Document Based Essay Question describing the Great Depression. Summary and how it affected the US - problems we faced and how they were resolved

Essay by BTschinkelJunior High, 8th gradeA+, August 2002

download word file, 8 pages 3.8

The Great Depression was the worst economic slump in United States history. It affected not only the United States, but also other countries worldwide. It began in the 1920s, after World War I. Stock prices soared, life was great, and people were satisfied. But, drastically, October of 1929 came. The life of the roaring twenties was apparently an illusion. In October 1929, the stock market crashed. This financial disaster sunk the United States economy into great turmoil. This period of suffering and despair became known as the Great Depression.

The outcomes of the Depression were horrible. As pictured in the first document, many people were dissatisfied. The Stock Market Crash affected many people; African Americans, Mexican Americans, Asian Americans, and Americans themselves. Unfortunately, the African Americans were the first to lose their jobs. The American citizens denied them public work use. Meanwhile, the rest of the nation grew worse. Thirteen million citizens were unemployed by 1933.

One out of every four Americans was unemployed. Factories closed, mills and mines abandoned, fortunes were lost, and the chance in finding work was small. This was only the beginning of the Depression; the nation did not know how much worse it could get.

Sadly, families began to break up. There was much stress to find jobs, or just to get a decent meal during the Depression. Many families broke up. Some members left because they were faced with disaster. Most left in search of jobs for themselves. Usually the father and children were the ones to leave. Breaking up of families led to divorces. Resulting, the marriage and birth rates dropped dramatically.

There are many effects to the Great Depression, as I have said. But another important one, and offensive, is discrimination. As quoted in the third document, expectant mothers, sick babies, young...