Your first post will be worth a quiz grade and is due on Thursday. Your journal entry needs to be posted under your name and needs to be the equivalent of 1 page in length. Here is the question:
You are an average American living through the Great Depression. Choose an age, location, job (or unemployment), identity, etc. Describe life in the Great Depression for YOU by using specific evidence and policies in your entries.
Dear Diary,
ReplyDeleteToday is March 1st, 1930. Today is my 7th birthday. Mother was not able to do anything special for my birthday this year because Father has been out of work and we have very little money. I overheard Mother and Father talking about the situation of America. Father said that more than 3.2 million people were unemployed. He also said that he heard on the radio that President Hoover is remaining positive through this and said "all the evidences indicate that the worst effects of the crash upon unemployment will have passed during the next 60 days." Let’s hope Hoover is right.
Dear Diary,
Today is November 12th, 1930. The draft coming through the open door of our ‘hut’ is bone chilling. I am only 7 now and my older brother Benjamin is 14. Benjamin use to go to work with my Father but since the new labor laws were passed, he has to stay home with Mother and I. When I asked Mother why Benjamin cannot go to work with Father anymore, she told me that the government wanted to protect children from taking jobs from adults. It seems like every day more and more people are coming to the Hooverville we live in Central Park. On the streets, people try to make a living selling apples for only five cents. I wish I could afford an apple, we have not eaten a full meal in a long time and mother says that I am starting to become skin and bones.
Dear Diary,
I am 1o years old now and I decided to write in my journal again. Just last month, on March 9th, 1933, the Emergency Banking Act was passed. This act closed banks for one week in order to calm down Americans and so that they would stop running on the banks. Now it is April and the Civilian Conservation Corps was just established. The CCC, for short, was designed as a relief and employment program for young men between the ages 17 and 27. Since Benjamin is 18 now, he was able to find a small job out west in a national forest park. President Roosevelt envisions the program as a kind of army for men to enlist in. The first 250,000 young men are housed in some 1,468 camps around the country. Luckily for Benjamin, he was able to live in one of these houses.
Dear Diary,
It has 75 years since I last wrote in my childhood journal. I just found this journal in my attic. Its age showed with the amount of dust that had collected on my old friend. America is going through a recession now, in 2008, however it is nowhere close to the Great Depression. The Great Depression was synchronized by the global integration of markets and this current recession was not. Also, the recovery of the financial systems was quicker during the Great Depression. Although the recession of the late 2000s is not as server as the Great Depression, many families are going through what my family and I went through during the 1930s.
Like Kate had mentioned in her journal, children, under sixteen, were no longer permitted to work. This was due to the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, that setting up a minimum wage and maximum hour’s standards as well as a stop of child labor. Although this act put a halt to child labor, as represented in Kate's writing, the act was revolutionary. Though it did affect the house hold income it was an act long awaited and beneficial to working Americans. Before the presidency of Roosevelt, laissez faire presidents like Hoover, Coolidge and Harding had slowly but surely been giving power back to big business. And the works of the progressive presidents like Teddy Roosevelt, Wilson, and McKinley began to serve no purpose. But with the Fair Labor Act, it was like another major progressive reform. For many years workers had been wanting fair labor, fair pay, and receiving what they deserved. And with the act it set standards for the future giving rights to its workers and changing the industry for the better. This was necessary as well for people to create a better income as well, and in times of depression it was right. Like in this recession that we are in, because currently the N.J. state government wants to raise the minimum wage to benefit its workers.
DeleteAs the Great Depression hit America along with, unemployment rose to a new high and slowly people began to lose their homes. Because of this Hoovervilles began to appear across America. The biggest Hooverville, as Kate described in her writing, was the central park Hooverville in New York City. These slums or shantytowns were named after president Hoover who failed to do anything to help the people of the depression. This Hooverville was built behind the Croton Reservoir, and packs of families flooded this establishment. These houses were built sometimes by old stone blocks and old bricks, as well as cardboard and old wood. Along with these Hooverilles came starvation as many could not afford food and the sanitary conditions were horrible. Unemployment at one point hit around 13 million people and had people living in Hoovervilles and empty water mains. These Hoovervilles showed the suffering of many people as they could not afford to live. Later these Hoovervilles were taken down forcefully by the government but laws were also passed like the USHA (U.S. Housing Authority) that for the first time in American history stopped slum areas from growing.
Deletehttp://ephemeralnewyork.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/centralparkhooverv.jpg
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http://wwwdelivery.superstock.com/WI/223/4048/PreviewComp/SuperStock_4048-1407.jpg
http://gothamist.com/attachments/arts_jen/hoovervillenyc.jpg?350
These pictures show the how the Central Park Hooverville was.
At the start of her journal Kate mentioned President Hoover and his positive outlook at the beginning of the crash. Hoover’s way of dealing with the devastating stock market crash and the economic depression that followed differed significantly from the way President Roosevelt would handle things. Like we talked about in class, Hoover was not the man to deal with this. Although he did cut taxes and public works spending was increased Hoover did not otherwise recognize the severity of the problem and things continued to get worse. He would not authorize relief programs or use federal money to aid the economy. He believed that this crash was all part of the business cycle and that things would eventually get better as they usually did. We now know that this wasn’t true and his ideas of voluntarism were not enough to get America through this. In comparison, when FDR took office he enacted the New Deal. Unlike President Hoover he made sure the government took an active role in helping the American people through the Great Depression.
Deletei completely agrree wiht erin. the way hoover went about dealing with the depression was wrong. He believed that the free enterprise system would eventualy correct itself, which it didnt. Also, hoover left the distribution of relief work up to private charities, rather than letting the government handle it. lastly, hoover though that indeopendant states could regulate their own economy without government interference. these were the mistakes that cost him the presidency and if delt with differently couold have save the great depression.
DeleteThe King is correct about Hoover he had a poor aproach to trying to deal with the depression. President hoover had a very hands off approch with dealing with the depression. He was a very conservative president and he paved the way for a new president with very different views then himself. Due to Hoovers results as a conservative president he convinced the American people for a change in office. the people saw that his hands +off approch was ineffective. This lead to the election of FDR. FDR was succesful because he was a man of action an saw the country need a hands on rapid relief program. Hoovers short comeings in office lead to FDR's ellection an hands on approch to solving the depression. So with out Hoovers conservative approach many would not have been well behind FDR. Hoovers conservative approach lead to the election of the man who would creat the new deal and ultimatly bring America out of teh depression.
DeleteDear Mother,
ReplyDeleteHello mother, it’s your so Bobby. Today is the 25th of March, 1933. This is my first letter to you after moving out here to the Great Plains. I’m very excited to start my career out here as a farmer but I’m also a little worried. This whole Great Depression could cause problems for me out here but I promised myself that I would continue even through the worst of times. Besides I’m young man now. My 24th birthday is coming up in only two weeks. If I can make a living out here then the only thing I need is a family to share it with.
Dear Mother,
Today is April 8th, 1933. It’s finally my birthday. It feels weird spending my birthday alone for the first time, but soon I will get a family of my own to spend time with. Hopefully I will be able to provide for them. I haven’t started planting yet. I have to wait a couple more weeks due to the cold weather here. I didn’t know it could get this cold here in Nebraska. I hope it’s warmer over there in Maryland. I really hope this cold weather doesn’t stay to long because I need to plant my crops in order to get some money. If I don’t get any money then I will have to take out loans from the band and once you do that you are stuck in debt. The price of crops has really gone down over the past couple of years. I think this is going to be one long year.
Dear Mother,
Today is May 19th, 1933. I know I haven’t written to you in a while but I have been really busy preparing for the upcoming season. Some good news is that I have finally gotten my first crops in the ground and the weather is really starting to warm up. If it could stay this temperature through the whole year then I will have a fantastic season. I didn’t have to take out a loan either. I just hope I can last until the end of the harvest when I can finally get some money for myself. I will let you know how I do in my next letter.
Dear Mother,
Today is September 4th, 1933. I am still alive and well. My harvest wasn’t all that successful. The weather became very hot and dry through the summer. Most of my crops died, and prices are already so low that I barely got enough money to pay the rent this month. I heard from other farmers that the Civil Works Administration is providing a lot of part time jobs over the winter. I might as well take one up to get some money to last me through the winter. Hopefully I can last through the winter and avoid coming back home for another job.
Dear Mother,
Today is February 17th, 1934. I hope everything is going well at home without me. The temporary job I got helped me get through the winter but I don’t think this money will hold out through the next season. I might have to take out a loan from the bank in order to stay out here. I now have to make a decision on whether I should stay here in Nebraska or go back home to Maryland and look for a factory job there. I think there are a lot of job opportunities in the factories. I think by the end of the season my mind will be made up. I still have not found a family so I think I will be spending my birthday alone again.
Dear Mother,
Today is August 29th, 1934. This miserable season has finally ended and I barely had enough money left to feed myself. If I was farming during World War 1 I would have made a living out here already. Instead I had to farm during this awful time in America. I have finally made a decision to return home to you. If I don’t pay off these loans then the bank is going to take my farm any way, so instead I will just sell this awful land to some other fellow and have him deal with these problems. I heard that soon they might even be paying farmers to sell their land off, but I don’t think I will stick around to find out. Times are starting to get really bad for farmers. It was a mistake to come out here. I will be coming home in a few weeks. I just need to sell the rest of my crop and land and I will be off.
http://www.livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginthe30s/life_01.html
DeleteFarmers in Nebraska during the 1930s, or the “Dirty 30s,” struggled to survive. As seen in the link I posted above, communities had to stick together. People depended on their neighbors when hard times struck small towns like York, Nebraska. Family member of farmers would gather and congregate at schools, church dinners, and dances. Since money was tight for everyone during the Great Depression, children found ways to keep their spirits high and time occupied by playing board games, listening to popular radio shows like Amos ‘n’ Andy, or going to the movies. Farmers were facing tough challenges on the farm also. Dry weather, grasshoppers, and extreme heats, as mentioned in the journal threatened farmers’ income. Since many farm families raised mostly their own food, survival depended on the satisfaction of the seasonal crops as well as chickens, for their meat and eggs, cows, for their milk and meat, and vegetables from their personal gardens.
Rian's post shows a very important part of the great depression. the great depression was a terrible time for farmers and especially for the newer ones. people that had been farming during WWI had great profits but, afterwards it was quite the opposite. The man Bobby in his post was lucky because he did not have to take a loan from the bank when many farmers in this time did have too. Many farms subsequently when bankrupt and were forced into foreclosure. However, to try and eliminate this came the Frazer-Lemke Farm Bankruptcy Act. This act specifically targeted this problem by delaying the foreclosure of farms. This essentially gave farmers that did owe money to the bank time to recover. While most people were left in debt after the act was put into motion, it gave them the opportunity to make more financial payments to the banks.
DeleteSara –
ReplyDeleteIts 1932 now and we still haven’t seen any improvement. My family has been struggling to find jobs. Getting food everyday has become a challenge. It’s not easy living this way, but believe it or not, ALL of America is living in this miserable condition. People living on the streets have created little “towns” called Hoovervilles because they can’t afford to live in their houses anymore. We’re hoping that all of this will end soon, but our president isn’t doing much to help end it. Around two years ago, America entered the Great Depression. The president, Herbert Hoover has been nominated again but our country needs a new president. Finally, a man named Franklin Delano Roosevelt was nominated by the Democrats. Hoover lost the election and FDR became victorious.
Now its 1933 and as soon as FDR took office, he closed all the banks for a week to stop people from taking all of their money out. This was to stop the banks from going under. He did this under his belief if the “Three R’s”. That stood for “relief, recovery, and reform”. He thought this would help the country out of this depression, and stop it from ever happening again. This was called the emergency Banking Relief Act. FDR then got the Glass-Steagall Banking Reform Act passed, and this gave the FDIC deposits of up to 5,000 dollars to make sure that the banks didn’t fail. FDR had many other policies passed that essentially helped people get jobs and a little bit of money to survive. Even though many people liked FDR, there were some who didn’t agree with his policies or methods. People like Father Charles Coughlin, Senator Huey P. Long, and Dr. Francis E. Townsend would speak out against him, but FDR still stayed strong.
Things were slowly, but surely beginning to get better. My family moved out of Hooverville and into a small apartment. Both of my parents have jobs now and my older brother, Paul, is even looking for a job. When I turn sixteen, I’ll be looking for a job too. FDR really helped America to get out of the Depression and he made many policies that gave people jobs, and those who couldn’t work got money. America is on the way to recovery now.
The Emergency Banking Relief Act of 1933 was a great way to not just start of FDR’s presidency, but to also help start America in recovering from the Great Depression. With the passing of this Act, which is one of the most successful Acts in the New Deal, the banks were finally able to recover and all of America could calm down. However another Act was passed to further help the banks. The Glass-Steagall Banking Reform Act, as Sara mentioned before, created and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation which insured individual deposits by American up to 5000 dollars and eliminated the threat of a bank failure. The reason why these deposits were insured and the cause of the banks failing was due to overzealous bank involvement in the Stock Market investment. This was looked upon as the main reason for the financial crash.
Deletehttp://www.socialstudieshelp.com/Lesson_86_Notes.htm
Delete“Try something, if it doesn’t work try something else.” This was said by FDR. He demonstrated this while trying to bring America out of the Great Depression. Many of the acts that were established during this time were not successful but changes were brought to improve America. For example, the Agricultural Adjustment Act paid farmers to lower the acreage their crops took up. This would eliminate the price-depressing surplus that was occurring during this time. This means that farmers were being paid not to farm. This was ruled to be unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in1936. Following FDR’s words, the Second Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 was passed. This was a more understandable alternative that continued conservation payments. The Second Agricultural Act was accepted by the Supreme Court. The Second Agricultural Act was part of the Three R’s plan. The Three R’s was a set of plans that were part of the New Deal set into place by President Roosevelt. FDR wanted to bring relief to then unemployed and the poor. Recovery, to bring America’s economy back to its normal level and reform of the financial system to prevent a repeat of the Depression.
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ReplyDeleteMy childhood was rough. Growing up during the Great Depression was an experience like no other. Being a boy of just ten years old I think I had I worst than anyone else.
ReplyDeleteMy father lost his job soon after the crash of the sock market and it was all downhill from there. He was a single parent and providing for my three sisters and I was hard enough. Now that he was unemployed, along with the other 12 million Americans, it was damn near impossible. He found jobs from time to time, building mostly. He helped work on some bridges, schools, and other buildings. Even with the money he made from construction, supporting our family was difficult.
Being a Veteran, my father looked to the government for his bonus payment. We moved to Washington DC with hundreds of other families, hoping for the same. The time we spent in DC was pretty nice we were surrounded by people just like us and everyone helped each other out. One day we were forced to leave, soldiers and men on horses chased us out and burned our home. This upset many people; some say this is why Hoover lost his next election in 1932.
Times were finally looking better with FDR in the Whitehouse. There were several banking reforms that made every one feel a bit more comfortable with their money. These include the emergency banking relief act, the Glass- Steagall act, and the Gold reserve act.
-Presley Stevenson
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWvCCxOUsM8
DeleteLike Presley mentioned in his journal, the Glass- Steagall Act allowed a lot of people to be more comfortable when it came to money. The Glass- Steagall Act was established by the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) in 1933. This act brought up banking reforms, some of which dealt with controlling speculation. This meant that the government wanted to regulate the amount of money that people were recieving so it would not cause even more debt for the United States. It was also issued in an attempt to stop deflation and expand the Federal Reserve's ability to give out rediscounts on certain assets like government bonds.
DeleteThe second policy that Presley mentioned was the Gold Reserve Act. The Gold Reserve Act was issued on January 30, 1934. It stated that all gold and gold certificates held by the Federal Reserve must be given and held in the United States Department of the Treasury. This act did not allow any private possession of gold. This forced people to sell their gold to the Treasury. This Act changed the price of gold as well, it went from its normal price of $20.67 per troy ounce, which is about 31 grams, to around $35 per troy ounce.
DeleteOn June 15th, the House of Representatives passed the Wright Patman Bonus Bill which would have moved forward the date for World War I veterans to receive their cash bonus. The protestors stayed in a Hooverville on the Anacostia Flats. Materials to build the camps were scavenged from a dump nearby. Veterans were required to register and prove they had been honorably discharged in order to live in the camps. On July 28th, 1932, Attorney General William D. Mitchell ordered police to remove the veterans from their camps. Two veterans were shot when two policemen were trapped on the second floor of a building. The cornered police officers shot and killed William Hushka and Eric Carlson.
DeleteI wanted to expand on what Kate said about the Bonus Army. When the stock market crashed and many WWI veterans lost their money as well as their jobs they were counting on receiving the money that was owed to them for serving in the army to keep them going. However, it was too early for the government to pay them. Thousands of angry veterans in their family marched to Washington D.C. and camped out in protest. As Kate mentioned things did turn violent when the police attempted to remove the demonstrators. Following this, the army was given the job of evicting the veterans. General Douglas MacArthur, who wrongly believed that the protest had Communist roots, led the 12th Infantry and 3rd Cavalry Regiments in burning down the camps and chasing away the veterans. This resulted in many injuries and arrests. As Presley said this cost Hoover his reelection. Although President Hoover did not order such an extreme attack, this coupled with his inability to do much of anything about the stock market crash turned the people of America against him.
DeleteDear Diary,
ReplyDeleteThe name is Jeff Foster; age 24. It has been four years from that haunting panic in 1929. I can remember it as if it were yesterday. Buying stocks in the margin seemed like the greatest of ideas, until it left millions bankrupt and unemployed. The endless lines in front of banks begging for every penny they had was a horrible sight indeed. If only I had sold sooner, I may have been able to get away with a little more than the scarce amounts of clothes I have and the $25 dollars I make a month, thanks to the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps). Without FDR right now I don’t know where I would be. Fixing roads and repairing schools has most certainly restored my faith in working. It has not only let me earn my money, but it is a source of income that will have to do. Being a man of the market, I’m not used to such demanding labor, but without this work program, I’d be worth more dead than alive. FDR has also made note of a new act called the SEC (Security and Exchange Commission), which is waiting to be passed. This will hopefully restore wealth in our economy and ensure a time like this never happens again due to the Stock Market. Seeing so many Americans struggle to live and struggle for one meal a day has taken its toll mentally on many including myself. The sight of kids living alone on the filthy streets and alleys is heart-breaking. I imagine in a few years things will get better eventually. Maybe there will be a day when everything gets better for our country.
I agree with Mrs. Cheeks on the matter of the CCC. It was one of the most successful of the New Deal programs, and a godsend to many people. To be exact it employed 2.9 million young men. This organization provided work for men who needed it as well as a service for our country. These works included deforestation, building schools and bridges, and roads. The CCC ended in 1941 but proved to be a model for similar future organizations.
DeleteIn 1985 the Corps Network known as the National Association of Service and Conservation Corps (NASCC) was created. Today it has 113 corps in 41 sates and enrolls about 23,000 people annually. It is currently working to expand and enhance the programs throughout the country.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bC5WqXoEZA
DeleteThe SEC (Security and Exchange Commission) was passed in 1934. As the video shows the SEC job is watch over the stock market. They make sure that no one is buying on the margins if they do not have the money to back it up. The SEC was not only a short term help during the depression but also helps drastically today. The SEC launched an investigation in 2009 and took down Bernard Lawrence Madoff. He was the head of a complex ponzi scheme where he took a lot of people’s money and ruined their lives. It could have been a lot worse it was not for the SEC they stopped him and put him in jail for a long time.
Mrs.Cheeks was also correct about the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC). The SEC is still very much in effect today and in today's current economic situation we are only in a recession and not a depression. The SEC is responsible for our country never falling back into a depression due to the stock market. Along with the SEC other acts an bills were passed to expand authorities not stated in the SEC. Several follow up acts were passed, including Investment Company Act of 1940 which would sort out conflicts of interest between major industries. The SEC along with many other acts branched off from the SEC the country is protected from a repeat of such a strong depression.
Deletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bC5WqXoEZAQ
DeleteThe Securities Exchange and Commissions Act was passed in 1934 by FDR during the Great Depression and its purpose was to Regulate or "keep an eye" on the stock market. The SEC had the power to control the stock markets, the companies that traded within them, and brokers that were responsible for the trading. This policy essentially stopped the corruption going on in these stock markets. If anything was found to be fraud or false, the SEC stopped it. This act was successful and still exists today.
Deletehttp://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7399352n&tag=contentBody;storyMediaBox
DeleteI saw this video like two weeks ago on sixty minutes, and after learning about the new deal i realized it fit perfectly. This company works along the same lines as the CCC but in a more Professional manner. it is working to re-employ 4 million people rather than the 12 that were affected during the great depression, but it is still the same concept.
Instead of finding people imeadiate jobs, "The Workplace" trains people who have been layed off to get back into the workforce. Besides being jobless one of the biggest factors during todays recession is the mental aspect. People feel as though they have failed because they cannot find work and provide for themselves and their families. This video shows a modern day reflection of what it was like for people during the great depression.
It's been a few months since the sudden downfall of the stock market and the overall United States economy. It feels as if I have nothing going for me and that everything around us is either closing or going bankrupt. Being a former industrial worker I have become unable to find any work after my initial displacement. However, even with all this going against me i have not had it the worst out of the people I know. Many of those around me had all of their money in the market which, when it collapsed, disappeared almost completely. Even with all of this happening around me, there is still some glimmers of hope that the economy may soon recover. Although that is unlikely to happen so soon we can see that the government is making an attempt to help bail us out of this crisis. I, along with many others can see that most of the government's effort is being put into solving this problem. It all started with that of the Emergency Banking Act. This gave the banks time to recover and this makes sense to anybody. the relief would be only in the short term but, it did show that the government was making some strides in improving this dreadful situation. Another example of how they are helping is through the Glass-Steegal Act. This made the money that people were putting into the bank easier to insure. Admittedly, not many people could do this at the time but it made people feel safer about holding their money in the currently unstable banking system. There are also some seriously extreme ideas being thrown about as well. One man, Huey Long, has proposed that every family is to receive $5000 in reparations. Even if it may sound nice, in my opinion, this is utterly ridiculous and unfortunately impossible to support. A main reason for these changes for the better in our aid from the government is the new president Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He seems like a president who knows what he is doing and knows how to get things done. I think he may be around for a while. Who knows? he might be able to get us out of this mess.
ReplyDeleteMark Switzer
Ok, I saw that Mark mentioned Huey Long. Long was a former Louisiana governor and a United States senator during the Depression. He was well known for his radical policies. One of these policies was the Share Our Wealth program, which I what Mark brought up in his writing. It was a wealth redistribution plan, he wanted everyone in American to have a decent standard of living. He wanted there to be a cap on a person’s personal fortune as well as how much their annual income could be. He also proposed a guaranteed annual income of $2,000 to every family as well as free college and free vocational training for everyone. Long also rallied for pensions for the elderly, healthcare, and worker’s rights. And although he was never given credit many of the New Deal reforms did include some of the same things he supported. For instance, Social Security, Medicare, Graduated Income Tax, Food Stamps, and the various worker’s rights.
Deletehttp://www.hueylong.com/programs/share-our-wealth.php
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hphgHi6FD8k
DeleteAlso, this is a link to one of his speeches about the Share Our Wealth program. It gives you a pretty good idea of what he was about and what he wanted the plan to accomplish. It's really interesting to watch because some of the stuff that he was saying back in 1934 are still things that people talk about today. For example, he brings up the fact that so much of the wealth in America is owned by such a small amount of the population. People still talk about this now. The whole idea behind the Occupy movement is that there is such a large concentration of wealth in the 1% as compared to the other 99% of the people.
The Emergency Banking Relief Act was passed on March 3, 1933. This act, created by FDR, closed down all of the banks in America for a week to stop citizens from withdrawing their money out of panic. If the people would have taken all of their money out at once, banks would have failed and went under bankruptcy. Some people who had gotten the chance to take their money out ended up putting in half the amount of money that had been taken out altogether bank in the banks. This showed the act to be successful.
DeleteDear Journal
ReplyDeleteIt has been ten years now since the worst day of my life. That day was October 29 1929. Some call that day Black Tuesday, I just think of it as the day my life fell apart. I was a young businessman on my way up making so much money. I was on top of the world. Every penny me our my wife made we put it in the stock market. Then once it happened we lost everything. My life went straight down hill after, my wife left me less than a year later. My life went from high to low in less than a year. I never knew how I was going to recover I literally had nothing. It took a while for me to have anything again. For five years I stood in soup lines and live in a community of shacks. I looked everywhere but there were just no jobs available for anyone. It was then when the government starting to get involved. They came out with a new law that basically saved my life. The law was the the Works Progress Administration. This law helped make 9 million jobs available. I got one of those 9 million jobs; I was hired to help build a school. It wasn’t much but it was work. I started to make some money again it felt good to get out of the soup lines and provide for myself. After I was done there I started to get other jobs I was helping on building some bridges and I even worked in a park for a bit. I was actually making good money. The government was coming out with more laws so people like me would not go back to being unemployed. It was a huge help for and the government saved my life. It was 1940 now and I was finally back in my own house with a new wife and family. It was then when the war started. I felt like I owed my country something after it was able to save me. So I enlisted in the military and I am now a proud member of the United States Army. My life went from the highest high to the lowest low and now my life is back up top and I couldn’t be happier.
-Al Nieliwocki
A policy that Al mentioned in his journal was the Works Progress Administration. The Works Progress Administration, which was the largest and most ambitious policy in the New Deal agency, was a law that employed millions of unskilled workers or, simply, unemployed men to carry out jobs that carried out public works projects. These projects included jobs in the construction of buildings or roads and projects regarding art, media, drama, and literacy. This law fed children and redistributed clothing, food, and housing to millions. Thanks to the WPA, almost every community residing in the United States had a park, school, or bridge constructed by public works. Projects such as these benefited rural and Western areas the most, because at that time they had nothing.
Deletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aq5UiGdje8U
DeleteThis video talks more about how the Works Progress Administration helped rural and Western areas.
As AL and Kerry both stated the Works Progress Administrations was a very ambitious program that created over nine million jobs for American men. This new administration had a greatly larger effect on the country then noted in its results. The Works Progress Administration was also a return of pride for many men. This was a way to earn money through hard work, as opposed to previous acts which would give away money to those who needed it. This gave a re-found sense of pride making a difference and rejuvenating spirit through the country.The Work Progress Administration provided jobs building schools and public buildings still in use today.
DeleteI like how Al’s post showed how the depression really was. It was the low point in many people’s life, but it also shows the complete turnaround of how the mentality changed. Also in Colin post when people had lost everything else all they could do is keep their pride. I think the FDR programs were more for the people benefit, rather than just fix the problem. The new deal didn’t help stop the depression, WWII did. All FDR could do is really get the people through the problem that they were facing. In that regard though FDR was a great president.
DeleteDear Mother,
ReplyDeleteHi mother, its Jacob. How have you been holding up with the house? Its October again, every time this month rolls around it saddens me. It’s been five years since the death of father. I really do miss him and I’m sure you do too. It’s also been five years since the crash. I’ve been trying to recuperate but it’s pretty hard. I’m sorry I can’t help you with the house and hopefully they don’t foreclose. It’s unfortunate that we lost everything in the crash mom, even Dad. I should have taken all the money we had, we should have been prepared. I saw it coming but, the promises the economy gave mom. We were on our way to being rich. That day when I was on the floor at the stock market, it’ll never leave my mind, so much chaos, till this day I still don’t know the cause. I know you’ve been angry for not sending money, but ever since the crash, I’ve been unemployed, the stocks need to pick up so I can make money. I’ll send what I have left to you for the house, take care.
With love your son,
Jacob
Dear Mother,
Mother, great news! I’ve over heard that congress has passed law’s to help people losing their houses. Programs like the Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC) and the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). Mom this could save you from losing your house. They are for middle class households; they are small loans for householders and to help refinance households. This is our hope mother, the stock market is picking up a bit and I just got a job in the banking market. Hopefully it will go well, we really need this. These seem to be getting better mom, don’t worry I won’t let you down.
With love your son,
Jacob
Dear Mother,
I’m happy the loan worked out well mom. I’m working on paying it back. I’ve been saving up a bit, and so have many other people. There have been a lot of people at the bank recently. There has been a new sort of trust in the banks now since the crash. I believe it’s because of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. They secure your money once it is in the bank. If only we had that before mom. But now it will help so many and help us at the bank as well. We have been on a sort of break for a bit, the president ordered for another “bank holiday”, it really helps us at the bank, especially now since more people come. Hopefully all goes well again mom, I’m going to take a risk soon, and I’m going to the stock market again. I’m going to observe for a bit. It has gotten better apparently with the government regulation of the stocks. Programs like the Securities and Exchange Commission and Federal Securities Act make Wall Street a better place to invest. We’ll try again, see how it goes. There is only one way from her mom, up. Be positive, we have gotten through the worst.
With love your son,
Jacob
Alex made good points about the FHA and HOLC, but I think two acts that are much more important to talk about would be the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Securities and Exchange Commision because of their longevity and the simple fact that they are still in effect today. Take for example the recent arrest of Bernard Madoff who was scamming the Stock Market for billions of dollars. Thanks to the SEC they were able to protect others from this fraud and make the arrest that was most needed. Scandals like this were a common thing in the Stock Market when it had first opened. Inside information on stocks would be shared with others/groups of people who would then manipulate the market for money. Fortunately, this didn't last for long thanks to FDR passing one of the country's most beneficial laws; the SEC. This made the market a "fair" place to say the least. Also, another great act would be the FDIC, which is still in effect today. No more than a few days ago did Mr. Lubisco tell us about receiving a receipt from the ATM that said on the bottom "Insured by the FDIC." This goes to show us the lastingness of such an ACT established in the late 1930's. With over 9000 banks failing shortly after the Stock Market crash, people were in a panic to receive their savings that they had stored in the bank. This created the worst economic depression as we know it, but thanks to the FDIC we could now restore our faith in banks. In short, the FDIC now insured deposits up to $5000, restoring beliefs in banks and subsiding the skeptics of ever trusting the banks again. Today, the FDIC is still in effect, insuring over $100,000. That's over 20 times the amount insured during 1934.
DeleteIn Alex's entry the portrayal of the anguish his character experiences, along with the other people during this time is successful. As Matt mentioned, he could have incorporated the Federal Deposit insurance Corporation and the Securities and Exchange Commission since they were the lasting acts. But, Alex did show the new hope instilled in the banks by the people. This was due to the security the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Securities Act. Additionally, the help given to the people by the government was something that helped keep the people hopeful.
DeleteMy name is John. I am eighteen years old, from Oklahoma. I want to tell you my story. When the stock market crashed in 1929 my family and I thought that that was the worst of our problems. We had been experiencing financial difficulties for some time, you see. I come from a family of farmers and with the overabundance of food starting in the 20s we had a difficult time coping. The stock market crashed and we were sure that we had hit rock bottom. That’s when the dust storms began.
ReplyDeleteThe way it was explained to my father was that it was simply a drought. Things were complicated, however, because the soil here had been over farmed and our methods of farming had loosened the top soil. This seemed ironic to me. It was our creation of so much food that led to there being absolutely none. The huge dust storms devastated us and everything around us. We lost everything. Our land became barren. This happened to everyone else we knew, as well.
It was around this time that President Roosevelt began passing act after act attempted to help the people. He declared bank holidays and bank reforms. With the FDIC he even insured money that was put in the bank. I’m sure this would have helped us, if we had had any money in the first place. Roosevelt then began creating programs like the Civil Works Administration and the Works Progress Administration. These gave much needed jobs to the unemployed. I wanted to take part, to help my family, but my parents refused to let me leave, as many of the jobs involved travelling to work sites to build bridges and buildings and such things.
In an attempt to ease the suffering of the farmers Congress created the Agricultural Adjustment Administration. It was well intentioned, the goal was to pay farmers to reduce their crops this would eliminate the surplus which were negatively effecting prices and therefore the farmer. But under this administration obscene amounts of pigs were slaughtered for no reason. This angered me, why was so much food being destroyed, going to waste? All while men, women, and children were starving all over the country.
It wasn’t long after these events that our home was destroyed by one particularly harsh storm. My parents made the decision that we would migrate to California. It seemed like things were better there, to some degree at least. Thousands of people had moved there from Oklahoma and the other effected states. They called us “Okies” when we arrived, I hated it. I hated that I had absolutely nothing, no home, no job, no land, no money. Things were no better in California. My father and I searched and searched for jobs but, of course, there is a depression and jobs are no easier to find here than they were in Oklahoma. Eventually we had to settle for migrant jobs. We travel all over, going from farm to farm picking crops and making next to nothing. I can only dream of an end to this depression. I can only dream of a time when we don’t live in poverty, when we don’t starve, when there are real jobs to be found.
Both the Great Depression and the “Dust Bowl” hindered many farmers. Since the war ended farmers began growing so much food that there was soon an overabundance. This did not help farmers much because food prices hit an all time low. Farmers couldn’t make an honest living even if they got a full harvest of their crops. Things even got worse when the winds began picking up “Dust Bowl” region. These picked up the top soil of farms and blew it everywhere from 1930-1936. Without the top soil the farmers couldn’t farm because the ground underneath wasn’t able to grow plants. Now farmers had to look for other means of acquiring money to support their families. As Erin mentioned before, the CWA and the WPA helped provide temporary jobs for the unemployed who needed money. These were great laws passed in the New Deal. The WPA helped provide over 9 million jobs over a span of 8 years. This helped American in two ways. Since Americans were given work in order to get money instead of just being handed money because they were in need, it helped provide Americans with enthusiasm to work.
Deletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2CiDaUYr90
DeleteI looked further into the Dust Bowl period. Here is a video to just give a little insight of what the Dirty Thirties were like. There were many causes and effects to the Dust Bowl of the Dirty Thirties. It seemed like farmers were the last notified that we came out of war because they were heavily affected. They continued to massively produce goods with the help of their tractors, steel plows, reapers, and other big machines. The cost of food took a devastating plummet since there was so much in the post war period. In the Great Plains, the new crop to plant that made so much money was wheat. Wheat was planted all year round; farmers didn’t seasonally change their crops. Also, the wet period that was going on ended in the 1930s. The reason why this land was inhabited beforehand was because it was fertile and easy to plant with. It didn’t help that there was a drought in the 1930s because farmers in the Great Plains planted Russian wheat, which dried out the land. All the moisture in the soil was brought up by the plow. The smart thing to do would have been to plow according to the wind patterns. That wasn’t the case so the wind picked up all the rich soil and ferociously blew it all over the nation. April, 14, 1935 was “Black Sunday,” a day where twenty of the worst blizzards occurred that caused extensive damages. Over 5 million tons of soil were scattered across the nation. This resulted in death of extensive counts of livestock, the closing of railroads and schools, as well as the use of the snow plow to remove to soil.
Dear Diary,
ReplyDeleteAs a fifteen year old girl in the 1920s life, as you could imagine, is very hard. Nothing ever seems to be going right. There is so much pressure on my family and I and it sometimes feels like it is just too much for me to handle. With six brothers and sisters getting the necessities is harder for us than a normal family. My older brothers and I have to help our father earn enough money just to get us by. And with mother being sick that makes it even harder. I wish there was something we could do to help her, but every day she just seems to get worse and worse. We had the doctor come the other day and said there was not much else he could do to help her. We are all so worried for her, but I know she will pull through.
Dear Diary,
Mother is getting worse, the doctor came again today. We do not know exactly what she has, but the doctor said it could have something to do with a cold or something. She is not eating as much anymore and she can barely speak. I hate that she is in so much pain and is so sick and I cannot do anything to help her. Anyways, now they are telling me that I can no longer work. They passed some sort of law called the Fair Labor Standards Act. It is a law that says that I can only work if I am over sixteen. My three older brothers get to continue working while I cannot. I was upset when I heard this because all I want to do is try and help my family as much as I can. I want us to be able to earn enough money for food and maybe even new clothes. All of our clothes are torn and have rips, tears, and holes in them. We try and pass our old clothes down to our younger siblings, but by the time they get to the youngest they are just so worn out that they are practically garbage, they cannot use them at all. I also want to help them earn enough money to help mother get better. That ridiculous law also says that father cannot work anymore than a certain amount of hours in a day and week. I think father said he could not work anymore than eight hours a day and no more than forty hours a week. Why does President Roosevelt have to do that?
Dear Diary,
Well, she is gone. Mother died earlier this morning. Everyone was in tears, even father was and I have never seen him cry before. It was the saddest thing I have ever seen. I want to go and work and hopefully earn money for my family, but with mother gone and me being the oldest daughter I know what I must do now; I have to stay home with the younger ones while father, Daniel and Nathan go out and work. Things were hard, but now everything will be even harder now that mother is gone. I am upset that she is gone, but I know she is in a better place now and I know she will help us through this tough time, she will not let us down and we will not let her down.
I applaud Kerry for her work on this post. She really got into her character and played the part of a 15-year-old girl of the time. She mentioned one act that I would like to go into further detail about and I have one that I would like to add on. She mentioned the Fair Labor Standards Act. This act provided a national minimum wage as well as prohibited the labor of minors under 16. It also gave restrictions on work hours and over time hours. In the case of Kerry’s character this wasn’t revelation in American history. This stopped the work of the narrator and some of her siblings because they were under the age of 16. Her father could only work a specific amount of hours a week instead of however many he usually worked to try and make ends meet for the family debt. In retrospect, this law is a very effective one. It stopped the work of young children in the 1920s. Before hand small children were allowed to work in coal mines and other harsh conditions to make little wage. To let children work is an absurd thought that I am glad was fixed. The policy that I would like to add is the Social Security Act of 1935. Even though, it was passed too late to help the mother in Kerry’s storyline it was also an effective law that is still used today. This policy helped those of old age, illness, poverty, disabled, unemployment, and the children who are fatherless as well as those who are burdened by a widowed spouse. A monthly pension would have been given to the father in Kerry’s storyline to at least help him out with making ends meet.
DeleteLike Adaobi mentioned, I like how Kerry took a different perspective and focused on describing in detail the life and the hardships of certain Americans at the time. The girl Kerry mentions in her entry has to care for her large family while her family is stuck in a tough situation. The Fair Labor Act limited the girl’s hours, but raised her wage. I believe that the Federal Emergency Relief Administration should have been mentioned in this journal entry. This is similar to what welfare is today. It provided jobs for men and it gave immediate relief to families who really needed it and qualified. This could have been another act from the New Deal reforms that would have benefited Kerry’s character. It is also one of the lasting effects of the New Deal.
DeleteColin Hannis
ReplyDeletePeriod 7
Journal Blog
2/22/12
As a single parent life is difficult trying to raise two kids, I’m in my early thirties and my wife left soon after the crash and we lost everything. She left me to raise two small boys while trying to juggle a job. It’s hard to find a job in these times with unemployment throw the roof. I consider myself one of the lucky ones. I have a job that pays next to nothing, and I have to work countless hours, but at least I have a job. Life is rough I can barely make ends meet, I hardly see my boys. My oldest boy has to take care of his little brother, which is too much responsibility for a kid. The worst part is I make such low wages and work from sun up to sundown in grueling conditions, and I’m still one of the lucky ones.
Life has taken a turn around since this new deal has been administered. The Fair Labors Standard Act and the Wagner Act have drastically changed my life. No longer am I subjected to poor wages and unreasonable hours. The Fair labors Standard Act has set a national minimum wage and an eight hour work day with overtime and time and a half. This has been an amazing change for me and my family. Now I’m making more money off of fewer hours, the best part is now over time. Some days I can elect to work overtime and still work less hours then I used to an make so much more money. The Wagner Act is a newly passed act that allows unions to gather and negotiate benefits. This is giving me protection in my job an earned benefits. I no longer live in fear of where my next pay check is coming from. Now thanks to the New Deal and especially the Wagner Act and Fair Labors Standard Act I’m making more money and working less hours. I can spend more time with my family and my life is again going in a positive direction again.
Colin noted both, the Wagner Act of of 1935 and the Fair Labor Standard Act of 1938, which were two major and crucial laws that were the beginning to a positive direction for society during these harsh living conditions. As Colin stated, the Fair Labor Standard Act of 1938 not only set a minimum wage, which our country still has today (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/History_of_US_federal_minimum_wage_increases.svg), but most importantly they stopped absurd amounts of work hours for crummy pay. People now had positive incentives to work, hoping to make a living after all. With that said, benefits and labor unions were now in effect as the Wagner Act enabled employees to not only create labor unions, but to participate in collective bargaining from their representatives. In addition more positive incentives were created as employees had benefits while working, ensuring their protection and safety on the job.
Deletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2GSnBhYpvc
DeleteI am adding to what sandy cheeks was saying about the wagner act. THe act was a major help to the every day man. People who worked in factorys were the major helpers. THis acts very contraversial. It was shot down by many courts until it finally reached the suprem court and was passed. THe video shows that and it also show the unions starting to bargin now. THey where able to fight for better hours, better working conditons and better pay. This act is still major help today. Labor unions can be seen every where. Almost every job now is part of a union. All of these unions would not be around today without this act.
Like Colin said getting a job was hard to get. That’s why FDR created things such as the CCC to help people get jobs for the people struggling to find work. I like how he mentioned the Wagner act and the Fair labor act. These two acts are still around today and they are everlasting. Plus like Al said it was for the everyday man. The everyday man is what made this country the best when the everyday man is struggling then the country is struggling. FDR did this because he knew what the problem was and he help the little people. These two acts are lasting today and they are a long term thing. I like how Colin explained how the everyday man felt. Like Sandy Cheeks said though this act lead to business wanting to work more to make more money because they are forced to pay more to their workers in a smaller amount of time.
DeleteThe tough situation of Colin’s character makes it easy to feel sympathetic for him and for Americans during this time period. His family and work situation is very hard. I like how he showed the turn around with the new acts passed by the New Deal that would benefit him, which I will not go into because Matt and Al already did a good job in going into detail with that. But, with the new benefits Colin’s character has received from the numerous programs and acts he is now able to spend more time with his family and he is able to enjoy his free time. This is a reality of the time period. Many people now had time to spend with their families and they were able to become involved I various recreational sports and activities. I personally believe that the Fair Labors Standard Act and the Wagner Act are one of the most effective acts of the time period due to the fact that they affect me personally. They allow me to earn what I do and work a limited amount of hours, which works to my benefit today.
DeleteJune 1928
ReplyDeleteDear Mother,
It has been a couple of years since I last wrote to you and I apologize for that. My situation has not been the best and I never thought I would openly admit that to you. You were right. I should have stayed home in New York working in a factory like everyone else. But, that was not what I wanted to do; I was interested in agriculture and really believed I could make it. There was just such a high demand for crops and certain animals years before the terrible depression and I wanted to live the American Dream. Martina is very depressed about our situation, quite honestly I am surprised she has not packed up her bags and left with the kids. Right now we are all trying to make right out of all of this wrong. Once again, I am sorry for not speaking to you.
Love,
Nathan
August 1932
Dear Mother,
I am glad you wrote back and I appreciate you wanting to help. With the administration of Franklin Roosevelt though, I feel like everything might change for the better. He has passed new sets of acts that will work to my benefit along with many more farmers. For instance, the Agricultural Adjustment Act will make millions of dollars available to help farmers meet mortgages. Additionally, he has established the Agriculture Adjustment Administration to reduce crop acreage which would eliminate crop surpluses. This is great! I suffered from investing way too much on my farm and the government is finally stepping in to help. I will let you know how everything works out.
Love,
Nathan
November 1938
Dear Mother,
Things did not work out the way I thought they would. The Agricultural Adjustment Administration had that plan I wrote earlier to you about. In fact, it killed many of the pigs I had for no reason. A couple of buddies of mine are in the same situation they were in before all this “help”. Many are left unemployed and the plan was killed. Luckily Congress is still trying to make things better for us farmers. They passed the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act of 1936. This paid farmers to plant soil-conserving plants, such as soybeans. Also, they passed the Second Agricultural Act of 1928 which continued to conserve payments. Things are so out of hand I just want some stability and I believe it is best if I come back and work on some projects run by the government. I heard they have provided many job opportunities and maybe it is just best for the family. I will let you know what I decide on when I figure it out. Keep me in your prayers.
Love,
Nathan
I agree with Brenda, and I also like how she included both Agriculture Adjustment Administration acts, since the first one was unconstitutional. This gives us an idea as to why FDR was criticized for passing such an act as she mentions that the killings of animals were literally for "no reason." This was a time of need and desperation for food and any resources, and instead of aiding the people for such resources, the government instead wrongly suggested that farmers stop harvesting and producing food. This was truly unconstitutional. Brenda also brings up two other acts, which in a way made up for the cruel AAA. The Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act of 1936 was notably beneficial for farmers to practice using their land safely with little repercussions, unlike the previous Dust Bowl period, which were huge dust storms due to high erosion of soil. Three years after this act was passed, soil erosion had dropped 65%.
DeleteI like how Brenda mentioned how it was an awful idea for her character Nathan to go out and farm rather than stay home and work in the factories. The farmers were left with nothing because of the overabundance of food now in America. Their crops weren’t needed anymore and so farmers couldn’t make an honest living. They couldn’t support their families because they had no money. Brenda also mentioned how in years prior to the Great Depression like during World War 1. Food was in such high demands so farmers could make a lot of money because their crops were needed. A farmer’s life looked good for Americans in order to get an honest life.
DeleteI also agree with how Brenda portrayed the life of the farmer. So much was being done for the farmers but so little was completely effective. The plans that were made for farmers by FDR were not all that successful. The one that i am going to elaborate on is the first Agriculture Adjustment Administration Act. Even the initial concept may seem a little weird. The idea was to get rid of the surplus of goods that were produced so that prices would be raised due to higher demand. however, this did not work in the first AAA act. This is largely in due to the fact that the economy was in such bad shape. Because the U.S. farmers were so far under, they could not just kill off some of their livestock and destroy crops to get out of debt.
DeleteEven though it was supposed to help the farmers it was eventually going to hurt them. Another thing The first AAA established was a tax on companies that processed farm products. This could have been even more damaging to the farmer because the companies would have payed these back to farmers. This was then ruled unconstitutional and may have saved even more heartbreak and hardships for the farmers of the U.S.
Thomas
ReplyDeleteDear Journal,
Today is the first day I am writing in this journal. I’m going to tell you why I will start this and I hope it will give me hope. I’m John I was an investor till as of yesterday. Today is October 30th 1929 and yesterday I would have to say was the worse day of my whole life. Having all my money invested into the stock market was a terrible idea. I thought I’ll I make my fortune in the fail stock market, but as everything else in my life it failed miserably. I am now broke, my family was already struggling to survive, but now we have no chance to get by. I fail as an investor I fell into the speculation of the time where I can make it rich quick in the stock market now look at me now.
Dear Journal,
It’s been four years since I lost all my family money in the stock market. I voted in the last election. Franklin Roosevelt promise of change and a way to get out of this depression that has swept the nation caught my attention and gave me hope. First thing he did was closing the banks for a few days. It work I saw a change in some people. They couldn’t go to the banks to get their money so all they could is relax. On a more positive note also the money I lost in the bank is insured now. A little late but I guess it’s better than nothing I mean why did no one, before this stupid depression think of insuring the money in banks.
Dear Journal,
I got a job! The CCC is giving out new jobs and I really need the money for my family. Most of these jobs are odd, I mean who drain swamps. The work is hard, but money is money and my family needs to live. I won’t hesitate a second when it comes to my family.
Franklin Roosevelt is helping out the little people the people that need the help not those big business rich people that people mostly care about. What makes them so great anyway? It the middle and lower class the work hard for this country, not the rich people who have enough money to survive this without any trouble at all.
Dear Journal,
The SEC (Security Exchange Commission) was just established today. I saw it in the newspaper. Apparently FDR created this to watch and regulate the stock market to prevent another complete collapse of this great country economy and avoid another great depression. The stock exchange is for the future. It’s to keep us protected from another economic disaster. After this I might try and risk the stock market again. It seems a lot safer now that it highly regulated.
Thomas’s post is very noteworthy. He brings up a couple different acts that I would like to go into further detail about. The first is the Emergency Bank Relief Act. Four days after FDR passed this law, it went into effect. Banks nationwide went on a holiday for a week to recuperate and prevent the banks from shutting down. This was an effective law because it sparked faith in customers of the bank to put trust back into their bank and redeposit their money. In a matter of two weeks, in fact, more than half the money that was lost before the suspension was re-deposited. The narrator of Thomas’s journal also ran into some luck when the Glass-Steagall Act was passed. This act provided a safer way to use assets of a bank, regulate interbank control, and to protect funds from being misused. From this act, came to be the FDIC or the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. This agency insures money in the bank. It insures a depositor that if something was to happen to the bank in any situation they would have a certain amount of money so all is not lost. Another policy passed is the Civilian Conservation Corporation. The only way for the narrator to qualify for the CCC is if he is within the ages of 18 through 25. This policy is a relief program that provided unskilled manual labor jobs for unemployed men. It was made the most popular of the New Deal programs. Not only did it give jobs to the unemployed, but it also was a natural resource conservation program as well. It boosted the public awareness for the protection and development of our natural resources. The last policy Thomas mentions is the SEC which is the Securities and Exchange Commission. The primary reason for the creation of this policy is to regulate the stock market and prevent corporate abuses like the offering and sales of security as well as corporate reporting.
Deletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsUpSlC6sMI
DeleteI am adding on the adobies comment about the CCC. She mentions how the CCC provided many jobs to unemployed men. These men built so many things. As this video shows these men built bridges, highways, school, roads, and parks. Most of the things built by them are still in use today. The most major creation by the men was the Hoover Dam. This dam was finished in 1936. It cost 49 million dollars to make but it was a drastic help to the economy. Giving thousands of people jobs and money.
Thomas talks about a lot of acts in his post, but I'm going to talk about the CCC. CCC stands for Civilian Conservation Corps. It was a public relief program for unemployed, single men between the ages of eighteen and twenty five. It was passed in 1943 and ended in 1942. It gave unskilled manual labor jobs that were related to conservation and development of natural resources in rural lands owned by the federal, state, and local government systems. This act had been established to give jobs to young men to relieve families that could not find any jobs during The Great Depression. In nine years 2.5 million men were employed through this system.
DeleteMay 1932:
ReplyDeleteDear Mother,
Mother, you gave this journal to me long ago to write my thoughts in so I won’t get too overwhelmed. Oh, mother, may your soul rest in perfect peace. My life is turning upside down. To hell with this! My life has gone to waste! Ever since I was small I was an apprentice under a shoe maker. All those long nights; all the blood, sweat, and tears I spent in that shop. All to waste! From the sole, to the heel, to even the little aglets on the shoelace Uncle Sal taught me how to make. Now my eighteenth year of life I can make a pair of shoes blindfolded. I was even planning to make my own shop, but I don’t see that happening for me now. A few years back Uncle Sal’s shop went out of business and he said to me, “Artie, our profession… our beautiful profession of making shoes that can just take a person anywhere will soon fade away. Soon it won’t take skill to even craft the shoe. Factories are making shoes now. They put no heart into their shoes. Rubbish! Our shoes are made of love.”
Well, mother I’m out of a job. Unemployment line, please meet me, Arthur Cools. I feel we will become best friends. On the bright side we have a new President. I pray he creates more jobs for young men like me mother so I can get by.
Your son,
Artie
February 1933:
Dear Mother,
Mother it’s a rough winter. Now that I’m an orphan, I must fend for myself. It was hard to find a good place to live in when I had so little money. Father didn’t leave any money for me. Thanks Dad. However, now I have enough to get by, well at least temporarily. Roosevelt, our new President created this policy called the Civil Works Administration or the CWA for short. It gave me a construction job and I really enjoy working on new projects. I get to work on buildings and bridges. I won’t be living the good life for long Mother. I hear this policy is only staying around for a year. I will get the most out of it for as long as I can. Hope your sending miracles my way mother. I need all the help I can get.
Love you always,
Artie
June 1934:
Dear mother,
Well they started a new policy and hopefully this one is for keeps. It is called the Civilian Conservation Corporation. It was like Roosevelt was thinking of a boy like me when they created this policy. Mother, it gives unskilled labor jobs to young men like me from the ages of 18-25. Mother, I feel like I’m letting Uncle Sal down because he always said that each job needs skill. I don’t do anything that needs too much training. It makes me feel like I’m doing much at all. I do have a nice uniform though. It is better than the tattered clothing that I used to wear. I always wear the shoes that I made though. It reminds me to never forget that I have my own skill. I work in one of these really nice camps. I feel like a soldier fighting for our country. Don’t worry mother, I make enough. Pray for me.
Your son,
Artie.
Along with other programs of Roosevelts New Deal, came the CWA (Civil Works Administration) an important program to help the unemployed. It served as a relief to those who needed money, like Artie in Adobi's journal. The CWA was public work program that gave the unemployed jobs building or repairing roads, parks,and airports,mostly internal improvements in the U.S. These jobs were temporary and lasted through the winter, and created 4 million jobs in the U.S. This helped Americans in time of need and programs like these under the New Deal brought renewed hope that things were going to get better.Its was a psychological as well as a monetary boost to American's. The workers of the CWA created 12 million feet of sewer pipe and built or improved 255,000 miles of roads,40,000 schools and 1,000 airports, major improvements in America. But most importantly the CWA was successful.
DeleteAfter the Civil Works Administration that Alex previously discussed came the CCC. The Civilian Conservation Corporation was another similar act to establish more work for the Young men in the country. As Adoabi had sad in her journal this only applied to men from the ages of 18-25 and that were unmarried. Also this only applied to the families that qualified as a relief family. This meant that it was available to a very small amount of people that were unemployed and left most of them still out of work. In my opinion this did some good things and bad things for the workers of that time. While it gave those people some jobs to work, most of these would not be long term and it would turn the workforce into a non-skilled work force. Most people before this time would take years of learning how to do a specific job. However, now because of this relief effort there is only simple jobs that needed to be done. This simplified the work force due to the fact that the years of training was no longer needed to do these jobs.
DeleteMost of FDR projects weren’t meant for long term use. The CCC and CA that were programs that would bring immediate relied, and that were made to build hope for the people, which most of FDR projects did do. The jobs were quick jobs that normally people didn’t want to do like draining swamps. I also thing the CCC lead to the no longer use of the artisan. People didn’t need the long years of training that the artisans would have, while during the depression people didn’t need years of training they need quick money and programs such as the CWA and CCC provided what the people needed.
Delete