College Majors

Personal Finance Lesson 130 Assignment

Today’s assignment was to write a short list of college majors I’d consider. Here are my top 3, with the reasons why I would choose them.

  1. Biology: I really enjoy natural sciences, and this major could open up a lot of potential career options. It is also in fairly high demand.
  2. Computer Programming/Science: I’m also interested in coding. These types of careers are in very high demand right now, and finding a job is probably not hard.
  3. Economics: Another career option that I’m interested in.

These careers are all in fairly high demand, and they would provide a decent starting income. College is years away, so who knows? Conditions might change, and I might change my interests.

The Great Depression

8G History Lesson 115 Assignment

This week’s school assignment was on the Great Depression and its effects on America.

Overview

The Great Depression was a time period from 1929 until about 1939, where countries around the world, mostly the U.S. experienced crashes in their economy. People suffered and the workforces crashed.

Causes

There were many factors that contributed to starting the Great Depression. One of them was the stock market crash. On October 24, 1929, the U.S. stock prices crashed. Investors everywhere panicked, and this led to mass selling of stocks. Another factor was the banking panics. People were beginning to lose trust in the banks, due to some of the new government policies. This led people to withdraw large sums of money from banks, and by 1933 1/5 of the banks that were there in 1930 went bankrupt.

Additionally, a number of government policies played a role in bringing the great depression. Tariffs were raised significantly by Herbert Hoover.

Culture and Society

The culture of the 1930’s was different than the so-called Roaring 20’s. Many families who were doing just fine before the depression were now struggling to get by. Families that were struggling before were now in a very bad position. Many women started working during the depression to help their families out. Children had more responsibilities and jobs than they did before, and some of them contributed in the work force.

The 1930s saw the rise of swing music, and jazz was popular too. The board game Monopoly was very popular during this time.

Conclusion

The Great Depression is remembered as one of the most difficult times in America’s history. People struggled to recover for many years after the depression was over. Hopefully we will never have such a devastating crash ever again.

Reference:

https://www.britannica.com/event/Great-Depression

15
Apr, 2025

Sam Walton

8G History Lesson 120 Assignment

This week’s assignment was to write a short article on an entrepreneur that had not been discussed in class. I will be writing about Sam Walton.

Life and Career

Sam Walton was born on March 29, 1918. His family moved a lot, and Sam did chores to make ends meet. They settled in Columbia, Missouri where his parents bought a farm. Walton attended college, receiving a degree in economics and then served in the military from 1942 to 1945.

While in the army, he realized that he wanted to go into business and retail. He bought his first small store in 1945. He started buying up Ben Franklin stores, which are basically like a modern-day Dollar General. By 1962, he owned 16 stores.

Walton started the first Wal-Mart in 1962. It was a type of discount store, and it was located in Rogers, Arkansas. He expanded the Wal-Mart (later renamed Walmart) chain, and added new outlets. It became a one-stop shop type of store, carrying many different kinds of goods.

Walton married Helen Robson, and they had 4 kids. Walton was also a Sunday school teacher in his local church.

At the time of Walton’s death in 1992, there were almost 2,000 Walmart stores across the nation. Sam Walton’s children are among the wealthiest people in the world today.

Sam Walton is remembered as an exemplary businessman, and his mark on America will never be forgotten.

Warren Harding

8G History Lesson 110 Assignment – Part 1

This week I was to write about presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge. I decided to split it into two essays, this is the first part.

Overview

Warren Harding was the 29th president. He promised to help the U.S. return to normalcy after World War 1, but he accomplished little in office. His short time as president was marked by many scandals, which upset many people. Most people consider Warren Harding’s time in office as one of the worst.

Life and Presidency of Harding

Warren G. Harding was born on November 2, 1865 in the state of Ohio. He grew up on a farm, but his father later abandoned farming and became a physician. Warren grew up the oldest of 8 children. He tried many different careers, and bought a small newspaper company in Ohio. He became interested in politics, and slowly became more well-known.

Harding served as a senator, and was a member of the Republican party. He ran for president in 1920, under the slogan “Return to Normalcy.”

Harding didn’t do much in office. His biggest acts were to increase tariffs, and lower taxes on business. But the thing he is most remembered for is the scandals that took place during his presidency. Harding wasn’t the most honest man, and he didn’t appoint very trustworthy people.

Harding died of a heart attack while returning from a vacation in 1923. This marked the end of his presidency, and Calvin Coolidge took over.

Reference:

www.britannica.com/biography/Warren-G-Harding

11
Apr, 2025

Calvin Coolidge

8G History Lesson 110 Assignment – Part 2

This is part two of my assignment for this week.

Overview

Calvin Coolidge was our 30th president. He became president after Harding died in office. In my opinion, he was one of the best presidents ever, but he is often forgotten.

Life and Presidency of Coolidge

Calvin Coolidge was born on July 4, 1872. He was an only child, and his parents raised him well. His father was a storekeeper, and taught Calvin many Puritan virtues. Coolidge loved reading and nature as a child.

Coolidge decided to pursue a career in law, starting in 1897. He married Grace Goodhue in 1905. Coolidge was chosen as mayor of Northampton in 1909, and was active in the Massachusetts government. He was a popular republican cantidate for Vice President, and made it onto the ballot with president Harding. They were easily elected into office by a 60 percent popular vote.

Coolidge was thrust into the presidency when Harding unexpectedly died. Harding had left Coolidge a seat surrounded by scandals. However, Coolidge was determined to restore the people’s trust. In 1924, he was nominated for president. He won more than half of the popular vote under the campaign “Keep Cool with Coolidge”.

Coolidge improved the U.S. economy and government in many ways. He was very supportive of business and the free market, and dramatically lowered the income and property tax rates. He also supported smaller government. His Secretary of the Treasury was Andrew Mellon. He believed that lowering taxes would help expand the economy. Coolidge vetoed the McNary Haugen bill 2 times, which Congress was trying to approve. This bill was a plan for the government to subsidize American crops. Coolidge’s move to veto it was a controversial one, and some people were not happy. He was also a supporter of racial equality, and tried to move the U.S. towards it.

Some people criticize Coolidge for his “lack of action”, and blamed the Great Depression on him. They thought that he should have taxed the rich more, and enact more laws that subsidized the economy.

Coolidge oversaw almost a decade of prosperity, and in 1928, he decided not to run again. 1929 saw the election of Herbert Hoover, and the biggest economic crash in United States history.

In summary, Calvin Coolidge was a somewhat controversial president, but I think the things that he did (and the things that he didn’t do) helped the economy and America as a whole.

Reference:

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Calvin-Coolidge