the Great Depression (Essay Sample)

Student’s Name Instructor’s Name Course Date The Great Depression During the 1930s' towards the end of what is now termed "The Great Depression," a series of books sponsored by the federal government appeared on shelves across the United States. The books' contents, or guides, were subject to much criticism. As described by Scott Borchert, the books “…sprawled… hoarded….gossiped and sat you down for a lecture…” (Borchert). The guides were furnished with information about all that was and all that had been about the various states. Essentially, they were delving into the past while remaining in the present. The guides were nothing anyone had expected and were the result of a federal government program to keep writers working and earning a paycheck at the end of the month. However, what started as an economic recovery strategy ended up providing the literary world with fascinating volumes (Borchert) from different writers, all writing from a different perspective but with a singular purpose of mind to record life as it was back then. The approaches of these guides are somewhat unconventional, but they help us understand American Society in the 1930s. Economic Activities The approach in writing the books helps one understand the economic activity that was most predominant in various states and American societies during the 1930s era. Take, for instance, the Alaskan guide, its description of the scenic backgrounds and daily life in the various towns, provides the reader with information as to what it was that the inhabitants of that land did on a day-to-day basis. The descriptions of the natives as fishing and basket making to get “silver dollars” informs one of the activities the natives engaged in to get by (Colby 9). However, the natives are not the only ones fishing to get money. During the fishing season, individuals from the Pacific coast also left their professions, from teachers to preachers and children, to get a piece of the money that had to be gotten from engaging in such trade (Colby 8). Furthermore, through the same approach, one can deduce other economic activities carried out by the Alaskan inhabitants, such as dredging, which was carried out by the settlers, and the rearing of Reindeer by the Eskimos (Colby 9). The descriptive approach, therefore, is helpful since so much information on the economic activities of the individuals inhabiting Alaska at the time can be constructed. The same case goes for other guides, such as the Arizona and Connecticut guides, which through the employment of this same approach, furnishes one with crucial information on the activities of the individuals inhabiting these states at the time. For instance, through the descriptive accounts of the guidebooks in Arizona, the Navajo's economic activity of herding sheep and goats can be deduced (Workers of the Writers Program 31). In Connecticut, the farming carried out and mining at the time are well documented in the guide (Henderson 8). Therefore, the approach used by the guidebooks is key to understanding the economic activities carried out at the time by different American societies in various States. Social Activities Similarly, the guidebooks provide a glimpse into the social activities of the various inhabitants of the various States at a glance. The first portion of the guides providing such information is the calendar of events or days observed per the states. The various holidays, festivals, and public days are indicated. Hence, from these calendars, one can mentally formulate how the average individual living at such a time in any given society lived and the kind of social activities they engaged in. For instance, in Connecticut, there were four annual social events in March. (Henderson xxxi). The case is the same for the other two guidebooks used in this analysis. For instance, in Arizona, during January, there was a Rodeo event; for February, five events, and for March, a total of seven annual social events were included in the calendar (Workers of the Writers Program xxiii). Therefore, the information contained in the guidebooks is essential and crucial and can be used to explain the social scenes present in these states. To an extent, they give one a sense of what was seen as necessary and their beliefs at the time. Moreover, the descriptions and inclusion of certain information, and the exclusion of certain information, provide one with the prejudices and sets of standards that were upheld by the various societies. Beliefs and Prejudices In any society, there are prejudices. The information about these prejudices can be seen via the inclusion of information by the author who happened to be a member of that particular society or the exclusion thereof regarding the guides. Inclusion and exclusion are essential in explaining the attitudes and popular opinions of the time. Take, for instance, the description of the native in the Alaskan guide as being “…dependent on the white man…” (Colby 7) is indicative of the widespread belief that was rife within the white population inhabiting the Alaskan lands that of superiority over other races. In the description of the typical white inhabitant of Alaska, the author similarly emphasizes the sentiment. The writer narrates that the typical white person shared "… the distrust of Orientals and Natives…" (Colby 16). In Arizona, the social setting was not different from that found in Alaska. The white man was seen as superior. Moreover, an indication of these can be found on the opening page of the guide. The author purposefully includes the sentence indicating the white man had “…in less than a century worked changes…” in Arizona “… vaster than their predecessors had wrought in thousands of years…” (Workers of the Writers Program 3). The statement is accurate; however, the key to understanding why this indicates popular sentiments rife during that period is its inclusion in the guide. Far from inferiority and superiority beliefs within various societies at the time, other essential information concerning society's values and other characteristics is evident. For example, the belief that education was paramount among the Arizonian and Alaskan society had seen the push for better education in Arizona (Workers of the Writers Program 6) and the creation of numerous schools in Alaska (Colby 11). Much information about the values of any given society can be deduced from the pages of the various guides. Therefore, as far as the characterization of society goes, the guides did an overwhelmingly good job of capturing them. History Historical information about various places and people is vital since it explains why and how things ended up being the way they were in a particular state. For instance, in Arizona, the historical information about the mines and the exploitation of the land by the whites is key to explaining why there existed tension between the various ethnicities at the time. Moreover, the fact that Arizona had been part of Mexico explains why the commonly used language was Spanish and why most individuals within that state were mostly colored (Workers of the Writers Program 8). The history helped to provide context and an explanation for why things were in the various societies in the 1930s. For instance, in the Alaskan guidebook, the accounts of the search for gold explain how the number of Americans grew in Alaska. Therefore, the account constructs and provides a reason why the American population started to grow in Alaska (Colby 30). When it comes to the case of Arizona, the History section of the guide provides context for why the tension described in the guide exists between white Americans and other segments of the population. The description of the wars fought and the creation of Arizona as a territory of the United States (Workers of the Writers Program 49). Arizona's history explains its constitution's setting up and joining the Union to become one of the states of the United States of America. Therefore, a history section provides background on why things existed as they did then. The history sections provide something like a prequel to life in the 1930s. Governance Similarly, the inclusion of a separate section on the governance of the various states aimed at creating an image of what the political offices at the time for the various states were and how easy or how hard it was for one to get access to government services. For instance, in the case of Alaska, the governance of the state was done via federal agencies in Washington D.C., meaning (Colby 53) that the inhabitants of Alaska had a hard time accessing various crucial government services. Moreover, what was considered a city in Alaska at the time varied tremendously from what is currently termed a city. Four hundred inhabitants formed what was termed a first-class city, and 50 inhabitants a second-class city (Colby 53). For Connecticut, the case was different in 1930. They were governed by a state governor and had all three arms of government the legislative, executive, and judiciary. According to the guide, the state government was not what one might term democratic but functioning. The discussion of government is essential as it indicates the political atmosphere at the time. For Alaska, there was an almost non-existent administration, and individuals were asking for self-rule at the time (Colby 55). The governance section, therefore, explains the political sphere of life at the time. The Population Regarding the population of Connecticut, the percentage of individuals with native parentage was 34.1 percent (Henderson 43). The general makeup of Connecticut is as varied as ever. There are the Irish who, as of the 1930s, was in total 151 893 (Henderson 44). Other groups that comprised the general population in Connecticut included the Germans and Canadians of both French and native origin. By 1930, they had multiplied to such proportion...