US Events

The Great Depression
The United States was hit horribly with the Great Depression beginning in 1929 with the stock market crash. When the stock market crashed, 40% of the paper values of common stock were cleared. Some other causes of the Great Depression were high overproduction, decrease in demand for goods, and uneven distribution of wealth. The economy was awful. After the stock market crash everything when extremely downhill. 25% of the population were unemployed, almost all of the banks were forced to close, high tariffs were established, and there was major widespread poverty. People lost all of their money when the banks closed, but there was nothing they could do. The Great Depression not only affected the US, but it affected all of the surrounding nations as well. Each nation's economy was demolished and because of this, leaders were evolving. Someone had to step up and try to re-establish the economy. In the US President Franklin D. Roosevelt was the one to take this responsibility. He began to create reforms and he called his plan the New Deal. This involved many programs that were to be used to revive the economy, create jobs for the unemployed, help the agricultural farms that were destroyed, bring the banks back to life, and bring happiness back into America.

Connection Across Time:
We are currently experiencing a recession in the United States today. This recession is not nearly as awful as the Great Depression in 1929, but many aspects can be related. For example, the unemployment rate has dropped significantly in the past few years and currently stands at 10.4%. There are large amounts of widespread poverty throughout the entire country as well. During the Great Depression banks were forced to close, now however, banks came close but they were bailed out by President Obama. Another similarity between the Great Depression and the recession today is the effort in reforms. A program known as TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) has been to into effect in order to create jobs for the unemployed. The connects extremely well with the WPA (Works Progress Administration) developed as part of the New Deal during the Great Depression. Both of these programs create jobs such as building highways and roads, doing construction work, and any other infrastructural projects that may arise.

Cites: http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/depression/overview.htm
http://www.federalreserve.gov/bankinforeg/tarpinfo.htm
http://www.indiana.edu/~liblilly/wpa/wpa_info.html
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Development of Transportation and Entertainment
After WWI society began to change greatly. Entertainment became a very important part of every day life, as did transportation. In the US things were a little different than they were in Europe. In the US radios and television were run by the people and used completely for their entertainment. Movies and radio stations for people's enjoyment started to develop after the war. Knowing that radios could be used during war for communication, the idea of communication for enjoyment became one of the new brilliant ideas. Transportation was another major change for US citizens after the war because once automobiles got cheaper more people were able to afford them. Cars were bought and people were able to travel leisurely, people could move to the suburbs of the city, and commuting to work was made possible. Because of the ability to travel for fun, the revenue in movies continued to rise. The people started to have more freedom. New ideas were constantly arriving and society continued to change throughout time.

Connection Across Time:
Every day new ideas are being developed. Things are always changing in society. Specifically now, a few major developments in technology can relate pretty well to the changes in technology after WWI. Movies are still being improved today, new things are always being added and experimented with. Currently, 3D movies are very popular. Not only are there 3D movies in theatres, but a new 3D television is available to purchase. Another line of new products that are starting to become popular are the Blu-ray players and discs. This is a line of products that came after the VHS tapes and then after DVDs. Transportation is also another part of every day life that is constantly being improved. Sometimes the new ideas for transportation are not the best ideas, just as everything else that is tried, but the ideas are there. After cars many other way for transportation were developed. There is now a wide variety of vehicles to choose from when searching for a method of transportation. The options range anywhere from cars, trucks, and vans to buses, planes, and trains. Also, more recently becoming popular are motorcycles, mopeds, ATVs, dirt bikes, and scooters. As you can tell, entertainment and transportation (many time used for entertainment) are always being improved. This will probably never change.

Cites: http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&q=3d+television&rlz=1R2GGLL_en&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=14395162538736658150&ei=nuLLS-nmGYH88Ab5l5TPBA&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CB0Q8wIwAg#ps-sellers