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Great Depresion Of The 1930'S
Great Depression of the 1930’s
WHAT HAPPENED
On October 24th, 1929 the complete collapse of the stock market began, about 13
million shares of stock were sold. Tuesday, October 29th (known every since as Black
Tuesday) made the damage worse, more than 16 million shares were sold. The value of
most shares fell sharply, leaving financial ruin and panic in its place.
There had been panics like this before and there has been many afterward, but
never did a market crash have such a long-term effect on our country. Banks fell by the
hundreds. Pay for the people still lucky enough to have a job fell badly. The value of
money fell as the demand for products fell. Most of the farmers of the south were in
enough trouble as it, but with the arrival of the depression they were ruined. The drought
that created the Dust Bowl just made their problems worse. The structure of world trade
fell, and each nation decided to protect its trade by putting high taxes on imported
products. This made matters worse. In the fall of 1931 the international gold standard
had fell, making any hope for recovery out of reach,
GOVERNMENT RESPONSE
State governments were in no position to do much to aid depression victims, so
hard-pressed were they for revenues. The response of the federal government was, at
least in the early years, too little and too late. President Herbert Hoover and his aides
were convinced that “prosperity is just around the corner.” Although the government had
been heavily involved in helping large corporations for decades, the idea of direct aid to
citizens in distress was regarded with disfavor by many in the Hoover administration.
Realistic measures to deal with the depression were undertaken with the
installation of Franklin D. Roosevelt in the White House. But even the energy spent on
devising new programs was insufficient to undo the depression damage. The economic
crisis was not solved until World War II began and triggered huge needs for industrial
and agricultural productivity. The Roosevelt New Deal, however, succeeded in putting in
place new agencies and policies to try assure that such a disaster would never happen
again. In his first inaugural address, President Roosevelt made some attempt to assess the
enormous damage: “The withered leaves of industrial enterprise lie on every side; farmers
find no markets for their produce; the savings of many years in thousands of families are
gone. More important, a host of unemployed citizens face the grim problem of existence,
and an equally great number toil with little.”
Social Impact
I have a great, great aunt that lived during the depression and is still alive living in
Pauls Valley. She is 92 years old. Her name is Mildred Robbins. She is still actively
involved in her church and volunteering at the hospital. When we visited about the
depression she would get very depressed as you could see it in her expressions. Mildred
and her husband lived Oklahoma City from 1928 until 1932 when the Reynolds Oil
Company went broke, Her husband worked for that company. They moved back to Pauls
Valley in 1933. They operated a cleaning store named Service Clothes Cleaning. The
store was located were Jay Shumates Clothing store is located on Paul Street. Aunt
Mildred told me that most of the people could not afford for their cleaning and traded
groceries and other items for pay. They operated the store until 1938 then they moved
back to Oklahoma City. Aunt Mildred started teaching at Capital Hill Jr. High School
until 1942.She taught at Harding School from 1942 until 1967. She explained to me how
long the bread lines were in downtown OKC. After visiting with my aunt I understand the
Great Depression much greater than I did before I talked to her. I hope that I or any of my
present or future family will not have to go through this again.
Word Count: 660
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