1950's Research Project
The Great Depression
What happened in The Great Depression?
October 29, 1929 was the day when the stock market crashed and the official beginning of the Great Depression. As stock prices plummeted with no hope of recovery, panic struck. Masses and masses of people tried to sell their stock, but no one was buying. The stock market, which was appeared to make you rich suddenly made you bankrupt.And yet, the Stock Market Crash was just the beginning. Many banks had to close because of the crash. Seeing a few banks close caused another panic across the country. Afraid they would lose their own savings, people rushed to banks that were still open to withdraw their money. This massive withdrawal of cash caused additional banks to close. Since there was no way for a bank's clients to recover any of their savings once the bank had closed, those who didn't reach the bank in time also became bankrupt.Businesses and industry were also affected. Having lost much of their own capital in either the Stock Market Crash or the bank closures, many businesses started cutting back their workers' hours or wages. Then people stopped buying luxury’s things. This lack of consumer spending caused additional businesses to cut back wages or, more drastically, to lay off some of their workers. Some businesses couldnt stay open even with these cuts and soon closed their doors, leaving all their workers unemployed.
Who was effected by the Great Depression?
The Great Depression affected a lot of things. It was worse on the people. They lost so much because of the stock market crash. They had no money for food, or shelter, or clothing. They had no money to support their family. Since the money was so little and lost businesses were affected as well, so they had to shut down, they lost the profits and incomes. The whole United States was also affected because the economy was so poor and bad. Many other countries were struck by this as well.
How is the Great Depression shown in the book?
The book's setting is during The Great Depression. Throughout the book, Harper Lee directly states the hardships that Maycomb is going through. For example, the farmers aren't doing so well in the book because The Dust Bowl ruined all their crops. The Dust Bowl mostly took place in the South, and Maycomb is located in Alabama. The Dust Bowl and the Great Depression is from the same time period. They both struck the farmers which were the Cunningham’s. In the book the Cunningham’s/ the farmers were hit the hardest.
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