great depression Essay

Submitted By feiss
Words: 444
Pages: 2

In 1929 a horrible situation arose bring devastation and destruction all over. The great depression was a historical event that affected people all throughout the world. The great depression, caused by a rapid down fall in the stock market lead to starvation, homelessness, unemployment and many other factors that caused peoples lives to change drastically. The Great Depression lased about 10 years. During this 10 year span of economic crisis the Great Plains; southwestern Kansas, southeastern Colorado, northeastern New Mexico, and the panhandles of Oklahoma and Texas not only had to suffer from the great depression they were also hit by the Dust Bowl. The Dust Bowl started in 1932 and lasted about eight years, approximately ending around 1940. The Dust Bowl was an area of extreme drought and severe wind and dust storms. Although drought and dust storms were common in the Great Plains, it was the rapid expansion of wheat production following World War I that destroyed soil-holding grasses and created the Dust Bowl. During the time of the great depression many Americans looked to the government for assistance. However when the government failed to help then the current president at the time, President Herbert Hoover, (1874-1964) was blamed for the economic and social conditions along with the rundown and deserted small towns. These small towns were primarily on the outskirts of major cities and were called Hoovervilles. Dorothea Lang was able to capture some of these moments of unemployed men and women wondering around. Lange’s first exhibition, held in 1934, established her reputation as a skilled documentary photographer; Her photographs of migrant workers were often presented with captions featuring the words of the workers themselves. In 1933 Franklin D.