The Effects the Great Depression on Society

The Great Depression was an era of struggle. A time that we will never forget. It has had many effects on American society. Such as economical, emotional, agricultural, and etc. Effects that have prepared us for the future.

It was emotionally nerve-wracking for society. Not being able to support your family or yourself, does something to you. It got so bad, that people actually started to sell their kids and other crazy things to make a buck. People lost all trust in banking, stock market, and some the government. Even to this day, Great Depression survivors have a hard time trusting banks.

The Great Depression caused a lot of economic problems, especially in the southern part of the country. There was bank failure left and right. The stock market had eventually crashed. Unemployment was increasing fast, it eventually rose by 25%. Lots of people ended up being left homeless. That housing had to drop a good 30%. Farmers sadly were apart of this group of homeless. With the Dust Bowl that didn’t leave for some years, farming became impossible.
While farming may have been bad, banking was awful. There was plenty of runs to the bank to get people’s money back. I mean after hearing that banks were using people’s deposits to invest in the stock market, I would too. After that about half of the banks failed. Even some of the good ones who did nothing wrong. It was hard for to trust banks. Thanks to FDIC you don’t have to worry about it anymore. FDIC basically protects depositors and their money. This came about due to the “New Deal”.

The Great Depression was so bad that it shook the confidence in capitalism. President Roosevelt was eventually inaugurated due to President Hoover failure to help the economy. Some would probably say that this was one of the best decisions made during the Great Depression. President Roosevelt came out with the New Deal. Thanks to the New Deal society got an economic relief. Not only was there economic relief but there was relief all around. The New Deal was technically a government controlled economy. Whose sole purpose was to achieve a balance between conflicting economic interests. With that happening some trust was replaced with expectation, after getting a whiff of the New Deal. That’s when everyone started to rely on the government to save the economy.

In conclusion, these are some of the many effects the Great Depression had on American Society. Some were good, some were bad, but they all teach a lesson. If we choose to take in the lesson or not might decide our fate for the future.

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