How the Great Depression affected the U.S. & the Hewitt family
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I realised something interesting during a reading of late modern history, and that was the fact that Thomas was born during the end of the Great Depression. Or the more accurate term would be the beginning of the end, since some sources do state that the U.S. was starting to enter into World War II. Creating some recovery in the late 1930s, however, unemployment didn't fully vanish until the war effort. The large mobilisation for war ended the high unemployment and stimulated the economy slowly over time.
For those who aren't aware of what it is, the Great Depression was a global economic slump that started in 1929 and lasted until around 1939. It was the longest and worst slump the industrialised West had ever seen, and it led to significant shifts in economic theory, macroeconomic policy, and economic institutions. Despite having its roots in the United States, the Great Depression led to sharp drops in output, high rates of unemployment, and severe deflation in nearly every nation on the planet.
While the Depression was milder in Japan and much of Latin America, it was more severe and prolonged in the United States and Europe. While the gold standard, which connected almost every nation in the world in a network of fixed currency exchange rates, was crucial in spreading the American downturn to other nations, consumer demand declines, financial panics, and misguided government policies were the main causes of the decline in economic output in the United States.
Back in January 1929, Texans were actually optimistic about the future. In the last ten years, the state's population has grown to 5,824,715, an increase of over a million people, or about 25%. Despite being focused on a single crop—"Cotton is King"—the economy was somewhat diverse. A significant timber industry was based in East Texas's Piney Woods; truck and citrus farming proved to be very profitable in the lower Rio Grande valley after irrigation was introduced; livestock on the Edwards Plateau and in West Texas made the state the nation's top producer of hides, wool and mohair; and at numerous, frequently remote locations like Desdemona and Wink, wildcatters continued the legacy of the Spindletop oilfield by producing enormous amounts of oil and gas.
All of this optimism, however, came to an end on October 29, 1929, often known as "Black Tuesday," when 16,000,000 shares of stock were exchanged and the New York Times industrial average fell by about forty points, making it the worst day in Wall Street history up to that moment. Stocks on the New York exchange dropped forty per cent over the course of the following several weeks, resulting in a twenty-six billion dollars loss.
President Hoover was alarmed and worried, thinking that since the stock market was to blame for the crash, fixing the institution's flaws would be the best course of action. He could not imagine that the entire economy was in a state of instability, having spent the last nine years shaping the U.S. domestic policy as president and as secretary of commerce. Therefore, Hoover flooded the news media with statements of confidence and constant testimonies from corporate executives and cabinet members.
Texans eventually had to acknowledge the existence of depression and try to counteract its catastrophic consequences as it spread throughout the United States in 1931 and 1932. The burdens of the destitute and desperate were taken on by private charities until funding ran out, at which point city governments and community leaders stepped in because the Hoover administration didn't seem to be able to meet the requirements of the populace.
With all this information in mind, and some that I had to leave out since it wasn't important for this post, along with the fact that it would have been too long. It's clear that the U.S. never truly did recover from the great depression, only putting it off. According to economic theory, the economy can revive by investing enormous sums of money on environmental restoration and infrastructure. So how do we pay for that? It's a huge oh... Debt is used to pay for the expenses. According to the hypothesis, the financial benefits of repaired damage and new infrastructure should be sufficient to settle the debt.
That hasn't been entirely accurate. War has accounted for a large portion of spending. You can't get that back. The debt has increased with each successive economic cycle, but not much has been done to create fresh revenue to cover it. Conversely, an increasing amount of infrastructure is deteriorating. All of the money spent on the never-ending conflict in the Middle East is not being recouped. Any tragedy, military attack, Wall Street swindle, governmental failure, etc, can tip the scales, as the past couple of years have shown. Creditors may be really cruel, and debts don't simply go away.
Therefore, no, the recuperation has not been finished. The vanished farms, co-ops, small companies, banks, small villages, and so fourth, never returned. Global companies and agriculture "to huge for failure" took their place. If the balances aren't adjusted, the citizens are still in danger and will experience homelessness and unemployment once more. But that doesn't mean they can't get better. Making better financial decisions could be sufficient to keep the recovery going. Improved resource management would also be very beneficial.
"Recovery" is a term used by economists to describe the constraints of language and the paradigms of their audiences. For example, "a confluence of forces at this time is driving interest rates lower, and consequently..." has no simple English phrase. Just like competent scientists, good economists think in terms of forces and cost/benefit rather than good and bad. Few situations don't favour some people while penalising others. There are "downturns" that are actually bubble bursts and general slowdowns in the business cycle's natural processes.
What does this have to do with the Hewitt family, you may ask? It explains how the family managed to have a huge home, everything they needed before the consequences of time started affecting everyone. It explains why Luda Mae was scavenging for food, how even after the wars, the family was still struggling. Sure, they could have sold the house. But it wouldn’t have worked in the long run. What's to say that they haven't been selling their other possessions before for some scraps?
Thomas’s school life wasn't great either, not just because he was struggling with his studies but that there weren't enough resources. The education system back then had many students doomed for failure if you couldn't keep up and teach yourself through different means. Trends in schooling that started in the 1920s were not reflected in the Depression. By 1940, 94.2 per cent of children and teenagers between the ages of five and seventeen were enrolled in school, up from 83.2 per cent in 1920. The numbers somewhat decreased during World War II as young people dropped out of school to work or join the military. However, the increase resumed after the war and, by 1950, had reached 92.3%. So Thomas wasn't the only one who began working at a young age. If anything, this was normal back then.
A man called John Dewey between the 1930s and 1940s became the target of conservatives complaining that American schools were not training students acceptble enough in maths, liberal arts, along with science. Many also criticised harshly in Dewey's progressive ideas, which caused a lack of discipline in schools. The percentage of state-supported school budgets almost doubled to 30% of total spending between 1930 and 1940. Only seven states provided that level of financial support for local schools in 1930. By 1934, that number had risen to eighteen states. Few teachers truly turned into radicals, but the majority were profoundly affected by the suffering they witnessed and incensed by school closures. Throughout the twentieth century, teachers' organisations and unions pushed for better pay, better benefits, and smaller class sizes, but their militancy waned in the 1940s.
I could keep on discussing these topics longer, yet I do believe it would be the best to end it here. The reason behind why I decided to write this post in the first place is because fans of TCM tend to ignore the history of how it effects the films based on their time. In general, I think fans of media do things with a more modern lense or not even glance at the deeper issues. Creating conclusions that can make sense but somehow tend to be far-fetched. Even when it's surrounding something like Thomas's childhood.
Sure, it could be that I was thinking too deeply into how Thomas's youth was actually like. Maybe his psychological issues and facial deformities did play a larger part in his lifestyle. But I do think it's important to state this, especially since we tend to forget how it was back in the old days. It was definitely more harsher. You may say it's because that's how the start of different subjects was, you had to fight for what you believed in, percevier when others brought you down! But I do think it's also humanity's mindset at the time.
There were other issues they had to worry about. What's the next meal going to be? Will we win the war? Will comunnism take over? Will God aid us if we become more faithful? Will my child have a stable job? Will I ever have enough money? That sort of thinking. Nobody really did consider that things could change for the better when it came to beliefs, including dissimilar populations of people. Especially for the African-American community. It was through people like Rosa Parks that folks started to be more brave and to finally do something about their misfortunes.
Does this make sense? I feel like the more I try to explain how I'm thinking, the more off-topic it gets. Either way, I do hope you guys enjoyed this post of mine. I spent a lot of time doing this research, so hopefully, you could use this knowledge for whatever context you need it in. Also, leave some comments if you feel like expressing your thought process about this. I'd love to read them. Until then, take care of yourself guys, these are tough times we're living in.
