How Did The Great Depression Affect The American Dream

Great Depression’s effect on the American Dream
Could you imagine going from having everything and being happy to having nothing and being in a nationwide depression? This is what occurred during the Great Depression. People were losing jobs, houses and all of their investments, leading to a loss in faith of the American Dream. The American Dream pertaining to the Great Depression was destroyed for many Americans. The American Dream for many is goals set forth to better your life. Americans during the Great Depression tried to work back to their American Dreams were affected both positively and negatively by the actions and advice of FDR, the common man, and Henry Ford.
FDR helped citizens during the great depression to get back to their …show more content…
Roosevelt won the election because “his New Deal promised to spend more money to attack the hard times brought by the depression”(Marren). This illustrates the idea that the citizens saw their best chance of getting back to normal was through the help and reforms of Roosevelt. Although Roosevelt gave the citizens hope, “by the time he was elected in 1933, it was estimated 15 million were out of work”(Marren). This illustrates how FDR’s promises and presence in the office might have restore some faith in the government, they were still getting slammed with misfortunes across the US. By the end of his first term, FDR’s “New Deal programs has revolutionized relations between labor and capital, changed the face of the American countryside, and, with the passage of the Social Security Act, in 1935, laid the foundations for the welfare system”(Kennedy). FDR’s “New Deal programs started projects to provide jobs. Those public projects still weren’t enough to get everyone back to work”(Marren). FDR’s actions helped to benefit the citizens during the Great Depression. This also set up a strong reform that will still be enacted today. These actions by the government and FDR didn’t end the depression but helped to restore faith back in the government and also led to the reopening of the banks. Although the government was helping the citizens, “It took the country most of the next 10 years to work itself out of the depression” (Marren). It wasn’t just an overnight solution, it took a great deal of time to get the country back in order and people’s American Dreams back on track. FDR was a vital component to the helping Americans get back to their American Dreams during the Great Depression since his focus was on helping to better the population. While bettering the population he also helped to get the citizens back on track with their American