The Great Depression

They are alike in some ways, and different in some ways. During the Great Depression, nearly 1/3 of the American workers were out of jobs and could not pay their bills or keep their homes. Communities of makeshift homes sprang up across the country. Some were huge, with a thousand or more "homes". Some shantytowns were so well organized that they elected their own mayor to work with nearby towns and city governments. There were shantytowns in nearly every town across the country. Tent village today are not usually as large, nor are there as many of them as there were during the Great Depression. In common, living conditions in both shantytowns and tent cities unsanitary and unsafe. The residents of these communities were often hungry, dirty, and cold.  The Great Depression