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Essay on America's Dark Period of the Great Depression

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The Great Depression is one of the darkest periods in America’s history. It was a time of despair for all Americans. The Great Depression was caused by various reasons. It also had many effects which left an impact on America still up to this day. At that time, there was no abundance of anything: not jobs, not food, and certainly not an abundance of money, but there was surely an abundance of sadness. America had no hope since the money was a thin, green line. The Great Depression impacted the economy, unemployment rate, other foreign countries, and the many lives of the people. The monstrosity officially began on October 29, 1929. The most major cause that led to the Great Depression was the Stock Market Crash of 1929. Most Americans, …show more content…

Since farmers and businesses couldn’t get loans, the unemployment rate increased. People were worried about their money. They started spending very less money. People, rich and poor, stopped buying unnecessary or luxury items so they can save money and help support their families. This led to a lower number of items being produced in factories. The reduction in purchasing items eventually led to a reduction in the work force, which increased the unemployment rate again, which was already over 20% by this time. Most Americans blamed the president, Herbert Hoover, for the crisis. Shanty towns built by the homeless were called "Hoovervilles". "Hoover blankets" were referred to newspapers used as blankets. Americans would also turn their pant pockets inside out to show that they were poor or broke, these were known as "Hoover flags". Broken down cars that were pulled by horses were "Hoover wagons". President Hoover eventually came up with a plan. The plan was an American economic policy with Europe called the Hawley-Smoot Tariff. This policy was supposed to help improve America's economy, but instead it made it suffer even more. The tariff increased taxes on imported goods in America, which led to a decrease in trade with other foreign countries. This reduced trade in general for America. At the time, America was based off of imported goods because they couldn't make it themselves. Overproduction was another one of Hoover's plans that failed once again. Hoover tried

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