The region hit hardest by the Great Depression including parts of Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and Colorado. 

Shantytown
Little towns consisting of shacks 

Direct Relief

Cash payments or food provided by the government to the poor (did not exist during the great depression)