Introduction
A Turbulent
Time
Why were the 1930s
a difficult decade
for many people?
Many things
happened
during the
1930s that
created hardship for
lots of people. These
included a huge
economic depression,
an environmental
crisis, and a war
brewing in Europe. But
there were good things
that happened as well.
The 1930s is a decade with many nicknames, such
as “The Dirty Thirties,” “The Turbulent Thirties,”
or “The Starving Thirties.” When referring to
the 1930s, historians often talk about the Great
Depression and the Dust Bowl. The decade of the
1930s was a time of great hardship for many. It
was also a time of amazing inventions. The 1930s
saw the birth of government programs that we
still use today, such as Social Security and insured
bank deposits. What makes the 1930s so different
from all the other decades?
A CRASH STARTS IT ALL
In 1929, America was still embracing the “roaring”
twenties, which was a decade of affluence for many
people. Life changed dramatically in the 1920s. There
was more money to spend and more to spend it on.
People found new roles to enjoy and focused more on
leisure time and having fun.
2
GREAT DEPRESSION | INTRODUCTION
It seemed as though many Americans were enjoying
a party that would never end, even though some
people, such as farmers and minorities, never really
shared in the general prosperity of the times. The party
did end, though, with the Stock Market Crash of 1929
that ushered in a period of hard times. The economy
did not fully recover from the Great Depression until
World War II. It affected an entire generation of people.
An economic depression is an extreme
recession that lasts two years or more.
This is a period of time when personal income, prices,
and profits all drop. It is characterized by increased
unemployment, less available credit, and reduced
trading and commerce. If a depression lasts for too
long, consumers lose confidence and stop investing.
Did your family or someone you know experience any
effects from the most recent recession, which began
in 2007? Are you, or they, still feeling those effects?
Primary Sources
Primary sources come
from people who were
eyewitnesses to events. They
might write about the event,
take pictures, post short
messages to social media
or blogs, or record the event
for radio or video. Why are
primary sources important?
Do you learn differently
from primary sources than
from secondary sources,
which come from people
who did not directly
experience the event?
Later in 1929, Americans suddenly found themselves
losing their jobs and having their homes foreclosed on.
Many people lost the money in their savings accounts.
Between 1930 and 1933, 9,000 banks failed. Imagine
going to the bank to withdraw money and finding it
closed forever. This happened to many people.
Today, we talk about 8 percent unemployment being
unacceptably high, but the early 1930s saw 25 percent
unemployment. One quarter of the American work
force was unemployed.
A TURBULENT TIME
3
CRASH!
The Stock Market Crash of
1929 came as a surprise
to many people. Many
investors lost a lot of their
money in one week. Read a
newspaper article written
during the week of
the crash. Did people
realize how bad the
situation was?
N ew York Times
stock market
crash
Before 1933, there were no federal government
programs in place to help people who lost their jobs.
Today, unemployment insurance helps people take care
of themselves until they can find another job. Without
money to spend, unemployed consumers no longer
shopped. Business after business closed, and people
whose livelihoods depended on manufacturing or
selling goods lost their jobs as well.
It was also a decade of severe natural disasters. The
Great Plains states, including Colorado, Texas, Kansas,
Oklahoma, and New Mexico, suffered through one of
the worst droughts ever recorded.
The dry conditions spawned huge dust
storms, blowing loose topsoil in “black
blizzards” of dust and dirt.
It was impossible to grow crops in these conditions.
Millions of farmers and agricultural workers were forced
to leave their farms and homes. Many traveled to places
such as California in search of work.
photo credit: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/
Department of Commerce
Stratford, Texas, 1935
4
GREAT DEPRESSION | INTRODUCTION
At first, the government did little that helped. It
wasn’t until President Franklin Roosevelt was elected
in 1932 that the government began to put policies and
programs into place that were designed to help the
economy. These programs also began to help people
who had no way to earn money or feed their families.
SHAPING A GENERATION
The Great Depression shaped an entire generation of
Americans. Many of those who grew up during the
1930s always carried with them the memory of hunger
and hardship. Many of them were thrifty and distrustful
of banks and credit all of their lives.
Because of the Great Depression, the U.S. government
changed the way it regulated banking and commerce.
Many of the protective programs we still have today
were created during this time.
In The Great Depression, you’ll discover how the struggles
of the 1930s shaped the character of American society.
You’ll learn about this difficult time between the
modern world that appeared in the 1920s and the era
of the Second World War and the prosperous society
it created. What was it like to be an American living
during such a turbulent time?
KEY QUESTIONS
• Why do we still have economic depressions? Do
people learn from history?
Vocab Lab
There is a lot of new
vocabulary in this book!
Turn to the glossary in the
back when you come to a
word you don’t understand.
Practice your new vocabulary
in the Vocab Lab activities
in each chapter.
1930s
FACTOID
During the 1930s, doctors
earned about $61 per
week, while factory
workers earned about $17
per week. In 2014, the
average weekly earnings
for factory jobs were
$465. For doctors, the
average weekly salary
was more than $3,000.
• Do you know anyone who lived during the Great
Depression? Do they have any habits that might
have formed during the 1930s?
• What contemporary events might shape your
worldview when you are an adult?
A TURBULENT TIME
5
Inquire &
Investigate
VOCAB LAB
Write down what you
think each word means:
economic depression,
affluence, prosperity,
turbulent, foreclose,
stock market,
unemployment,
and commerce.
Compare your
definitions with those
of your friends or
classmates. Did you
all come up with the
same meanings? Turn
to the text and glossary
if you need help.
COMPARE THE DECADES
In 2008, a recession took place in the United States
that seemed to echo the Great Depression of the
1930s. Called the Great Recession, it was a time when
unemployment spiked in 2008 and 2009 and many
people lost their homes. How was this recession similar
to the Great Depression?
• Read this article comparing the
Great Recession of 2008 to the Great
Depression of the 1930s. What is
similar? What is different?
Forbes
depression
compare
recession
• Create a chart comparing the Great
Depression with the 2008 recession.
Look at indicators such as the stock
market, unemployment, housing foreclosures,
bank failures and bailouts, and government
reactions and programs.
• Do you think the Great Depression could
happen again in your lifetime? Why or why
not? Create another chart showing how the
current decade is different or similar to the 1930s.
To investigate more, create a Venn diagram
to show what was similar about the United
States before the Great Depression and the
Great Recession. Venn diagrams are made of
characteristics written in circles that overlap. In
the overlapping section write the things about
the country that were similar. In the sections
that don’t overlap, write the things that were
different.
6
THE GREAT DEPRESSION | INTRODUCTION