The Great Depression
Men without jobs
Stock Market Crash
The stock market had done nothing but rise in the 1920's and was a certain way of making money. It was a bubble that could burst at any minute, and exactly that happened in October, 1929.
Event Information
The Day It All Went Bad
On the day remembered as Black Tuesday, it all went bad. Every stock broker were desperate to sell their stocks at whatever price they could get. Everyone sold, and the stock market went down like a crashing plane. The money the stock brokers had made the last century were lost within hours.
When?
Tuesday, May 5, 2015, 08:00 AM
Where?
Wall Street, New York, NY, United States
Stock Brokers Broke
Thousand of people lose their jobs on the New York Stock Exchange, and goes from being fairly wealthy to having nothing. The stock brokers are desperate of making money, and here we see a guy selling his fancy car for a fraction of what it's actually worth.
Banks collapse
In 1930 a panick started, and everyone wanted their money out of the banks, but the banks having invested the peoples money, weren't able to pay the money back. Therefore even the men who had to provide for their families and didn't invest in the stock market, lost their money too.
In search of jobs
Men were searching for any jobs they could get. A fourth of the country's population were out of jobs and the ones that were lucky enough to have one, were desperate not to lose it.
From the american dream to nothing
The men went from living the american dream and making their own luck on wall street, to having to rely on charity organizations and soup kitchens to even get a little food every day.
Thousands homeless
No jobs lead to no money, and the families were forced to move from home, to go live in their car. Small towns of houses build of scrap metal popped up everywhere. People were frustrated at the government for not stepping in and helping, so they called the small towns hooverville's.
In search of jobs
Former stock brokers aren't used to the poor life, and feel humiliated. some men's ego is too big to accept the charity, but they have to if they want to survive.
Soup kitchens
Also soup kitchens popped up everywhere giving free food to those in need. Suddenly the lower class and upper class is merged together, making almost everyone equal.
Forgetting about the hard times
Unemployed men were playing music together to briefly forget about the hard times, and what was actually going on in their every day life. Some songs like "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime" were popular doing this time
Giant demonstrations in cities all over the country
Everyone were demonstrating and huge rallies were held to make the government step in and help the unemployed people of America
Men seeking jobs
Men were willing to take whatever jobs they could get, and everyday people went to the unemployment bureaus in the hope of getting a job. People who had never done manual labor before were willing to work in the fields. Unfortunately not many unemployed had luck finding a job.
kids wanting food
Since their fathers couldn't provide for them, the kids from a school gathered in a huge crowd asking their superintendent to give them free food. Even teachers worked at a reduced pay and one period without being paid, because taxes weren't being paid.
Finally able to work again
As the years went on things slowly got better. In 1934 many people were happy to work again employed by the Civil Works Administration. Here we see them lower the American flag after a day of hard work.
The end of the misery
As America joined World War II, a lot of jobs were created and this finally put people back in work. America was finally on its way back to normal again, and by the end of the second world war, the depression was over.