The Great Depression and its affect on America's Social Fabric.

The Great Depression (1929-1941) was the brick wall that brought the liveliness of America during the "Roaring Twenties" to a devastating stop. The Great Depression was
caused by several factors such as, unequal distribution of wealth, undersonsumption, rise of tariffs, poor capital investment, fragility of the banking system, and even the rise of technology. The Great Depression tore the nation's economy to pieces and Republican president Herbert Hoover did very little to pull the nation out of this turmoil. Hoover believed in three main factors, Localism, Voluntarism, and Rugged indiviualism. He believed that the people should "pull themselves up by their bootstraps" and fix their issues alone, without government intervention. The Great Depression severly affected and injured America's social fabric from severe economic droughts and lack of trust towards capitalism, lack of jobs and homes, and even leading to desperation by the people.

The capitalist world expierenced a colosal collapse. In the U.S., nearly 85 thousand businesses closed. The GNP (Gross National Product) fell from $104 billion in 1929 to $56 billion in 1933. Per capita disposable income fell from $678 in 1929 to $369 in 1933. Farmers' income declined from $5.7 billion in 29' to $1.7 billion in 33'. Four hundred thousand farmers lost their land under foreclosures. In 1932, it was popular for farmers to destroy their own crops to rise prices. Building construction fell from $300 billion in 29' to $500 million in 33'. In 1928 and 1929, bank failures averaged 550 per year.

Unemployment increased from 1.5 million in 1929 to 12.8 million in 1933. This was actually 25% of the working population. In 1931, 75% of the nation's cities banned married women from holding jons as teachers while children were forced to look for work. Hunger, homlessness, mental depression, and other social maladies icreased. Throughout the nation, homeless families lived in makeshift shacks and tents on the outskirts of towns and cities. These communities were eventually known as "Hoobervilles". Soon, the frustration and despair caused the American people to take matters into their own hands.

Two dramatic instances that clearly show the peoples' desperation and anger include The Bonus Army and The Farmers' Holiday Association. In the case of The Bonus Army, over fifteen thousand WW1 veterans camped in the nation's capital. They hoped they could persuade Congress to allow them to cash in their bonus certificates given to them in 1924. On orders from Hoover, the U.S. Army, uner the comman of General Douglas MacArthur, destryoed the primary encmpment at Anacostia Flats. As in The Farmers' Holiday Association, this group was created to bring an end to foreclosures and controls for farm commodities.

These factors had conviced many that the Great Depression was the ultimate fall of the capitalist system. By this time, the majority of Americans were fed up with Hoovers poor choices on rebuilding the economy. They were ready for a political change. It would soon come when Democratic governer of New York, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, was elected president.

It was FDR and his hand advisors also known as the Brain Trusts that brought a revival to the nations' economy. FDR was focuse on the 3Rs of bringing change to the nation. The 3rs stood for relief(short-term), recovery(long-term), and reform of the nation. His idea of the New Deal brought life back to America and created jobs and began to bring money back into the nation. This was finally the key to ending the Great Depression which tore the nations social fabric through severe economic droughts and lack of trust towards capitalism, lack of jobs and homes, and even leading to desperation by the people. It was the end of the nations' agony until the awful WW2.