Economic History: The Great Depression

The Great Depression not only affected America, but the rest of the world as well. This global depression began in the United States in 1929 but would soon play an important role in why countries turned inward to economic independence and lead to the rise of communism. The 1920’s had Americans living in great prosperity. Consumers ruled the marketplace, buying as much as they could afford, even spending tomorrow’s wages today. Companies were about to face the grim reality that they were producing more goods than they were able to sell. People simply did not have the money to buy all these products and everyone instead began to invest their money in the stock market. In October of 1929, the stock market collapsed in America which soon would lead to the “domino effect” in Europe.

Following an era of economical prosperity, the Great Depression, otherwise known as the ugliest sister of the 1900’s family, which lasted an entire decade from 1929 to 1939, began on a fateful day with the New York Stock Exchange abruptly crashed and was unable to recover quickly. This occurrence, of course, had an unforgivable effect on the economy, leading to one of the most memorable and significant eras in American history. Not only affecting the economy domestically, internationally trading was burdened by the limp leg that was the United States. Socially, people were struggling to regain their balance after a main income source –agriculture- was swept away by the Dust Bowl, only worsening the drawn out effects of the initial Wall Street crash. Politically, the US faced severe turmoil with presidency of Herbert Hoover due to a lack of action to prevent economic decay and promote domestic and foreign recovery. Needless to say, after one presidential term, Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected into office and soon passed the New Deal, a highlight in his presidential career. However, due to the previous president, there were several critics about the nature and efficacy of such a policy. The Great Depression was a time of discussion and criticism of political policy and the nature and efficacy of said policy in dominating the backfire of grand economical proportions within the United States alone.

The Great Depression was one of the biggest events in the 1920s since it had huge effects both socially and economically. Starting with the stock market crash, millions of investors were bankrupted and thousands of workers were unemployed. Over the next several years, not only did the consumer spending drop, the number of investment lowered as well. Until 1939, when the President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the "Relief and reform measures" which finally help the economy to restart. Through two different disciplines, two different authors analyze how the Great Depression affect the Americans both economically and anthropologically. Christina D. Romer and Glen H. Elder, Jr, the two authors of two separate articles analyzes the

Roosevelt started with what hurt us the most: the banks. Roosevelt declared a national bank holiday to allow for time to devise a plan that would work in the short and long term. He then set up the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to give the people confidence in the new banking system. The FDIC insured that the government would reimburse a customer should their bank fail. The next step was for relief to the “forgotten man”. Harry Hopkins, a New Dealer, supported the Federal Emergency Relief Administrations (FERA). FERA gave four to five million households $20-$30 a month, created jobs, and paid laborers to renovate schools, dig sewers, and fix roads and building. Another relief program was Civilian Conservation Corps, which offered young men who were unemployed a chance to work to preserve natural resources. The CCC saw to water erosion, rivers, and planted millions of trees. They also finished the Hoover Dam. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) gave millions of jobless citizens a chance to earn wages by working on government sponsored jobs. The jobs created by the WPA not only helped those without jobs, but also improved our roads, buildings, and cities as a whole. The New Deal also provided rural communities with electricity through the Tennessee Valley Authority by building

It is difficult to imagine the horrors of the Great Depression. Many people had to live with nothing for at least 10 years. Parents had to do all they can to support their families. This Depression affected the whole world, yet it had a greater effect on the U.S. During this time the Great Depression had a great effect on Americans.During these times, many could not buy their daily items, many had to live with never using these items again. They had to get rid of clothes, sweets, electricity and got their water from wells. “ People began to cut down on their expenses and to go without new clothes, furniture and other goods” (Hayes). Cutting down these expenses caused businesses to fail. After cutting back on items and items used daily, people learned to live without these items, “ Looking back, I find it amazing what we went without”

In the 1920s, the wealthiest one percent owned more than a third of American valuables. When stock speculator was a prominent practice, banks lent money to investors to buy stock. Nearly $4.00 out of every $10.00 borrowed from the banks was used to buy stock. The average income of the American family dropped by 40 percent from 1929 to 1932 and income fell from $2,300 to $1,500 per year. During the 1930s, manufacturing employees earned about $17 per week, doctors earned $61 per week. The stock market didn't return to pre-depression levels until 1954. The commercial crisis of the 1930s is one of the most considered periods of American history. Scholars have studied the economic calamity from all angles and amassed an immense collection of facts about the depression. There are still some products and sayings we use today have their roots in the Great

The Great Depression was an unforgettable tragedy that took America by surprise, impoverishing millions within but a mere decade. Although there were numerous causes and correlations linked to this devastating incident, most revolved around the economic conditions of the United States between the years of 1929 and 1942. Americans were blindsided by the incident, as the previous decade had been full of nothing but hope, and promise. This would forever change the way Americans relied on bank systems would invest their money. This period of severe distress would forever be used as an example of how quickly and severely the economic state of a nation could collapse.

In the Roaring Twenties, people were trying to get rich and have fun. A lot of people poured their money in stock markets, but it backfired. The stocks crashed; this began the Great Depression. This was the worst depression we’ve had yet, it affected more people from higher class to lower class. A depression is a time of decline in business activity accompanied by falling prices and high unemployment. The start of the Depression is usually pegged to the stock market crash of “Black Tuesday,” Oct. 29, 1929, when the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell almost 23 percent and the market lost between $8 billion and $9 billion in value. But it was just one in a series of losses during a time of extreme market volatility that exposed those who had bought stocks “on margin” — with borrowed money.

Don Nardo, a renowned writer and historian, has written many books about American history. He is also the book editor of this publication. This book is compiled with various essays written by scholars regarding the Great Depression. Each essay relates to the next, and the book as a whole therefore aims to inform the reader of This source is valuable because it includes many accounts and viewpoints of several individuals, therefore the reader can see where the writer of the essay is basing their opinions on. One limitation is that since there are so many different viewpoints presented in this book, it may confuse the reader when it comes to searching for a definite answer.

The Great Depression was the deepest and longest lasting economic downturn of the western industrialized world. The Economy would never get back to full standard until 1939, when World War II started. Researchers have found 4 causes to the Great Depression. Historians have identified four interwoven and reinforcing causes of the nation's most severe economic crisis: the overly speculative and unstable foundations of the American financial sector; structural weaknesses in both American agriculture and industry; and the frailty of the international economy in the late 1920s and the early 1930s.By 1930 there were 4 million people unemployed. Thousands of people were out of jobs in early 1933. In the 1930’s there were up to 13,000,000 people unemployed. When Roosevelt was elected his first law was a bank holiday. Most americans could not buy the products that made the economy run. This meant that all banks would close until the government said that they were fit to

The great Depression was the worst economic slump in US history, beginning in 1929 it lasted almost a decade. Leuchtenburg suggests “there was no single cause of the Great crash and ensuing depression”, however the most influential reasons for the Great depression was a culmination between the unequal distribution of income and the extensive speculation of the 1920s. Underlining these two dominant influences was the republican government practises of the 1920’s under Harding, Coolidge and Hoover Governments. The Republican economic policies of the 1920 are contributed significantly to the Great Depression.

There are many events throughout America’s history that are both significant and world famous. However, none were quite so traumatic or had such far-reaching consequences as the Great Depression. This experience was the most extended and severe depression of the Western world. It was an economic downturn that began in 1929 and lasted until 1939. A large amount of America’s labor force lost their jobs and suffered during this crisis. During the nation’s financial disaster, Franklin Delano Roosevelt became president and made extensive changes to America’s political structure. The effects of the Great Depression had lasting consequences that are still being felt to this day.

The Great Depression, often acknowledged with the Stock Market Crash of 1929, but something that is so much more than that, was a decade of economic turmoil. The Great Depression lasted from 1929-1939 consuming a long grueling decade, and as defined by The History Channel, it “was the deepest and longest lasting economic downturn in the history of the western industrialized world” kicked into fast forward by the Stock Market Crash in the fall of 1929. During the fall of 1929, Wall Street was forced into a panic, causing unforeseeable effects to the United States stock market. Following in the crash, consumer spending and investments declined, resulting in a dramatic decline of the output of industries, which came hand in hand with the spike in unemployment as these industries continued downward employees began suffering the consequences and being laid off. Preceding the stock market crash, according to Hyperhistory.com, during the time period of May of 1928 and September 1929, the “average price of stocks will rise 40 percent. The boom is largely artificial.” This is important because America had entered a recession, similar to what the United States recently went through between 2007-2009, during the summer of 1929. The price of stocks rising 40 percent causing the prices to reach a price level that according to The History Channel, “could not be justified by anticipated future earnings”. People were spending far out of their means.

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

The Great Depression is a defining moment in time for not only American, but world history. This was a time that caused political, economical, and social unrest. Not only did the Great Depression cause a world wide panic, it also caused a world wide crisis unlike any before it. This paper will analyze both the causes and the effects of the Great Depression in the United States of America.