1920's Hardships

Hardships during the early and mid-1920’s were rare. People went out to casinos,

went out to dance, and even went out to eat and drink. Yes, the 1920’s, which later had

become known as the 'roaring' 20's, was a time of celebration. But it was not until 1929 when

things did not go as planned for most Americans. Many people faced hardship, and the ones

who just came into the country, trying to live the 'American Dream', worked hard to escape

the lives of abject poverty, but it was not enough. Only the rich were able to live successfully

during the Great Depression. With a lot of under and over consumption, businesses and

banks were not successful. The cause of the Great Depression is still a moot topic, 80 years

after the Depression
Those opportunities may not come right

up to your door, but still, “whether you are a child or an adult, educated or illiterate,

immigrant or native born, America could find a job for you”.

People come to America to fulfill any and all goals they had back in their native country.

America was a “land or opportunities”. Everyone who came to America, was looking for a

better life, they believed they could escape the hardship back home, but little did they know,

the depression was everywhere. The Great Depression lasted about 10 years and was the

longest economic downfall in the US. The Great Depression started in October after the

infamous stock market crash in 1929. This affected people because a lot of them had put

money into stocks before the crash, and as a result, people had lost millions of dollars. A

record twelve-point-nine million shares were traded that day and five days later, some

sixteen million shares were traded after another wave of panic swept Wall Street. No one

exactly knows what started the Great Depression, but the stock market crash was believed to

be a main contributor. Some thirteen to fifteenth million Americans were unemployed
Some other people think that the economic collapse could have been a reason

why all those banks failed. Regardless if the Great Depression started because of the many

banks closing or if the Great Depression caused the banks to fail, was a subject never

resolved. (History.com)

Unemployed people, over all, had the biggest struggle, financially during the Great

Depression. The percentage of Americans without jobs rose and amount of people working

in a single household often was none. Twenty-five percent of people who could actually

physically work were unemployed by 1930. The average for the national income dropped

another fifty percent, and only the top five percent earned one-third of all national income.

For the entire year, combined income for families came out to be only 725 dollars.

Somehow, people were expected to live off of about two dollars a day. Two dollars was

enough to buy a small loaf of bread. If your child was sick, or needed care, doctors wasn’t so

willing to help, and with that amount of money, normally, it wouldn't pay for the over the

counter medicine that you needed. The same goes for every member of your family. If you

didn't have any money to spare, you just couldn't get things done. The best solution was