After the Roaring Twenties, when business boomed and people thought the future looked bright, the stock market crash on October 29, 1929, seemed a minor problem that would quickly remedy itself. America had suffered hard times before; most Americans thought the economy would soon turn around so people could get on with life. The Great Depression (1929–41) thus came as a huge surprise to most people. Of a population of 122 million in 1930, 750,000 people were laid off without pay and another 2.4 million capable workers had no jobs at all. America was definitely not back on track. The economy showed no sign of turning around. The country's largest, most powerful companies had to cut back. The banking system collapsed. Factory workers, miners, and farmers were left unemployed and in many cases penniless. Schools closed. Children could not get enough food. Married women were fired to favor single women or...