The USA in Depression, 1929-33 » Life in the Depression: Unemployment and Hoovervilles

Millions out of work

In 1929 about 3 per cent of American workers had no job. As factories cut output and shops closed, firms laid off workers. By 1933 about a quarter of the workforce, roughly 13 million people, were unemployed. In some cities, such as Toledo and Detroit, where car and other factories closed, the figure was far higher.

There was no national system of unemployment benefit. A worker who lost a job lost the whole wage. Savings were often small, and many people lost theirs when banks failed. Help came from charities, churches and local councils, but these ran out of money as the need grew.

Key terms:

• Unemployment: being without a paid job although you want one.
• Charity: help, such as food or money, given to people in need by private groups rather than by the government.
• Eviction: being forced out of your home, usually for not paying rent or a mortgage.
• Breadline: a queue of people waiting for free food.
• Hobo: a homeless person who travelled around the country looking for work, often by riding freight trains.
• Hooverville: a camp of homemade shacks built by homeless people, named after President Hoover.

Losing homes and going hungry

Without wages, families could not pay rent or mortgage payments. Thousands were evicted, and bank repossessions put families on the street. Some moved in with relatives. Others had nowhere to go.

Many people went hungry. Charities and churches opened soup kitchens, and long breadlines formed outside them in towns and cities. People who had once held respectable jobs found themselves queuing for a bowl of soup. Some unemployed men sold apples on street corners to earn a few cents. Shame made things worse. Many felt they had failed, even though the cause was a failing economy, not their own fault.

Hobos on the road

With no work at home, many men took to the roads and railways to look for jobs in other places. They were known as hobos. Many travelled by hiding in freight wagons, which was dangerous and illegal. Hundreds of thousands of young people also left home, partly to stop their families having to feed them. Most found no work. Towns often moved them on, because their own people needed what little there was.

Hoovervilles

Where could homeless people live? In cities across the USA they built shanty towns on empty land, often near rubbish tips, railway yards or rivers. They used scrap wood, cardboard, tin and old boxes. Hoovervilles had no proper water or sanitation, so illness spread easily. Hoovervilles appeared in cities such as Seattle, St Louis and New York.

The name was a deliberate insult. Many Americans blamed President Hoover for the Depression, because he was in office when it began and was seen as not doing enough. Other names followed. Newspapers used as blankets were called 'Hoover blankets', and empty trouser pockets turned inside out were called 'Hoover flags'.

Hooverville residents were often treated as a problem. Some were driven off by police, and some shacks were burned down by the authorities. Yet some people found a sense of community there, sharing food and finding a little work.

Exam-style question

This is a Paper 2 Section A (a) question. You must describe two features, and each needs added detail.

Describe TWO features of EITHER Hoovervilles OR the banking crisis of 1930-32. [6 marks]

You only answer one of the two topics. What lifts this to the top level: two separate features, each backed with accurate detail, not a general comment such as 'life was hard'.