This picture shows the impact that class relations had on The Great Depression. The girl on the left is holding a sign that says, “Rarig’s Kid Doesn’t Starve Why Should We?” Rarig was an engineer that owned a successful company doing well during The Great Depression. Rarig was still very wealthy during The Great Depression, one example of the large social class separation that was going on. Both of these kid’s parents featured in the photograph are most likely of the working class and are unemployed due to the sinking economy. The girl’s sign on the left is a good example of the feelings that were taking place by those of the masses about the inequalities taking place among the classes. This photograph also shows how many children formed unions to go out and protest, to try to bring about a change.-Jake
(Why Can't You Give my dad a job?)
(Why Can't You Give my dad a job?)
So what was done to stop the economic collapse? President Herbert Hoover did predict that after the Roaring Twenties, the economy would start to come back down. People would have to spend less, and unemployment would rise. But no one ever predicted that the Great Depression could hit as hard as it did. America’s unemployment rates “stood at 3.2 percent in 1929, prior to the collapse. By 1933, it had risen to 24.9 percent”(Goode). Unable to pay for adequate housing, many lower-class Americans crammed into Hoovervilles such as the one pictured. It was not until Franklin D. Roosevelt became president in 1932 that the government sought to end the Great Depression with his New Deal. -Chris
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"Ten men in this country could buy the world and ten million can't buy enough to eat" -Will Rogers
As the stock market crashed on October 29th, 1929, many Americans were left jobless or with sharply reduced wages. In fact, according to an article on Consortiumnews.com it was estimated that "In 1929, the richest one percent owned 40 percent of the nation’s wealth. The middle class was 15 to 20 percent of the population. But, more than half of the country’s population was living below a minimum subsistence level"("FDR's Legacy of Can-Do Government"). Some of the previous middle class such as farmers were hit harder by the end of World War One rather than the market crash as the farmer's wheat was no longer in high demand. Despite one of the most tragic economic disasters in U.S. history, much of the wealthy individuals stayed relatively wealthy. The wealthy that did not invest all their money in stocks retained much of their wealth but were forced to adapt their lifestyle but could still live comfortably. This disparity between rich and poor lead to a lot of tension because the wealthy showed no sympathy for the poor and "the upper classes began to flaunt their wealth more than ever"("Relations of Class in the Great Depression"). The United States was in disaster economically, politically and socially as the Great Depression "Hoovered" over them.- Tristan
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Tristan's Sources-
-Will Roger's Quote- "Will Rogers Says..." Official Site of the Will Rogers Memorial Museums. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Dec. 2014. <http://www.willrogers.com/quotes.html>.
-Picture of Newspaper- Cox, Savannah. "The Great Depression In Pictures." All That Is Interesting. N.p., 23 Dec. 2012. Web. 07 Dec. 2014. <http://all-that-is-interesting.com/great-depression-pictures>.
-Cartoon of Rich in Great Depression & Article about class relations- "Relations of Class in the Great Depression." Virginia.edu, n.d. Web. 04 Dec. 2014. <http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ug02/newyorker/class.html>.
-Picture of men soiling for work- "Great Depression WebQuest." PEACE, LOVE, & MRS. C. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Dec. 2014. http://heathercreamer.weebly.com/great-depression-webquest.html.
-Picture of kids begging-Wong, Jonathan. "Hard Times Are Hoovering over Us." Modern American History. N.p., 13 Mar. 2011. Web. 07 Dec. 2014. <http://blogs.baruch.cuny.edu/his1005spring2011/2011/03/13/hard-times-are-hoovering-over-us/>.
-Statistic about % of classes- "FDR's Legacy of Can-Do Government." Consortiumnews. N.p., 30 Jan. 2014. Web. 07 Dec. 2014. <http://consortiumnews.com/2014/01/30/fdrs-legacy-of-can-do-government/>.
Christopher’s sources-
Goode, Stephen. "Herbert Hoover: An Uncommon Man Brought Down by the Great Depression." The World & I 16.3 (2001): 283-95. ProQuest. Web. 6 Dec. 2014.
Occupy Sites Are Today's Version of 'Hoovervilles' Digital image. The Seattle Times. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Dec. 2014. <http://seattletimes.com/html/nationworld/2016775150_occupyhoovervilles16.html>.
Jake's sources-
Why can't you give my dad a job? Digital image. Word Press. N.p., 25 May 1936. Web. 7 Dec. 2014. <https://felixtavera.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/kid-with-poster.jpg?w=300&h=248>.
Fox, Levi, Gretchen Sund, and Caroline Altman. "Class in the 1930's." Urban and Urbane: The New Yorker Magazine in the 1930s. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Dec. 2014. <http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ug02/newyorker/class.html>.
Hayley's sources-
Capper, Arthur. "The Farmer and Foreign Trade." Foreign Affairs (pre-1986) 9.000004 (1931): 638. ProQuest. Web. 07 Dec. 2014.
"Causes of the Great Depression." Great Depression and the New Deal Reference Library. Ed. Allison McNeill, Richard C. Hanes, and Sharon M. Hanes. Vol. 1: Almanac. Detroit: UXL, 2003. 1-20. U.S. History in Context. Web. 07 Dec. 2014.
Morely, Kimberly. "The Great Depression." Bhskimber /. N.p., 2010. Web. 07 Dec. 2014. <http://bhskimber.pbworks.com/w/page/16168513/The%20Great%20Depression>.
"The Great Depression." The Great Depression. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Dec. 2014. <http://b-29s-over-korea.com/TheGreatDepression/TheGreatDepression1.html>.