Background: The Great Depression and World War II represented tumultuous years for Americans. From the widespread and appalling poverty of the Great Depression to the horror and excitement of World War II, Americans were forced to work together for the good of each other and the nation. The experiences of these years, both the good and the bad, forever changed the Americans who lived through them.
Required Sources: Choose one of the chapters from the oral history collections below
A Taste of Freedom. A Little Taste of Freedom: The Black Freedom Struggle in Claiborne County, Mississippi.
Honor and humiliation. Hard times: An oral history of the great depression
French Carpenter Clark. Women’s Diaries and Letters of the South: Country Women Cope with Hard Times: A Collection of Oral Histories.
Recommended Source
WWII: Breadlines to boomtimes in Films on Demand database.
Based on the oral history that you read and your textbook, consider the changes that the United States went through from the Great Depression through World War II. In your post, explain:
At least three causes of the Great Depression and the New Deal responses to them.
How the societal changes of this period affected individual Americans. Provide at least one example from the oral history that you read to support your points.
Your initial post should be at least 250 words in length. Support your claims with examples from the required material(s) and/or other scholarly resources, and properly cite any references. Your references and citations must be formatted according to APA style.
Additional Information:
As we have noticed in our recent recession is that you cannot fix a problem if you cannot determine what caused it. One of the problems facing the United States government after the Stock Market Crash in 1929 was determining what had caused it to happen in the first place. The continuing problems that occurred after the crash that led to the Great Depression also had to be identified. One the government could determine what had caused it, then they could create programs not only to fix those problems but also to prevent them from occurring again. At the same time that the government was trying to fix the problems, they were also trying to relieve some of the hardships for the people. Roosevelt’s New Deal programs attempted all of this. Despite many setbacks, the New Deal sought and achieved four main goals; economic recovery, creating jobs, investing in public works, and uplifting the American people. One excellent website where you can view many of the programs of the New Deal and review a timeline of when they occurred is The Living New Deal: Still Working for America.