1. March 19, 2018
U.S. History Agenda:
DO NOW: Term Matching
DOCUMENT ANALYSIS: Experiences of the Great Depression
NOTES #47: What were the experiences of Americans during the Great Depression?

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4. 3. “In Harlan County there were whole towns whose people had not a cent of income. They lived on dandelions and blackberries. Dysentery bloated the stomachs of starving babies. Children were reported so famished they were chewing up their own hands. Miners tried to plant vegetables, but they were so hungry that they ate them before they were ripe. On her first trip to the mountains, Eleanor Roosevelt saw a little boy trying to hide his pet rabbit. ‘He thinks we are not going to eat it,’ his sister told her, ‘but we are.’”

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6. What were the experiences of Americans during the
Great Depression? Notes #47

7. During the 1930s, the Great Depression left many Americans unemployed and lacking adequate food or shelter.

8. At the same time, farmers in the Great Plains were forced to migrate west when farming areas experienced a severe drought (in the Dust Bowl).

9. Movies, radio, and literature were used by Americans to distract themselves from their situations.

10. President Herbert Hoover
When the Great Depression began, President Herbert Hoover believed the U.S. economy would recover on its own and refused to provide any direct relief.
President Herbert Hoover
(1929–1933)

11. As a result, many Americans became unhappy with Hoover and his efforts to deal with the Great Depression.

12. March of the Bonus Army (1932)
This unhappiness was illustrated by the march of the Bonus Army and referring to shantytowns as Hoovervilles during the early 1930s.
March of the Bonus Army (1932)
Hoovervilles

13. President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Hoover lost the presidency in 1932 to Franklin D. Roosevelt, who promised government economic intervention.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt
(1933–1945)

14. The election of Roosevelt showed that many Americans wanted to have government take an active role in solving economic problems.