Friday, November 9, 2018
Hoovervilles
Constructed in the midst of the Great Depression, Hoovervilles were makeshift towns filled with the unemployed and the poor. Named after the unliked president at the time, Hoover, the American people were forced to abandon their pride and settle in the makeshift, shabby homes that mirrored the American economy. These "homes" were constructed of aluminum roofs and cardboard walls, much like that of the homeless people may see on the streets in large cities. Except during the Great Depression, virtually everyone was suffering; losing their jobs and going broke, forced to sell everything of value to them. These Hoovervilles were constructed with exactly in mind: living on the bare minimum that their government had failed to protect them from. These Hoovervilles were a sign of distress and anger in a time when there was little hope for change and even a lesser amount of resources.
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4 comments:
I like how you listed everything that normal Americans were going through, like suffering, job loss, poverty, and having to sell valuables, because it really helps get a perspective of how bad these times truly were. Normal people lost everything, and were forced to dig through the wreckage of their lives in order to stay alive and not suffer from hunger or disease.
President Hoover undoubtly failed in his role as president, but I wonder what efforts he and his administration did try to make. What reactions did he have to the Depression?
It's almost comical how President Hoover's name became slang that represented the worst of the great depression. It seemed that no matter what he tried to do, his image would be forever ingrained as the president who couldn't protect his people from economic decline. This public image is perpetuated with the emergence of Hoovervilles.
I like how you explained in detail what everyone had to go though because this was something difficult that they had to go through and they had to live like that. Looking at it today it would be hard for some of us to have to live like that.
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