Communism in the 1930s in the United

Communism in the 1930s

In the United States during the 1930s, the population was gripped in the middle of the Great Depression. A large percentage of the people were out of work and suffering. There were people who lost their jobs, their homes, their cars, and everything else that had been valuable to them. The democratic government system which the country had been based on had not proved helpful to aiding the crisis and the people were looking for some means of alleviating their misery. There were violent protests against the government and factory owners who the people felt were not supporting the people and were instead exploiting their misery. The idea of Communism began to seem more appealing to many who had been ruined in the stock market crash and the resulting Great Depression because it was based on the idea that no person should have more than anyone else and that all people would be treated fairly and work to aid their fellow man.

When men were finally able to get back to work thanks to the effort of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the success of his New Deal programs, there were problems with labor and the way factory workers were being treated. Factory workers were often paid very little money and worked in dangerous conditions (Faragher 2009,-page 673). If someone got injured on the job then there was no or very little recompense for them, even if they died because of injuries sustained in the work place. Striking workers were often set upon violently, beaten, and even killed for trying to stand up for themselves. In a Communist society, it was promised that there would be no worker vs. factory owner because no one would own more or be allowed to have more than anyone else. Workers who were used to being maltreated were promised equality with those who considered themselves above the laborers; this was a tantalizing promise which would have been hard to resist.

Farmers were also having a hard time during the Great Depression. In the Midwest which was known as the nation's breadbasket, there was a massive drought which turned the farmlands into fields of dust and dirt. Before and after World War I the farmers were encouraged to grow wheat which damaged the soil and made it less hospitable for other types of plants (Faragher 2009,-page 676). Unable to grow materials, farmers had nothing to sell and they would lose their farms to the banks that foreclosed for non-payment of mortgages. These people would have to leave their homes and find work, most of them on the west coast, as migrant farm workers for little money and nearly no respect. A system which supported the individual and made it so everyone was treated equally and where the farmer was appreciated as a bringer of food and nourishment would have been appealing to those suffering from the effects of the Dust Bowl.