America in the 1930’s

The 1930s presented the United States with some of the toughest challenges it had ever faced. The decade started with a prolonged economic depression and ended with the start of World War II. Organized crime took advantage of the new nationwide prohibition laws and rose to great power throughout the country’s urban areas. Once-fertile farmland in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, and New Mexico was so damaged by soil erosion and drought that the area became known as the Dust Bowl. But of all the problems the United States faced during the 1930s, the Great Depression caused the most widespread hardships.

America in the 1930s discusses the losses and misfortunes brought on by the stock market crash of Black Thursday. Chapter-by-chapter coverage of these difficult years offers readers a concise view of the events and people of the 1930s. More than 100 photographs combine with box features, pull-out facts and quotations, a glossary, a further reading list, and an index to make this engaging reference accessible to young readers.