Writing a Great Depression Essay
April 15th, 2010The Great Depression was a trying time for people all over the world, research essay topics such as this are an interesting possibility. In America, it was especially difficult. The economy tanked when the stock market crashed in 1929 and the Dust Bowl just added to the misery. If you’re planning to write a Great Depression essay, there are plenty of resources to turn to. Just remember, the introduction to an essay is how you hook them.
Dozens of books have been written concerning the causes, from a historical perspective. Libraries are loaded with them! According to some, it was just the drought and the economy and nothing else. Others concern political factors, such as President Franklin Roosevelt trying to perk up the economy by creating artificial supply and demand situations. He raised prices to help farmers, but it only made more people go hungry. Government sponsored projects like the TVA contributed to the infrastructure a little, but were paid for with tax dollars and brought the national debt down another peg, putting more strain on the economy. No matter which way the story of the Great Depression is told, everyone agrees that World War Two was what brought it to an end.
To write a clear Great Depression essay, it is important to include all the different views of the causes and effects, if only for the sake of clarity. However, the human stories, told at the time, are very interesting and provide a perspective unlike the sterile recounting of history books.
John Steinbeck wrote a book called “The Grapes of Wrath” about Depression era people who left their homes behind and searched for a better life. It was made into a movie with the same name. “The Waltons” television series was fairly accurate concerning family life during those difficult years, especially since its creator, Earl Hamner Jr. and his family had lived through it. Comedies and vaudeville were popular during the Great Depression because they took people’s minds off their own troubles for a little while and gave them a reason to smile.
Freight trains crossed the country, with transients hiding in empty cars as they searched for work from state to state, leaving their families behind. The music of the time is reflected in songs from Jimmie Rogers, as he sang of life on the rails and the dust bowl.
Photographs, in black and white, show the faces of the displaced and the soup lines that could be found in every city and town.
The best resource for information when writing a Great Depression essay is, of course, the real people who remember what it was like. Most people have parents, grandparents or other relatives who enjoy telling stories of how hard life was in those days. They haven’t forgotten the struggle for survival that was their daily routine.
Many people who ran out of other options joined the military. The pay was very small, but usually more than they had made by doing odd jobs. A modern day babysitter would feel abused if paid what a soldier, sailor, airman or Marine made during those Depression years. There was no welfare system, food stamps or other benefits that people today take for granted. It was during the Great Depression that a variety of social services came into being, including Social Security. At the end of the Depression most of the social programs were expected to be canceled, since World War Two produced millions of jobs.
Writing a Great Depression essay might seem easy on the surface, but clearly the causes and effects can provide an essayist with plenty to write about. Fortunately, this subject can be written regardless of the essay length and there sources galore!
