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The Cause Of America's Great Depression

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The depression was caused by a number of serious weaknesses in the economy. Although the 1920 seemed to be on the surface to be a prosperous time, income was unevenly distributed. The wealthy made a large amount of money, but more and more Americans spent more than they earned, and farmers faced low prices and heavy debt. The effects of World War I (1914-1918) caused economic problems in many countries, as Europe struggled to pay war debts and reparations. These problems build up to the crisis that began the Great Depression.

America's "Great Depression" began with the shocking crash of the stock market on "Black Thursday", October 24, 1929 when 15 million shares of stock were quickly sold by panicking investors who had lost faith …show more content…

'Hoovervilles' named after President Hoover, were shanty towns constructed of packing crates, abandoned cars and other cast off scraps sprung up across the Nation. Gangs of youths, of which families could no longer support them, walked the rails in box cars like the many hoboes at that time, in search of a job. 'Okies', were victims of the drought and dust storms in the Great Plains, they left their farms and headed for California, the new land of easy living where they believed all they had to do was reach out and pluck food from the trees. America's unemployed were on the move, but there was really nowhere to go. Industry was badly distributed by the Depression. Factories closed; mills and mines were abandoned; fortunes were lost. American business and labor were both in serious trouble and at the meth of …show more content…

The words 'New Deal' meant a new relationship between the American people and their government. This new relationship included the creation of several new federal agencies, called alphabet agencies because of their use of acronyms. A few of the more significant of these New Deal programs was the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) which gave jobs to unemployed younger population and improved the environment, the WPA (Works Progress Administration) gave jobs to thousands of unemployed in everything from construction to the arts, and the NRA (National Recovery Administration) drew up regulations and codes to help fix the industry. Then came the creation of the Social Security System, unemployment insurance and more agencies and programs created to help Americans during times of economic problems. Under President Roosevelt the federal government took on many new responsibilities for the welfare of the people. The new relationship created in the New Deal was one of closeness between the government and the people; a closeness which had never existed to such an

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