The Great depression started with a stock crash from 1929-1935. The Great Depression began with investors getting too excited and overpaying stocks than they were really worth. Throughout this essay, I will compare and contrast the Great Depression and the pandemic caused by the COVID-19. The pandemic is caused by an infectious disease, but it has similarities to the Great Depression.
These two events have similarities. In particular, they both caused high numbers of unemployment and the stocks are going down. But the percentage of unemployment is different. Currently ,the percentage of unemployment is 20%. But during the Great Depression the percentage was 25%. But still right now we have more people with unemployment. Presently, we have more people that are living in the world than during the Great Depression. 20% of a bigger number is more than 25% of a smaller number.
The difference between the schools during the Great Depression and the schools right now are that during the Great Depression School Districts had to cut special classes like home economics, physical education, and art. Teachers were only required to teach the three R’s - reading, writing, and arithmetic. Another difference is that back then schools began requiring parents to buy their child supplies and many of the parents couldn't buy those supplies so they have to pull their kids out of school. Now we are still learning special classes along with the three R’s even though we are learning online . Distance learning is a way we can learn online without going to school. The difference between distance learning and going to school is that we are separated. Schools are offering us free lunches but we have to physically go there to get it.
Franklin D Roosevelt was a good president that served as president for 12 years until his death in 1945. President Roosevelt was the president after Herbert Hoover. He got elected after the Great Depression started. In his first 100 days as a president, he passed the New Deal. The New Deal contains 3 R’s which stands for relief,recovery, and reform. The first R was reform. President Roosevelt created the FERA, which stands for the Federal Emergency Relief Agency. The FERA helped set up the first national system of school lunches. The second R stands for Recovery. This time, President Roosevelt formed the NRA, which stands for National Recovery Administration. It helps build dams to bring in electricity and water.
The third R stands for Reform. Reform is when Franklin speaks to the public every single week. These talks are called fireside chats. Right now, President Donald Trump has announced a few relief bills. The first bill is called the CARE Acts, which is allocating 2 trillion dollars to help struggling individuals and small businesses and stop the Coronavirus. The second bill is going to allocate 500 billion dollars to small businesses.
The Great Depression ended because of World War ll. By then, Germany was also in the Great Depression. Adloaf Hitler was blaming Jews for everything he didn't like. So he invaded Poland. He also helped Germany in a big way because he gave more job opportunities to let men join the army. In the US, people were getting new jobs. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor of 1941, the US declared war and gave many job opportunities to men and women. Now no one knows when this pandemic is going to end. But I hope the pandemic will end with peace, love, and harmony. Even through the tough times, there is always a good side. I expect that the economy will rise, we will be able to go back to school, and people will have jobs again.
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