1930S Decade Essay Essay, Research Paper
1930’s Decade Essay
The 1930’s was a decade of pain, loss, struggle, and eventually, a new
beginning. Through the convictions of a money crisis which started the Great Depression
of not only the Nation, but the World, many citizens lost everything proving that the
Stock Market crash left the 1930’s in full out pain and struggle. To escape the pressures
of the Depression and unemployment, many turned to the likes of entertainment as a
means of relief from the hardships and realities of an unrelenting plague that was felt
throughout the world. Along with entertainment to help shed some light to the country
gone bankrupt, a reformer took advantage of the situation and brought with him, A New
Deal which gave hope for all of America. Needless to state, the 1930’s was a time of hurt
and pain until this reformer came and impacted the nation for the better.
On October 29, 1929, the Stock Market, which a majority of the nation
but their money into, crashed resulting in a nation burried in turmoil and panic. All the
money that the famillies poured into the Stock Market had been lost. The Crash left
millions of the Nation in despair and struggle for a better life. Millions of Americans lost
their jobs and the unemployment rate incredibly rose in a year alone. Many people
blamed President Hoover for the depression which followed the Stock Market Crash for
his indifference to their hardships and his petty actions of trying to make it better when it
was too late ( and too close to the elections ) were undeniably selfish and crude. The
nation turned their backs on him as any Nation looking for a scapegoat would and named
their poor “Shantytowns,” which were places where the poor and unemployed lived;
“Hoovervilles” after the empathetic ruler of their Nation.
Although the Nation was distraught and hopeless, one thing provided a
better light for them to see with, Entertainment. Before Americans escaped the realities
of the World through a theater that provided entertainment, the radio first provided
Americans with sports and news and even soap operas such as ” Lone Ranger” and
“Guiding Light” which later became tv shows. Americans would listen to boxing matches
between Jack Dempsey and Gene Tunney and hear about Babe Ruth’s homeruns for years
but once the depression struck many Americans turned to the theaters. Americans went
to theaters and watched black and white movies as a means of escapism from the harsh
realities of the depression. They’d go and watch movie serials every week and soon,
sound was added to the movies. Gretta Garbough, Humphrey Bogart, Clark Gabel,
Marlene Deitrich, and James Kagney were famous movie stars that millions of Americans came
to see in movies weekly. The most famous movie showed in the theaters was “Gone With
The Wind,” which starred Clark Gabel and Vivian Leigh. Soon, people went to the
theaters to hear of the news and hear updates of their neverending economic crisis.
While Americans tried to escape their reality of a hard World, one man
came up with a plan to help the economy for the better. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was
the Nation’s next hope for a revelation of the Decade. He became the next President after
beating Hoover in the elections. The World needed a new leader and a reformer and they
picked the right one for the job. Franklin Delano Roosevelt had a “New Deal” in mind
that would help the Nation to grow strong. The New Deal consisted of many
organizations that would empower the Nation with forms of relief such as the Social
Security Act which provided money to those who couldn’t afford jobs and it also
provided welfare, unemployment insurance, and medicare. Along with these forms of
reform, he enabled a re-distribution of wealth by taking the money from the rich through
taxes and gave it back to the poor and needy through these organizations. Roosevelt also
increased Government spending and they provided jobs for those who needed them in
infrastructure and with those employees, constructed, built, designed, and opened
freeways, railroads, buildings, bridges, and dams. Not only did Roosevelt’s New Deal
give the World a new beginning, he also gave the World a new hope. With a special
announcement that he directed to the Nation through a radio broacast called the “Fireside
chats,” he let them know that everything would be alright.
At first the Nation spent a lot of their first years of the decade going
through struggle and pain but with the means of entertainment and a warm-hearted
reformer, they dug themselves out of the depression and made a better life for
themselves, their children and the children of the Nation. Just think what life would be
like now if the World had chosen to stay with the same president or if the Nation chose a
different leader who later became a Totalitarian and believed that the master race was
made up of blond haired people with blue eyes.