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Great Depression (1929-1939)

During the Great Depression, a bunch of people got really depressed and bummed around because they were bummed out. Then the people who still had houses to live in got bummed out because the bumming bums started bumming on their doorsteps, and things went from bad to worse until everyone was depressed and bummed out.

The source of their depression? Money.

What else? Not only is the love of money the root of all kinds of evil, it's also a sure barometer of health and happiness. Where money abounds, so does joy and laughter; where money is absent, sadness and its darker corollaries are certainly not. So it was in the Great Depression—the money was flowing, everyone was happy, then suddenly the waterfall of Benjamins was cut short and everyone found themselves down in the dumps (sometimes literally, looking for food).

The origins of the Great Depression (which was a worldwide event, not just a U. S. phenomenon) are not entirely clear. It lasted from 1929 through most of the '30s, and as much as it pains Austrian school economists, it was probably ended when the world powers got together for a big fight known as World War II. It may have begun with the Black Tuesday stock market crash of 1929, but it was certainly augmented by the Dust Bowl across the American South and Southwest.

Some thought the Depression was punishment for the moral anarchy of the 1920s. While there was plenty of dissipation in the Roaring '20s, there's no evidence that the moral squalor led directly or indirectly to the economic collapse of nations across the globe. And anyway, the following decades weren't much better on that score, so the theory's pretty shallow.

In all seriousness, the Great Depression was a period of great deprivation and sorrow. Unemployment soared, production plummeted, and there was starvation where recently there'd been plenty. The seemingly indestructible economies of the West were proved less than stable, and everyone got a little weak in the knees when they thought about the future.

It's never a good idea to use history purely for moralistic purposes, but this financial disaster does present an important lesson—peace and prosperity are never ensured, and there is no salvific power in money or wealth. In the Gilded Age, shortly before the Depression set in, people looked to material things for protection from all manner of evil. But looking to anything or anyone but God for protection is futile and destructive.

Are there things we can learn from this tragic period that relate to our own situation? Absolutely, though we'll leave others to figure out exactly what those are. We'd only encourage you to look at events like this from an eternal perspective rather than a man-centered one, because anthropocentric attitudes are precisely the kind that give way to this kind of social dissolution.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he is a husband and father, teaches adult Sunday school in his Presbyterian congregation, and likes weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur.Read more of his reviews here.

 

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Al Capone Does My Shirts
by Gennifer Choldenko
Reprint from Puffin Books
for 7th-10th grade
2005 Newbery Honor Book
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.99
America 1933
by Michael Golay
from Free Press
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
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by Jim Callan
from Facts On File
for 5th-8th grade
in 20th Century America (Location: HISA-20)
$35.00 (1 in stock)
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by Sally Senzel Isaacs
from Heinemann-Raintree
for 2nd-5th grade
in World War II (1939-1945) (Location: HISA-20WW2)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
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for 4th-6th grade
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in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
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by Doris Gates
from Puffin Books
for 4th-7th grade
1941 Newbery Honor Book
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.99
Boys in the Boat
by Daniel James Brown
Reprint from Penguin Putnam
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Boys in the Boat
by Daniel James Brown
from Viking Press
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Boys in the Boat adapted for Young Readers
by Daniel James Brown, adapted by Gregory Mone
from Penguin Putnam
for 6th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$17.99
Boys in the Boat adapted for Young Readers
by Daniel James Brown, adapted by Gregory Mone
from Penguin Putnam
for 6th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Brothers at Bat
by Audrey Vernick
from Clarion Books
for 1st-3rd grade
in Great Depression (1929-1939) (Location: HISA-20GD)
Bud, Not Buddy
by Christopher Paul Curtis
from Yearling
Realistic Fiction for 4th-6th grade
2000 Newbery Medal winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.99 $5.00 (3 in stock)
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from Delacorte Press
Realistic Fiction for 4th-6th grade
2000 Newbery Medal winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$4.00 (2 in stock)
Bud, Not Buddy
by Christopher Paul Curtis
from Laurel-Leaf Books
Realistic Fiction for 4th-6th grade
2000 Newbery Medal winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$3.50 (2 in stock)
Child Star
by Lydia Weaver
from Viking Press
for 4th-7th grade
in Great Depression (1929-1939) (Location: HISA-20GD)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Children of the Dust Bowl
by Jerry Stanley
from Crown Publishers
for 2nd-5th grade
1993 NCTE Orbis Pictus Award
in Great Depression (1929-1939) (Location: HISA-20GD)
$10.99
Children of the Great Depression
by Russell Freedman
from Sandpiper Books
for 4th-6th grade
2006 NCTE Orbis Pictus Award
in Great Depression (1929-1939) (Location: HISA-20GD)
$10.99
Christmas After All
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by Kathryn Lasky
from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
in Dear America Books (Location: SER-DEAR)
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from Houghton Mifflin
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Come On, Seabiscuit!
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from University of Nebraska
Biography for 5th-9th grade
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for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Down Cut Shin Creek
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from Purple House Press
in Great Depression (1929-1939) (Location: HISA-20GD)
$19.95
Dust Bowl
Perspectives on History Series
by David C. King, ed.
from History Compass
Historical Non-fiction for 6th-9th grade
in Great Depression (1929-1939) (Location: HISA-20GD)
Dust Bowl
by Patricia Lauber
Cadmus Edition from E.M. Hale and Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
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in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
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$7.99
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from Random House
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
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Young Oxford History of Women in the United States Volume 8
by Sarah Jane Deutsch
from Oxford University
for 6th-8th grade
in 20th Century America (Location: HISA-20)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
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by John Steinbeck
from Penguin Classics
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Grapes of Wrath
by John Steinbeck, illustrated by James Hays
from Reader's Digest
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Grapes of Wrath
by John Steinbeck
3rd printing from Viking Press
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$24.00 (1 in stock)
Great Crash: 1929
by John Kenneth Galbraith
from Mariner Books
for 10th-Adult
in Great Depression (1929-1939) (Location: HISA-20GD)
$16.99
Great Depression
Perspectives on History Series
by Janet Beyer & JoAnne B. Weisman, editors
from History Compass
Non-fiction for 6th-9th grade
in Great Depression (1929-1939) (Location: HISA-20GD)
History of US Book 9
History of US Book 9
by Joy Hakim
3rd Revised Edition from Oxford University
American History Reference for 5th-9th grade
in History of US (Location: HISA-HAKIM)
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Realistic Fiction for 10th-12th grade
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from Nancy Paulsen Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Industrialization Through the Great Depression
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by Cindy Barden and Maria Backus
from Mark Twain Media
for 5th-8th grade
in Miscellaneous History Curriculum (Location: HISCUR-MISC)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
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from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 3rd-6th grade
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3rd edition from United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of Amer
for 9th-Adult
in Industrialization & Organized Labor (Location: HISA-19IND)
$5.00 (2 in stock)
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from Boyds Mill Press
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from Yearling
Historical fiction for 3rd-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$5.99
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Reprint from Yearling
for 4th-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
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from Yearling
for 6th-10th grade
2011 Newbery Medal Winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
New Land
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from Robert M. McBride & Co.
for 7th-10th grade
1934 Newbery Honor Book
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
New York to Nome
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2007 Revised from Bonanza Publishing
for 8th-Adult
in 20th Century Exploration (Location: HISW-20EXP)
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by Robert J. Hastings, illustrated by Steve Kerr
from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale
for 6th-12th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
No Promises in the Wind
by Irene Hunt
from Berkley Books
Historical Fiction for 6th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.99 $4.50 (2 in stock)
Nothing to Fear
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from Harcourt
for 4th-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.00
Out of the Dust
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Realistic Fiction for 6th-8th grade
1998 Newbery Medal winner
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.99 $5.00 (1 in stock)
Out of the Dust
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from Scholastic Inc.
Realistic Fiction for 6th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Out of the Dust
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1st edition from Scholastic Inc.
Realistic Fiction for 6th-8th grade
1998 Newbery Medal winner
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
People at the Center of Prohibition
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1st edition from Blackbirch Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Roaring Twenties (1919-1929) (Location: HISA-20s)
$6.00 (2 in stock)
R My Name is Rachel
by Patricia Reilly Giff
from Random House
for 3rd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
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Perspectives on History Series
by David C. King, editor
from History Compass
Historical Non-fiction for 6th-9th grade
in 20th Century America (Location: HISA-20)
Rose's Journal
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from Houghton Mifflin
for 4th-6th grade
in Great Depression (1929-1939) (Location: HISA-20GD)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Sky Boys
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from Dragonfly Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99
Story of Franklin D. Roosevelt
Grosset & Dunlap Signature #39
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from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
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by Iris Vinton, illustrated by Carl Cassler
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Story of the Great Depression
Cornerstones of Freedom
by R. Conrad Stein
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Story of the New York Stock Exchange
by Zachary Kent
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Story of the Roaring Twenties
Cornerstones of Freedom series
by R. Conrad Stein
from Scholastic Inc.
Non-fiction for 4th-6th grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
Thimble Summer
by Elizabeth Enright
from Square Fish Publishing
Realistic Fiction for 4th-6th grade
1939 Newbery Medal winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.99 $5.00 (2 in stock)
Thimble Summer
by Elizabeth Enright
from Yearling
Realistic Fiction for 4th-6th grade
1939 Newbery Medal winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$4.50 (2 in stock)
Time Travelers: Industrial Revolution - CD-ROM
Time Travelers History Study on CD-ROM
by Amy Pak
from Home School in the Woods
for 3rd-8th grade
in Time Travelers (Location: HISRF-TT)
To Kill a Mockingbird
by Harper Lee
from Harper Perennial
Realistic Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$16.99
To Kill a Mockingbird
by Harper Lee
35 Anv from HarperTrophy
Realistic Fiction for 9th-Adult
1961 Pulitzer Prize winner
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$26.99
To Kill a Mockingbird
by Harper Lee, illustrated by David Johnson
from Reader's Digest
Realistic Fiction for 9th-Adult
Pulitzer Prize Winner
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Turtle in Paradise
by Jennifer L. Holm
from Yearling
for 3rd-6th grade
2011 Newbery Honor Book
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.99
Welfare State
A Basic History of the United States Volume 5
by Clarence B. Carson
from American Textbook Committee
American History Reference for 9th-Adult
in Basic History of the United States (Location: HISCUR-US)
$19.00
What Was the Great Depression?
What Was?
1st edition from Grosset & Dunlap
in Great Depression (1929-1939) (Location: HISA-20GD)
$5.99
When Grandpa Wore Knickers
by Fern Brown & Andree Vilas Grabe, illustrated by Joe Lasker
from Albert Whitman & Company
for 2nd-4th grade
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
Woodie Guthrie
by Bonnie Christensen
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 1st-4th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Worst Hard Time
by Timothy Egan
from Houghton Mifflin
for 9th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$6.00 (2 in stock)
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