Bigger Than The Game: On The Horse That Was Too Small

The Story of Seabiscuit

In the midst of the Great Depression, sports became more than just sports. Fans escaped the drudgery of their daily lives by plopping down a few cents to watch their home team for a few hours forgetting the worries on the other side of the stands. Attendance at sporting events doubled and sometimes even tripled in the midst of the Depression as fans not only got away from their problems, but also got to see some most memorable sporting moments in history. More than baseball, football, or basketball, sports readily bet on were the most popular. Horseracing, along with Boxing, entered into its Golden Age because of its speed, danger and betting appeal. Lured by the thought of quick money or a lucky break, people flocked to the big tracks such as Churchill Downs, Pimlico, and Santa Anita. Aside from the cathedrals, fans could find smaller tracks and open field to bet on the “Sport of Kings.”

Shaken To Its Core: Riots

Riots

Throughout history, America has gone through cycles in which rioting has been common place. Besides the 1960’s, the Great Depression was perhaps the prolific periods of riots. Where the protests and riots of the 1960’s were based on ideology, those of the Great Depression showed a near primal need of the people to be heard. Cross the country, people took to the streets for want of food, pay, and recognition.

One such example of people taking to the street was in January of 1931 in England, Arkansas. Early in the month, a neighbor of H.C Coney visited concerned about their inability to feed their family.

Coney, unable to help personally, decided that something could be done with the help of the Red Cross. With a loaded truck, Coney drove to the county seat of England. 

Shaken To Its Core: Father Charles Coughlin

Father Charles Coughlin 

Oh, capitalism shall never again flourish as once it did. Capitalism has been almost taxed out of existence in an effort to meet the coupons and the bonds, in an effort to meet the dole system that is absolutely unnecessary in a country of our wealth. Father Charles Coughlin 1937

 The radicalization of America during the Great Depression is best be encapsulated by the conversion of Father Charles E. Coughlin from zealous Roosevelt supporter to ardent opposers of the New Deal, Roosevelt, capitalism, and democracy. Once deemed by a top government official as “the most dangerous man in America behind John Dillinger,” Coughlin daftly used the medium of radio to spread a gospel that at times more closely resembled the dogmatic speeches of Adolph Hitler, than those of Jesus Christ crowds in the hundreds of thousands. From his early days of railing against the Klu Klux Klan, Coughlin used his charismatic speaking style to attract a loyal following that teetered on cult status.

Shaken To Its Core: Politics

Politics 

Americans have long sought alternatives to the two party system of government. With the economic system in shambles, and growingly distraught public, the political landscape of the Great Depression became ripe with such alternatives. Franklin Roosevelt faced no fewer than six third-party candidates in his first election in 1932. In that election alone, Norman Thomas of the American Socialist party garnered 2.23% of the popular vote. 1936 saw the Presidential pool increase to eight including the ill-fated “Share Our Wealth” party. It is a well documented fact that during times of economic hardships, people flock to groups specifically naming scapegoats or dynamically different systems to those that have failed. While only making small gains in national elections, third political parties grow in membership at the state levels throughout the Great Depression. Perhaps the most popular among third-parties were the German American Bund (or the American Nazi Party), and the Communist League of America which later became the Workers Party of the United States.

Series Launch: Shaken To Its Core

It goes without saying that Great Depression brought about a dramatic change in the American landscape. President Franklin Roosevelt pressed through Congress a series of strikingly liberal legislation know as the New Deal ushering into the American political culture the notion that the public’s welfare was in fact the government’s responsibility. Roosevelt intentionally used his soothing firesides chats, careful manipulation of the media and overtly personable wife as a proxy to create, at least on the surface, a culture of calm. Americans were encouraged to pray, stick together, and most importantly have faith in institutions of government. Yet, the Great Depression was a time wrought with political, spiritual, economic and cultural upheaval. The cocksuredness of the 1920’s was replaced by a radicalism never before seen and an overarching tension that could, and did, erupt into utter chaos. Radical political parties, firebrand personalities, and riots left only a thin veneer of a nation recovering through self reliance and determination. Over the next three posts, The History Podcast will highlight some of the lesser known elements of the Great Depression as we look at the rise of radical political parties, Father Charles Coughlin who Franklin Roosevelt is reportedly to have said to be “the most dangerous man in American” and the food riots that increasingly became common in American cities.