Thesis:

   The Great Depression altered the role of the federal government and its importance throughout the nation. By means of the New Deal, the federal government made room for more dependency upon their services, thus giving themselves a more centralized power over individuals and the nation as a whole. From teacher strikes to tax revolts, the Great Depression hit Chicago in a manner unknown to but a few cities. As a city with a foundation built on the manufacturing industry, Chicago nearly went broke from the actions of enraged citizens boycotting the payment of property taxes. Before his untimely and inadvertent assassination in 1933, Chicago mayor Anton Cermak was forced to inquire for federal financing as a result of the effects of the drastic economic crash on Chicago and the subsequent actions that ensued throughout the city. Cermak's assassination and the issues that preceded it illustrate the responsibilities of local and federal governments in relation to one another and the rights of citizens to protest and take action, especially in time of severe hardship. The importance of the occurrences in Chicago leading up to the death of Cermak lay in the  depiction of the start of the evolution of the relationship between the federal government and local municipalities across the nation.

                            Iconic anthem of the Depression era

The economic crisis and period of low business 
activity in the U.S. and other countries, roughly
beginning with the stock market crash in October,
1929, and continuing through most of the 1930s (Dictionary.com)By Izzi Einhorn