Hardship and Suffering During the Depression

1
Hardship and Suffering During the Depression

• Chapter 22 section 2

2
Main Idea and Key Terms

• During the Great Depression Americans did what
  they had to do to survive

• Shantytown
• Soup Kitchen
• Bread line
• Dust Bowl
• Direct relief

3
Devastation

• Statistics such as the unemployment rate tell
  only part of the story
• The Depression brought hardship, homelessness,
  and hunger to millions

4
The City

• In cities, people lost their jobs, were evicted,
  and ended up in the streets
• Some slept in parks or sewer pipes, using
  newspapers as blankets
• Numerous Shantytowns sprang up
• Every day the poor dug through garbage cans or
  begged

5

• Soup kitchens offered free or low-cost food
• Bread lines were lines of people waiting to
  receive food provided by charitable organizations
  or public agencies became common
• Conditions for African Americans and Latinos were
  worse

6

• African Americans and Latinos were being paid
  less, and suffering violence from whites
  competing for the same jobs
• 24 African Americans were lynched in 1933
• People in the Southwest demanded that Latinos be
  deported, even though some had been born in the
  U.S.

7
Warning!!!

• The following photo(s) are graphic in nature
• Please look away or step into the hall if you do
  not want to see them.

8
Rural America

• Life in rural areas was hard, but had one
  advantage they could grow food
• With falling prices and rising debt, thousands
  lost their land
• Between 1929-1932, 400,000 farms were foreclosed
  on

9
The Dust Bowl

• A drought began in the early 1930s
• Over farming and the clearing of land combined
  with the drought allowed wind to scatter topsoil
• The region hardest hit, including parts of
  Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Colorado
  came to be known as the dust bowl
• By the end of the 30s, thousands had migrated
  west

10
Effects on Family

• Americans believed in traditional values and
  family unity
• Played games at home
• Listened to the radio
• Many men broke under the strain, abandoning their
  families, and became hoboes
• No direct relief existed (govt. payments of food
  or money)

11

• Women began to can food and sew clothes
• Women began to work out of the home more
• They became targets of resentment
• Many believed they had no right to work while men
  were unemployed

12

• Children had poor diets and health care
• There was a rise in malnutrition and diet related
  diseases like rickets
• The school year was shortened, and children went
  to work
• Teens would ride railroads
• Many were beaten or killed
• 1929-39 K 24,647 I 27,171

13
Social and Psychological Effects

• People lost the will to survive
• Suicide rates rose 30
• 3X as many people checked into mental hospitals
• Adults stopped going to the doctor or dentist
• Put off college, marriage, and children
• People showed great kindness as well