The Devastation of the Great Depression

How did the Great Depression affect urban areas? ● Millions of unemployed laborers were evicted ● Hundreds of thousands construct shantytowns (Hoovervilles) on the outskirts of town o Shantytown – little towns consisting of makeshift shacks made of scrap materials o “Here were all these people living in old, rusted-out car bodies…There were people living in shacks made of orange crates. One family with a whole lot of kids were living in a piano box…People living in whatever they could junk together.”

How did the Great Depression affect urban areas? ● Hunger swept the nation o Millions were seen digging in garbage cans for food scraps or to find clothing o a delicacy due to the possibility of meal scraps o apple cores were actually sold on street corners

How did the Great Depression affect urban areas? ● Starving citizens became common sights in wealthy places like Manhattan o Soup kitchen = place where food is offered free to the needy o Bread lines = lines of people waiting to receive food provided by charitable organization or public agencies

How did the Great Depression affect rural areas? ● 400,000 farms are lost to foreclosure

How did the Great Depression affect rural areas? ● A huge drought hits the Great Plains during the first half of the 1930s o Dust bowl = the desertification of the Great Plains during the 1930s