American History : The Great Depression

The French Revolution lasted about 10 years before ending. French citizens razed and redesigned their political land, uprooting centuries-old institutions such as absolute

The Great Depression was a devastating time for many Americans. From 1929 to 1932, the US experienced an economic downturn that was calamitous to the lives of many people. Millions upon millions of Americans lost everything when the stock market crashed on October 29, 1929. After exiting an era that left people living a life of luxury, the stock market crash came as a surprise. As a result of the stock market crash, many became unemployed and many families were being forced to close their businesses. Although there were many factors that contributed to the cause of the Great Depression, the three main causes were The Stock Market Crash of 1929, high unemployment, a decrease in consumer purchases due to being “stuffed with stuff” during the roaring twenties.

The Great Depression started in the late 1920’s. It was a time of economic relapse. This Great Depression turned out to be the greatest and longest in history lasting approximately ten years. The Great Depression suddenly occurred immediately after the Wall Street Crash. Many say that the Wall Street Crash caused the Great Depression, but failed to realize that the American business was entirely too large to be taken down simply by stock market failure.

Money markets slammed on October 1929 and this is what caused the Great Depression to happen. For a length of time the country was at the point where signs of troublesome were shown such as joblessness; which turned out to be a gigantic issue for the Americans as well as for different nations. “By 1933, unemployment was at twenty-five percent” (FDR). Never had the highs been higher and lows been lower for the economy. With cash going away individuals started to live in hardships with no real way to earn money. Hoover being president at the time, had great hopes for the economy of America, once this catastrophe hit he was not necessarily blamed for the troubles happening. The nation reacted to The Great Depression in many ways. People were let down by President Hoover which effected the economy, children began to impact society, and families fell apart. Some people turned to music, while others turned to violence.

There was a steel mill company created in the 1900 in Gary by a president of the United States name Elbert H. Gary it was named after him. The steel started getting popular because everyone nationwide was using it to build railroads and homes. There three things they used to make steel such as iron ore, limestone, and coals. There was variety of coals that was used but the only one they use was called coke they had to burn a fuel that turned into coke. In order for them to make it, they had to make the coke burn at an extremely high temperature so they can produce it to melt big quantity of limestone and iron ore.

According to Foner the Great Depression was “the greatest economic disaster in modern history.” (Foner, 632) After the stock market crash in 1929, the people of America wound up in a massive amount of debt. The crash began due to a day called Black Tuesday, a day were almost all investors sold their stocks and the prices dropped to eventually become worth nothing. Since there were so many who could not afford to pay for objects, the value went down drastically and employees were eventually laid off from their work with no way of being able to find another one.

The Great Depression was a dark time in American history that lasted from1929-1939. It began after the Stock Market crashed on October 19, 1929. According to A Biography of America: FDR- The Great Depression, “It was the deepest and longest lasting economic downturn in American History” (A Biography of America). As a result of the Great Depression one out of every four Americans was out of work. The Great Depression resulted in a life for Americans that was plagued by overproduction and under-consumption of products, starving families were forced into bread and soup lines, and thousands of agricultural workers became migratory workers in order to survive.

"In other periods of depression, it has always been possible to see some things which were solid and upon which you could base hope... but as I look around about, I now see nothing to give ground to hope.” This great quote was made by former president, Coolidge. In the great depression people in cities and towns already lost too many jobs. Farmers struggles have already been happening since the 1920s, and farmers tried to do anything to save their farms. However, farmers may have been better off than city folk. The government tried to pitch in multiple times, but did not succeed as people hoped. After the great depression, people were all shaken up and scared. Also Hoover, was not very much liked during this time

America’s Great Depression is believed as having begun in 1929 with the Stock Market crash, and ending in 1941 with America’s entry into World War II. In order to fully comprehend the repercussions and devastating effects of the Crash of 1929, it is important to examine the factors that contributed to the catastrophic event which led to The Great Depression. The Great Depression was the worst economic slump in U.S. history, and it spread to most of the industrialized world. Many factors played a role in bringing about the depression; however, the main cause for the Great Depression was the combination of the greatly unequal distribution of wealth throughout the 1920s, and the

Screams, tears, and cries for help were all part of America's downfall. From 1929 through 1941 there was only one thing that was plentiful, sorrow. During this time the United States was faced with another obstacle. It changed America in many ways. One hard struggle lead to the next. The later events all started with the crash of the stock market. This period can only be explained by its name. So, the stock market crash in the United States caused businesses to close, banks to fall, and many people to become unemployed, causing this twelve-year period of suffering to become known as ?The Great Depression?.

I have been around touring multiple states throughout the country. During my visit I have met a number of people who are hardworking, persistent and willing to help out in whatever way they can. They are all worried though, ever since the great depression has started they have been struggling, not just one but all as a whole. Families are poor, starving, and homeless. Natural disasters like windstorms and floods are also making it impossible for all these people to get up on their feet. Theses are your people, they are the backbone of america, it is hard to see men women and children struggle to gain daily life needs when they should just be essentials. While walking down the streets of Illinois I encountered multiple kids running around

If one asks most Americans their opinion about when our nations’ economy crashed the most severely, they would most likely say the period between October 1929, until 1930 when the United States went through the great depression. The great depression was a time where people lost nearly everything, from houses and farms, to families and children. People were starving and left out in the cold. The worst part about this was that once people lost their belongings, they were gone forever. In the 1900’s there weren’t many programs to help the public such as health insurance, welfare programs, or unemployment. All the money that individuals had saved throughout the course of their lives, and deposited in to banks was gone.

The Great Depression was a big time period in history that affected a lot of things in people’s lives. It was in the 1929 when the stock market crashed and it spread to Europe as well. The Great Depression lasted a long 11 years and the US started getting better in 1939.

The Great Depression in America is often believed to have ended when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbour and the US entered WWII in December 1941. However, while an exact end date is a matter of debate, it’s obvious the end of the Great Depression correlates somewhat with the beginning of the war, leading many to believe WWII must have ended the Great Depression and triggered the economic recovery of the United States. Many historians believe that the government and military spending restimulated the economy, and the employment needed as a result of the war meant the economic recovery of the United States was a result of WWII. However, throughout history, people have learnt that correlation isn’t enough to argue causation and generally one event rarely triggers such a major economic recovery. This suggests other factors also played a role in ending the Great Depression. Some also argue that war cannot be argued as a means to economic recovery because wars destroy wealth and give a false sense of how the economy is fairing. During the 1930s, Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal laid the foundation for economic recovery and the federal government began taking a much larger role in decision making for the nation. In 1939, when WWII began, Americans certainly began to enjoy prosperity, with many pulled out of poverty and in 1941, when they themselves entered the war, prosperity increased further. By the end of the war, the American economy had indeed recovered, and they became the

As early as the 1920s, Americans and their leaders were quite confident about their country’s better future, compared to some of the toughest economic times that the country had gone through, such as the mild economic depression in the early 1820s and the bank panic. In fact, during his election trail, Herbert Hoover shown off America’s optimism by citing that the triumph against the poor house was forthcoming. However, the Great Depression erupted at a full force the early 1930s; an event that Walton and Rockoff 439 describe to have been the country’s most important economic event of the 20th century (422). The great depression was a time when the United States’ economy was hit by the deepest as well as the longest-lasting economic downturn that was characterized by a drop in the United States’ gross domestic product (GDP) by up to 30 percent. Unemployment also rose by 21.7 percent in 1933, and industrial production dropped by almost half. The nation was also paralyzed by hunger (Walton and Rockoff 422).