The Great Depression was a time when the stock market crashed. The Great Depression lasted from 1929 and ended in 1939. Many people lost their jobs and could not afford as many things as we can now. People came in crowds to the bank asking for money. The bank could not give the people the money that they needed so everyone went into panic. Some people even had to wait in lines about two or three blocks long just to get a free bowl of soup. Homeless people begged in the streets and even robbed houses in search for food and other goods.

There were streets filled with people who held signs saying "I need a job" or "I will sell my belongings for money." Most people had their house taken away by the bank or sold most of their valuable belongings for money. Some people even bought chickens and sold the eggs to get money. Many people lost their house because they did not have enough money to pay their mortgage.

People looked everywhere for a company that was not having stock market going down and places that were wanting work. Some parents even left their children to live with relatives that were not effected by the Great Depression. Mostly men, fathers, and husbands left their wife and children at home and traveled across the U.S. in search of work. Most people did not find a job because there were so many citizens in searching for one.

President Hoover believed that the government should not have the responsibility to create jobs for the economy. He thought that he should not be the one responsible for giving the community money and he should not help anyone to find a job. Then came FDR (aka Franklin Delano Roosevelt). He believed that nobody should be afraid of the Depression and he closed all of the banks. FDR helped the economy to have more jobs and he made less people panic because of his wisdom and calmness.