What was life like in the early years of the depression?

> CHRONOLOGY

1931
  • Scottsboro Boys arrested.

  • Harlan County, Kentucky, coal miners strike.

1932
  • River Rouge factory demonstration takes place.

  • National Farmers’ Holiday Association formed.

In 1930, suffering on a massive scale set in. Men and women hollow-eyed with hunger grew increasingly bewildered and angry in the face of cruel contradictions. They saw agricultural surpluses pile up in the countryside and knew that their children were going to bed hungry. They saw factories standing idle, yet they knew that they and millions of others were willing to work. The gap between the American people and leaders who failed to resolve these contradictions widened as the depression deepened. By 1932, America’s economic problems had created a dangerous social and political crisis.