The Great Depression 3
The Great Depression affected mostly the metropolitan areas according to Vivian. He said, Salem was not really bothered by the Great Depression until around 1938 of '39 and the affects were still very minor, and the Great Depression was pretty much over. This was true because Dent county didn't have very much money and it is a rural area. In Salem everyone know each other and helped each other out. For example, if somwone didn't have enough kerosine to light the lamp that night they would borrow some of they would just go to bed. Another example, If someone didn't have enough money for milk there was always a neighbor who had a milk cow, and that's how they got their milk. Most people lived off the land for everything, so money was not that important. For the rest of the country the Depression was felt. It occurred from 1929 t0 1941 in the United States. The falling levels of economic output resulted in widespread human misery, the extent of which is measured by the rising level of unemployment, increased poverty, and high rates of default by both firms and households. (Hall and Ferguson, 1998, p.1)Vivians father worked in the Abstract and Insurance business. He made $125 a plus 1/2 commission a week. He saved money
by heating and lighting the office with a kerosene lamp. However, most people were not as a lucky, many were laid off because most people worked for big industry in cities. This cause the public to demand help from the federal government, and the government responded and became bigger than ever. The government responded by enacting a wide variety of programs under the New Deal. With enactment of these programs the federal government became a much more important player in the national economy that it had ever before ( Hall and Ferguson, 1998, p1). According to Vivian, in Dent County most people worked for $.50 a day, and this was enough for a family to get by. In Dent County Pete said, the (CCC) was used to build the town for $30 a month, and while he was in high school he was a laborer for them. He made $.40 this was minimum wage he helped build the city hall in Salem which still is used to day, and the (WPA) was used to build outhouses in Salem. After high school Vivian and a buddy of his decided to leave and go to St. Louis to get jobs in 1940. He said, they were dumb kids and thought they could get a job despite the depression. They were right they did find a job just the second day they were there. They went to a wood working plant and entered the employment office where they were turned down because they had no experience. That night they decided they were going back t
Some common words found in the essay are:
Vivian Salem, St Louis, Abstract Insurance, Federal Reserves, Depression American, Administration WPA, Pete CCC, Hall Ferguson, Administration FERA, Dent County, hall ferguson, hall ferguson 1998, ferguson 1998, federal government, government responded, dent county, didn't money, direct transfer, country depression, wide variety, 1998 p1, ferguson 1998 p1,
Approximate Word count = 942
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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