The Stormy Weather and On and On: 1930-1941The 1930s were a time of the Great Depression. Everyone was poor. People who had had abundant wealth not even a year earlier were living on the streets. It would take years for America to recover, and the road to get there wasn't very smooth. The economy of the 1930s in America was terrible. At the end of the last century, in 1929, the stock market collapsed. It is called the Wall Street Crash and the New York Stock Exchange Crash, but more importantly it started the Great Depression. Bankruptcies and layoffs increased every day. Even large, seemingly indestructible companies were in danger. Companies like Industrial Steel. They had to lay off 225,000 workers. The Great Depression affected everyone and everywhere. There was no food or money. People rushed to banks to withdraw their savings, but there was no money to take. Nine million savings accounts were wiped out. Bank failures have crushed tens of thousands of people. Everyone sold everything they had. Half of families in the United States were at risk of eviction. Four million families in the United States were left without means for a year after the crash. Hoover's theology was that if America were left alone, it would right itself. So he didn't do anything. When Roosevelt became president, he closed all the banks and dropped two billion dollars into them, then reopened them. Roosevelt, although this was not enough to remedy the consequences of the American collapse, attempted to bring America back from the abyss. The 1930s were dominated by the Great Depression. There wasn't much money to spend on entertainment, but there were a few specks of light. People, especially children, went to the cinema. They could spend... half paper... everyone wanted to land in Florida, but the United States rejected them. In connection with World War II, Roosevelt wanted to arm Great Britain and France, but most Americans wanted to leave Europe alone. But when Great Britain declared war, the United States sent weapons to Great Britain, its ally. The involvement of the United States soon became necessary. Freedom in the world depended on the outcome of World War II. The 1930s were a time of poverty in America. The Great Depression hit the United States hard and would take years to recover from, but presidents like Franklin D. Roosevelt, while not solving everyone's problems, would help a lot. Roosevelt brought America back from the brink and helped many people, but many others were left without work, money or food. 1930 to 1941 were difficult years for America and it was only during World War II that we began to make some progress.