Essay Example on Down & Out: The 1930s Great Depression Letters of Hope

The great depression is regarded as one of the severe global economic depression that occurred in the 1930s, with the United States being the area of origin. It saw men and women, mainly those from the peasantry or those who saw themselves as forgotten coming together and addressing their grievances to the then president and the first lady of the United States. Roosevelt and his wife Eleanor Roosevelt were viewed as parents to many and as such the existence of Down and Out Letters. The letters addressed the hardships that people were going through at the time, and they needed a message of solace, help, and reassurance about the revival of the economy. The paper, therefore, focuses on the great depression and how it changed America. Some of the issues that will get discussed are based on some of the material problems America faced during the depression with the inclusion of the emotional and psychological challenges, to mention but a few.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

One of the material problems got noted in starving. At least 60 million people had been affected by 1932. The challenge of helping them was noted on the limitation of the federal effort with the national charities lacking the capacity and the will of responding to their concern. Most of the people slipped into depression and suffered both emotionally and psychologically because they were not used to the situation hence the writing of the letters to Franking, D. Roosevelt, and Eleanor Roosevelt for intervention (McElvaine, 2008). Most of the letters were primarily received from the middle-income earners, the blacks, and other groups of activists.

Other examples of material problems were noted on unemployment and labor upheavals. The number of unemployed was marked at 3 million by 1930, but that changed within three years to 15 million. Labor upheavals also increased with unemployed laborers from Ford Motor Company being a practical example. They protested the unfair working conditions, but their protest later turned violent. Ford ordered most of its soldiers together with the Dearborn police to disgruntle those who protested. The situation led to many becoming depressed because it was challenging to access fair working standards.

Some of the emotional and psychological problems were noted with the change of family roles. The men could not maintain their position of being breadwinners, and keeping the family together became a problem, with many people losing their livelihood and homes. Maintenance of family order also became a challenge; children had to forgo formal education and start looking for sources of income to supplement the parental role.

The great depression impacted people from nearly every group of Americans. However, race, gender, and class played a significant role in the extent of the impact. For example, the African-Americans were already in low paying professions at the time of the depression (Richard, 2016). They equally had no financial plan to fall to the collapse of the economy. Their unemployment rate went higher, with most of them getting fired from their jobs, something which led to a shift in their voting pattern.

A person’s experience could have been changed at the time of the great depression seeing how gender roles shifted. Most of the jobs that were performed by women were not significantly affected (Richard, 2016). They continued to serve as teachers, clerical workers, and nurses, to mention but a few. For most families, they became the breadwinners, an issue which brought to table the discussion on gender equality.

On the part of the class, nearly people from all classes got affected by the wealthy adopting the phrase the “deserving poor.” Before the great depression, wealth was self-centered, but the depression made people reflect on the importance of family and the community as a whole. People had to pull together to survive. Many people saw President Roosevelt as the only hope that was going to restore the economy. Immediately he took charge; he initiated different programs dubbed the New Deal aimed at providing relief, jobs, and stabilizing the economy. The Americans believed in him and his programs hence the writing of the letters to him and the first lady where they expressed their struggles and plight (Opdycke, 2016). Franklin D. Roosevelt also encouraged the act because it enabled him to resonate with the sufferings of the people and develop programs that would end the depression.

People from different backgrounds or experiences also supported Roosevelt’s government and programs because they appeared to lead the country in the right direction. For example, the African Americans formed the lot that was last to get hired, but the first one to get fired. Their unemployment rate was nearly twice or thrice that of the whites (Richard, 2016). The discrimination continued with even some of the charitable organizations excluding them from their programs. By 1936 and 1937, they resorted to forming the National Negro Congress and the Southern Negro Youth Congress, respectively, to aid them in airing their grievances.

However, with the Roosevelt administration, things took a different turn. The New Deal reform made the blacks changed their voting allegiance to the Democratic party, and the president even took some of them to serve in the cabinet. Low-cost housing projects and educational opportunities also got extended to the blacks.

Conclusion

In summary, the great depression was not only a trying moment for the United States but also to the whole world. It revealed President Franklin D. Roosevelt through the Down and Out Letters as one of the greatest presidents in the history of America. Many people favored his government and programs, as noted herein.

References

McElvaine, R. S. (Ed.). (2008). Down & Out in the Great Depression: Letters from the Forgotten Man. Univ of North Carolina Press. https://books.google.co.ke/books?hl=en&lr=&id=FFa80mgC9HkC&oi=fnd&pg=PR7&dq=Down+and+Out+Letters+of+the+Great+Depression&ots=TVKEe2s97N&sig=83cYtyTy4cXV9V0JSzYkAz9L01k&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Down%20and%20Out%20Letters%20of%20the%20Great%20Depression&f=false

Opdycke, S. (2016). The WPA: Creating Jobs and Hope in the Great Depression. Routledge. https://books.google.co.ke/books?hl=en&lr=&id=Moz7CwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=Down+and+Out+Letters+of+the+Great+Depression&ots=e54nsHhKWi&sig=OLkE8WSKypuP24sDTaVQ6tiks6I&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Down%20and%20Out%20Letters%20of%20the%20Great%20Depression&f=false

Richard, M. P. (2016). “Sunk into Poverty and Despair”: Franco-American Clergy Letters to FDR during the Great Depression. Quebec Studies, (61), 39-52. https://online.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/pdf/10.3828/qs.2016.4