Race Relations in the 1930s and 1940s | Great Depression and World War II, 1929-1945 | U.S. History Primary Source Timeline | Classroom Materials at the Library of Congress | Library of Congress (2024)

FAQs

How did the Great Depression affect race relations in the United States in the 1930s? ›

No group was harder hit than African Americans, however. By 1932, approximately half of African Americans were out of work. In some Northern cities, whites called for African Americans to be fired from any jobs as long as there were whites out of work. Racial violence again became more common, especially in the South.

World War II spurred a new militancy among African Americans. The NAACP—emboldened by the record of black servicemen in the war, a new corps of brilliant young lawyers, and steady financial support from white philanthropists—initiated major attacks against discrimination and segregation, even in the Jim Crow South.

After the fall of France in June 1940, the United States increasingly committed itself to the fight against fascism. Ironically, it was World War II, which had arisen in part out of the Great Depression, that finally pulled the United States out of its decade-long economic crisis.

The US government's reaction to its entry into WWII was to institute massive deficit spending, and the conscription of all able bodied young men for the war effort, thus creating a full-employment economy which was the immediate end to the Great Depression.

How did competition for jobs impact race relations during the Great Depression? Non-whites were paid less and they were targets for violence for taking those less paid jobs.

While many businesses perished during the Great Depression, others actually emerged stronger. And new forms of expression flourished in the culture of despair. The Great Depression brought a rapid rise in the crime rate as many unemployed workers resorted to petty theft to put food on the table.

How did the Great Depression affect the American economy? In the United States, where the Depression was generally worst, industrial production between 1929 and 1933 fell by nearly 47 percent, gross domestic product (GDP) declined by 30 percent, and unemployment reached more than 20 percent.

The Great Depression was the worst economic crisis in modern history, lasting from 1929 until the beginning of World War II in 1939. The causes of the Great Depression included slowing consumer demand, mounting consumer debt, decreased industrial production and the rapid and reckless expansion of the U.S. stock market.

What were the major causes of the Great Depression? Among the suggested causes of the Great Depression are: the stock market crash of 1929; the collapse of world trade due to the Smoot-Hawley Tariff; government policies; bank failures and panics; and the collapse of the money supply.

In 1929 as the Wall Street Crash. led to a worldwide depression. Germany suffered more than any other nation as a result of the recall of US loans, which caused its economy to collapse. Unemployment rocketed, poverty soared and Germans became desperate.

What effect did the Great Depression World War 2 and the Cold War have on the executive branch of the United States government? ›

The twentieth century brought about what has been called the “modern American Presidency.” World Wars I and II, the Great Depression, and the Cold War all led to a much larger institution of the Presidency to cope with the nation's new superpower status.

World War I's legacy of debt, protectionism and crippling reparations set the stage for a global economic disaster. Nearly two decades after leaving the White House, Herbert Hoover knew precisely where to place the blame for the economic calamity that befell his presidency—and it wasn't with him.

During the Depression racial discrimination was widespread, and minority workers were normally the first to lose jobs at a business or on a farm. They were often denied employment in public works programs supposedly available to all needy citizens.

The Great Depression transformed political life and remade governmental institutions throughout the United States, and indeed throughout the world. The inability of governments to respond to the crisis led to widespread political unrest that in some nations toppled regimes.

The Depression had a powerful impact on family life. It forced couples to delay marriage and drove the birthrate below the replacement level for the first time in American history. The divorce rate fell, for the simple reason that many couples could not afford to maintain separate households or pay legal fees.

The crisis itself had served to stifle foreign immigration, but such restrictive and exclusionary actions in the first years of the Depression intensified its effects. The number of European visas issued fell roughly 60 percent while deportations dramatically increased.