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The Crisis Known as the Great Depression

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The Great Depression

The year was 1929 the national income stood at $87 billion; by 1933 it had plummeted to $40

billion. This was the start of the biggest national crisis since the civil war. The stock market was going

into a slump. Unemployment was on a huge rise and money was scarce and not getting any better. At

the time of this crisis the president was Herbert Hoover, many placed blame for this crisis on him. They

believed that Hoover and the people who ran the financial industry had brought on the stock market

crash. This crisis has become know as the Great Depression. Hoover's federal government responded to

the Great Depression with talk, not action. Officials tried to calm rising panic by telling the public that

prosperity was just around the corner. Hoover believed government should not regulate businesses but

should encourage them instead to become more efficient. He opposed government spending on projects

that might compete with private business enterprises. He also rejected the notion that the federal

government should set up relief programs or directly assist farmers who were trying to hold on to there

land. He urged charities and local governments to help the poor and unemployed. But voluntary relief

efforts could not hold back the tide of economic losses. Charities and local governments were just as

broke as the wall street investors. Not only was this crisis happening in the United

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