why was the Empiring State Building so inspiring to most Americans during the great depression?
348193
It was built during a time of great turmoil and when the U.S.A was experiencing high unemployment rates.  Despite the problems of America it was built and for a time it was the tallest building in the world.  It was a great achievement in the face of trouble!
102773
A good lot of them came during the Ellis island era to escape economic hardship and famine (see Irish potato blight). The United States seemed to be the best place to escape the lack of oppertunity they were given. We were lauded as a land with streets paved with gold and millions of oppertunities (unfortunately they faced discrimination and economic woes here as well, but at least they were eating) America had asked the world to "give me your poor your sick your huddled masses yerning to breathe free" and they took us up on that offer-- keep it up land of the free
155721
In Europe and around the world, there has always been a strong element of people feeling that it is the government's job to take care of people, but this has not historically been the case in America because people have come to America *fleeing* government in order to make a new life for themselves.\n\nI think the problem really started with Keynes and the idea that men in government could manipulate the economy for the better of everyone.  Unfortunately, leading to and during the first part of the Great Depression, our government misguidedly inflated the money supply to a very large extent, distorting prices and capital investment.  Like a rubber band being pulled back, it had to snap.\n\nHoover tried many big-government solutions to the depression which only made things worse.  FDR campaigned that Hoover was doing the wrong then, then got elected and did the same thing, only more so.  All the big-government "solutions" only further distorted the economy (preventing the rubber band from snapping back correctly.)\n\nIn FDR's mad dash to spend as much government money as possible in order to stimulate the economy, he started Social Security, unemployment, welfare, and a host of other programs.  I think a combination of the dispair at the economy and the ease to sit back and let government handle things was the beginning of dependence.\n\nAs generation after generation grows up with the huge safety net paid for by those who don't need it (from each according to ability, to each according to need) then people know that they don't have to be successful and take care of themselves, because the goverment will have to be there for them.\n\nBy all means, help a deserving person out who can use help, but the automatic help for anyone, regardless of whether they deserve it or not is the real poison.
302698
When Roosevelt was inaugurated in March 1933, the U.S. was at the nadir of the worst depression in its history. A fourth of the workforce was unemployed. Industrial production had fallen by more than half since 1929. In a country with limited government social services outside the cities, two million were homeless. The banking system was on the point of collapse. There was little violence, but most observers considered it remarkable that such an obvious breakdown of the capitalist system had not led to a rapid growth of fascism (as happened in Nazi Germany). Instead of adopting revolutionary solutions, the American people had turned to the Democrats and to a leader who had grown up in privilege.\n\n\nThe First New Deal, 1933-1934\nRoosevelt indeed had few systematic economic beliefs; he relied heavily on a Brain Trust of academic advisors from leading universities. He saw the Depression as partly a matter of confidence—people had stopped spending, investing, and employing labor because they were afraid to do so. As he put it in his inaugural address: "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself." He therefore set out to restore confidence through a series of dramatic gestures.\n\n\nBanking crisis\nA high priority in the first "Hundred Days" was stabilizing the financial system. By inauguration day, state governors in every state had ordered banks closed or placed restrictions on deposits (as bank closings increased, this created more panic as depositors in other states rushed to withdraw funds before a state-imposed holiday was declared in their own states).[3] Roosevelt issued Proclamation 2038 on March 6 ordering "all banking transactions" be suspended through March 9, "in order to prevent the export, hoarding, or earmarking of gold... or currency." On March 9, Roosevelt told Congress in person, "Our first task is to open all sound banks." To accomplish this he asked for and received emergency legislation giving him control over all banks. The same day he received authority to "open such banks as have already been ascertained to be in sound condition, and other such banks as may be found to require reorganization to put them on a sound basis." Thus, all the nation's 19,000 banks had to be inspected before they could reopen. In all, 4,004 banks never reopened; most were small, with an average of $900,000 in deposits. They were merged into stronger banks and eventually the depositors got about 85% of their deposits back. (Historical Statistics X741-7555) At first, Roosevelt opposed bank insurance, but in June he reluctantly signed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) law to insure bank deposits. Angered at efforts to manipulate the dollar-gold ratio by European speculators, on April 5th 1933, Roosevelt issued Executive Order 6102 that required all persons holding more than $100 in gold coin exchange it for paper money at face value. After January 1934, he then devalued the international value of the dollar by 40% in terms of gold, hoping to stimulate exports. (Freidel 1990 p 101-2)\n\n\nRelief\nDuring the first hundred days of his administration, Roosevelt used his enormous prestige and the sense of impending disaster to force a series of bills through Congress, establishing and funding various new government agencies. These included the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), which granted funds to the states for unemployment relief, and the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) to hire 250,000 young men to work on rural local projects, as well as the first Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA). The AAA tried to force higher prices for commodities by paying farmers to take land out of crops and cutting herds. In 1936, the U.S. Supreme Court found the AAA to be unconstitutional.\n\nRoosevelt's series of radio speeches, known as Fireside Chats, presented his proposals to the American public. The informal chats not only reassured liste
898056
The growth in population mainly took place in industrial cities, as a result of the drift from agriculture to industry following the Industrial Revolution. I don't think that architects had much to do with the cramped, poor-quality accommodation that was built in and around the cities of the 19th century to accommodate a large part of the industrial working population. I think the activity of architects was limited  to homes for the rich. Housing for the small, but increasing, middle class was mainly built according to fairly standard plans, rather than individually designed. Most housing was rented, rather than owned, and built down to a price for the landlords who were buying up land and developing it as fast as they could.
186972
I know that prohibition was a big one. The recovery from WWI had alot to do with it also, and the depression. We had 65% unemployment in some areas of the Country. America was crippled from Taft's legislation, and the control of the banks. The Banks couldn't cover the money, that was put into their banks, it wasn't there, "HUH". I would start there.
95007
It is said that the people who tried to build it wanted it to be as high as the sky is so that they could reach god.\nBut god punished them before they finished it. We don't know how tall it was because we don't know where it is and we don't know if that story is true at all.
1094380
In 1871, Chicago suffered a devastating fire. In the years that followed, however, instead of recovering slowly, the city experienced explosive growth, and it quickly began to strain against its natural boundaries. By the 1880s, the available land for new buildings in this area could not keep up with demand; the only alternative was to build up. But in order to achieve the desired height, construction techniques had to change. A new method of building was developed that used a grid of steel beams and columns that were strong enough to support any stresses or forces a building might experience, including both the weight of the floor and the building contents, as well as the force of wind or even, in some areas, earthquakes. And with this new building method, the skyscraper was born and the race for the tallest building began.    Louis Sullivan is actually normally called the Father of the Modern Day Skyscraper, he was a mentor to Frank Lloyd Wright
540486
It has the tallest buildings in the U S A including the empire state building.
856432
Apparently, people were greatly comforted by these oratory shenanigans, and these left a lasting impression on them. It certainly clouded many people from seeing that it was FDR and his loopy leftist ideas that kept the US in a long and severe depression that would have recovered naturally many years earlier without his meddling.
558962
The WTC to finish what they started in 1993 and because it was an example of our economic might.\n\nThe Pentagon because it was a symbol of our military might.\n\nAnd the U.S. Capitol (the accepted intelligence now indicates Flight 93 was headed towards the Capitol- not the White House) because Congress represents our government best- representatives of all the people in the country- and it's one of the largest and most symbolic government buildings in DC.
316849
In an effort to build infrastructure, Germany spent a mint to create the high speed roadway; later named a freeway, or expresway.  The trickle down monies spent on labor and concrete fueled a descimated economy, and cause an industrial boom that would have been the greatest ever known by civilized man.  However, within 8 years of the completion of the Autobon, allied powers bombed all stratigic crossings and long straights.  The loss of the roadways had a demoralizing effect on the country.  \n\nFifteen men died breaking speed records on the autobon, before their destruction durring the war.  These men are still today considered heros for breaking, and re-breaking the land speed record.
307179
in a heart beat its WWII. It ended the great depression and the world knew that either the usa or the ussr was the dominant country.
4150
Most definitely. As the leader of the United States during arguably the most difficult time of our history, he pushed Congress to pass emergency bills and reform measures that helped improve the economic situation in the eyes of the public. Though many historians say the beginning of World War II ended the Depression, I think that if it weren't for FDR's leadership, American morale would have fell too far to possibly recover economically.
59085
The New Deal during the Roosevelt Administration help to bring the USA out of the Great Depression.  It was a large public works programs that created millions of jobs that offered jobs to unemployed Americans.
24720
HISTORY\nConstruction of the Empire State Building began in March of 1930 on the site of the old Waldorf-Astoria Hotel at 350 Fifth Avenue at 34th Street. It was completed 14 months later in May, 1931. Designed by the architectural firm of Shreve, Lamb, & Harmon Associates, the Empire State Building, at 102 stories, was the tallest building in the world until the completion of the first tower of the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan in 1972.\n\n  \n\nLOCATION\n350 Fifth Avenue, between 33rd and 34th Streets, New York, NY 10001 \n\nDESCRIPTION \n\nArchitects: Shreve, Lamb & Harmon Associates.\nBuilders: Starrett Brothers & Eken, Inc.\n\nHeight: 1,472 feet (448 meters) to top of antennae. 1,250 feet (391 meters) to 102nd floor observatory. 1,050 feet (320 meters) to 86th floor observatory. \nVolume: 37 million cubic feet.\n\nArea of Site: 83,860 square feet.\n\nCost including land: $40,948,900.\n\nCost of building alone: $24,718,000 (expected cost of $50 million \ndid not materialize due to the Great Depression)\n\nConstruction schedule: \nExcavation: Begun January 22, 1930, before demolition of old Waldorf-Astoria Hotel completed.\nConstruction: Begun March 17, 1930. Framework rose at the rate of 4.5 stories per week.\nCornerstone: Laid by Alfred E. Smith, former governor of New York, September 17, 1930.\n\nMasonry completed: November 13, 1930.\n\nOfficial opening: May 1, 1931, by President Herbert Hoover, who pressed a button in Washington, D.C. to turn on the building's lights.\n\nTotal time: 7 million man hours, 1 year and 45 days work, including Sundays and holidays.\n\nWork Force: 3,400 during peak periods.\n\nBuilding Materials:\nExterior: Indiana limestone and granite, trimmed with aluminum and chrome-nickel steel from the 6th floor to the top.\nInterior lobby: Ceiling high marble, imported from France, Italy, Belgium and Germany.
189136
Actually, during the Great Depression, many of the rich got richer, and the poor got poorer.  The entire political system of the US was in turmoil.  The Great Depression ushed in an era of social responsibility, hence Social Security and Welfare.