Great Depression Research Paper

Imagine this. You wake up one morning in the year 1929, in your luxurious, pricey mansion. You then make your way downstairs to eat that nice big breakfast. Then you kiss your family good bye and head off to your fancy job. You come home that evening and suddenly you’re flat broke. Meaning all your money and life’s savings vanished. Unreal right? Well it was real for hundreds of families on October 29, 1929. The day the stock market crashed and when America’s confidence was challenged greatly.

The Great Depression is probably one of the most misunderstood events in American history. It is routinely cited, as proof that unregulated capitalism is not the best in the world, and that only a massive welfare state, huge amounts of economic regulation, and other interventions can save capitalism from itself. The Great Depression had important consequences and was a devastating event in America, however many good policies and programs became available as a result of the great depression, some of which exist even today.

How does one keep faith in a country during times of destitute and agony? In 1929, the stock market crashed. Poverty struck the country fast like the huge dust storms in the west. The new president, F.D.R, promised to relieve, recover and reform the country with various organizations. Churches and other groups set up food lines. F.D.R’s main goal was to put every American to work. The dilemmas of the Great Depression were soon set out to be handled by actions by the federal and state governments.

The Great Depression- The Great Depression was one of the worst times for the Western Industrialized World, when it came to its economy The depression originated in the U.S, after a fall in stock prices that began around September 4, 1929. Cities were hit hard, especially those dependent on heavy industry. The Great Depression affected anybody that was indebted. Some countries affected; Canada, Germany, Great Britain. Not everyone was affected in the same way during the Great Depression. Many of the rich weren't affected at all but the poor couldn't do anything about it. Thousands of homeless families camped out on the Green Law in New York City, which was an empty reservoir during the Great Depression. During the 1930s, manufacturing employees earned about $17 per week. Doctors earned around $61

Based on this photograph, the Great Depression had severe effects on many Americans. In this picture, many men are depicted standing, waiting in a very long line outside a restaurant. The line is crowded and very lengthy, and it probably took a very long time for the men to get to the restaurant. Document 4 Based on this document, the Bonus Marchers went to Washington because “they needed their money now.” These men, mostly ex-soldiers, were starving and desolate, and they simply needed money to survive.

The two sources are both primary because they are documented letters by individuals who wrote letters to prominent people in certain positions of authority during the “Great Depression.” The first letter was written by a taxpayer from Hornell, New York March 7, 1934 and the other letter was written by a male (D.B.P.) during the timeline reference of 1929-1939. The questions the first letter raises are about the relief agencies in the United States and the possible need for investigation of the type of work the agencies were performing. The other questions dealt with are the agencies giving relief to ignorant foreigners who might not be citizens deserving of assistance because they were here in the United States by illegal means. The first letter considering the frame of reference during the time of the “Great Depression” of 1929 – 1939 digressed toward immigration and

During the 1920’s America was experiencing great economic growth. As WWI was ending Americans were out of energy. For almost 100 years they had been facing the problems of sectionalism, civil war, reconstruction, imperialism, and WWI. By the end they were ready to just sit back and party. Demand sky-rocketed and brought great economic growth. Americans failed to see the great problem looming overhead though. The Great Depression was caused by a combination of factors- a natural slowdown of the business cycle, weaknesses of the 1290’s economy magnified the slowdown, the republican response failed to help, a great environmental disaster, and the collapse of the world economy all contributed to the cause of the Great

"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

A) The first reason that caused the Great Depression were the consequences of WW1. The Versailes Treaty caused bitterness throughout Europe and it didn’t really resolve much. The U.S. went in great debt from allied loans to other countries. The second cause was the Smoot-Hawley Tariff act. It made the highest tariff that the U.S. has ever had. It also damaged out economy. The final cause was the bad performance of the Federal Reserve.

James Tobin had once stated, “The miserable failures of capitalist economies in the Great Depression were root causes of worldwide social and political disasters” (James Tobin Quotes). America has yet to face the dark ages of failing economy when the stock market crashed in the days of October 1929. From a child to a dying old man, everyone’s lifestyles were changed dramatically by the events of this period, the Great Depression. The Great Depression resulted from a combination of both domestic and worldwide conditions. The depression had afflicted every inch it passed by. Every nation, especially the United States, now have to find a way out.

One of the most prominent aspect of the Great Depression was that the people of United States lost confidence in the banking system and the banking crises of the 1933 followed. Until 1930s, unregulated banking system existed with the notion that increased competition would make the market more efficient increasing the consumer choice base and thus would promote resource allocation and growth. Since people at that time weren’t too supportive of centralization, there was division of power and all the states and regions had their own banks to mobilize resources and carry out investments. This led to increasing competition to attract the same resources which escalated the rates offered to depositors and induced lenders to invest in high return, high risk areas. As a result, the financial system became fragile and there were frequent mortgage

From 1929 to 1945, two catastrophes occurred: the Great Depression and World War II. American political leaders established a cause-effect relationship between economic collapse and total war, based on these two events, which defined their policy approach in the post-war period. In the 1930s, American leadership, and most importantly, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, came to view economic decline, political radicalization, and instability as forming a vicious cycle that led to utter chaos and war. Although FDR did not know the future consequences of the economic fallout, he did know that breaking the cycle was of systemic importance. FDR’s policy platform, known as the New Deal, disregarded the historical wariness for government intervention and boldly connected economic security to freedom. Essentially, he attempted to push the American system to its limit in order to save it. Even with conservative elements constantly attempting to restrain his initiatives, FDR expanded his focus in the latter years of the 1930s to include international affairs as war broke out in Europe, Africa, and Asia. FDR and other government elites openly talked about the responsibility America had to build a new world order.

By the end of the 1920s, the United States had the largest economy in the world. With the destruction brought on by WWI, Europeans endured hardships while Americans continued to thrive. Upon a successful victory of the presidency, Herbert Hoover didn’t have a doubt that the United States would soon witness the day when poverty was exterminated. Then, in a moment of what seemed to be triumph, everything collapsed in the U.S. With the stock market crashing in 1929, it set off a chain of events that catapulted the U.S. into the longest and deepest economic crisis it had ever seen. It is far too easy to put the blame of the Great Depression on one event, but when there is poor investing over time with the lack of government programs and a drop in consumer purchasing power due to the market collapse it can delay the process of fixing the economy for future leaders.

After the Great War (1914-1919) came the “Roaring Twenties” followed by the Great Depression (1929-1939). After World War I America experienced the greatest economic growth in its history. Its economic expansion was due to how undamaged it was after the war. It became the richest country in the world at that time. The people enjoyed life as it were back then until the US experienced the largest economic downturn in history when the Stock Market crashed on 29th October 1929. It began in the summer months of 1929 when the US economy began experiencing a small recession where consumers began spending less and unsold goods began piling up, thereby slowing down production. While this was happening stock prices continues to rise reaching levels that could not be justified by anticipated potential earnings. This occurred for a few months until October 24th 1929 when the stock market crashed and America faced the Great Depression a few days after on October 29th 1929 . So what were the contributing factors of the Great Depression? These include:

There were many primary causes for The Great Depression, Unequal distribution of money to the economy,