Our Barbies

Jasmine Loughran

Ms.Kyle

Freshmen English

8 June 2005

The Great Depression

The Great Depression was an economic down fall that started in October of 1929. When the New York Stock Exchange collapsed, bring paper value down by 20%. Making the quality of life almost unbearable for millions of Americans. 25-30 percent of Americans were out of work. But not only The Great Depression effect Americans but it also effected people all over the world. Americans were so poor at this time that even getting a divorce was not possible for it was even to costly.

With this many people out of work American families found it very hard to make ends meet. Leaving children long term effects from the lack of food and mal nutrition. Many children dropped out of school to make what little money they could for their family, but was very hard to do because most of the businesses that had once supplied people with stability and income were shut down during The Great Depression. Many people found it very hard to live by the "Golden Opportunity and the streets are paved with gold" modo for life with all the hardship around them for such a long period of time. Some people even had to resort to growing wild berries just to survive.

Although after the great depression the government took action in the forms of taxation, industrial regulation social welfare, and public works. To insure the stability of the countries economy, and welfare people of the great depression longed for. In the early 40's American people found life more enjoyable because of the theses plans put into place that the government.