The Depression Era

During the 1920s the American people led themselves to their economic demise. In America, the Great Depression occurred during the 1930s after the crash of the stock market. “The Roaring Twenties”, which occurred before the Great Depression, was a time when the assembly line created more jobs and money to be used. This new economic prosperity, brought about the stock market, in which hundreds of Americans put in their money in hopes of their company making profits. The Great Depression was caused by stockholders using more money then they could pay back, workers using the non-shameful credit to buy products, which led Americans into debt, and the lack of demand, when there was an increase in supplies.

The Great Depression of the 1930’s was caused by many problems. They include overproduction, monetary policy, war debt, tariffs, the stock market crash, and unequal distribution of wealth. These each play a specific and intricate role in bringing the U.S economy to its knees.

In 1929, the United States economy appears to be good and strong, at the moment; all Americans have some extra money or credit to buy some extra goods. The good economy was reflected in the Stock market, profits were big, more and more people invested in Stocks. In addition, farmers produced more wheat, cotton, corn, etc. and industries produced more goods that the needed to supply the country (over production), farmers’ and industries owners’ ambition make them produce more and more crops and goods. Americans using credit to buy goods they can’t pay, everyone investing all its savings on the stock market, overproduction on farm and industry area, plus America's new way of think, and other economic factors, make the economy of the country less strong, produce more unemployment and as result pushing the country into the Great Depression.

In the 1930s, America experienced a wave of economic crisis and many unfortunate events occurred which caused lots of problems for people. The government insisted on not interfering with the people and left the citizens to fend for themselves. Some may think that reasons such as bank failures and stock market crashes are the main reasons, but the three that played a big role in the Great Depression were overproduction of crops, unemployment, and installment plans. Overproduction of crops caused the farming industry to decline and caused prices to drop, which heavily affected the economy. According to the picture The Stumbling Block by St. Paul Daily, the farmer is tripping over the bag of crops which are overproduced and the other bags which are prices of crops such as wheat and cotton.

In 1934 Jerry and Nora (Foley) leave their home in South St. Louis at 2322A South Compton Avenue and move to North St. Louis near Grand Avenue. They rent the upstairs of a house at 4133A Peck. Moving with them are their two daughters, Helen and Ann Flynn. Meanwhile, Frank and Nora (Flynn) Young, who had been living with the Flynns on South Compton, moved into a house in the next block at 4202A Peck. (F32)

The causes of the Great Depression in the early 20th century is a matter of active debate between economists. Although the popular belief is that the main cause was the crashing Stock Market in 1929 caused the Great Depression, There were other major economic events that contributed just as much as the crash, such as American’s overextension of credit, an unequal distribution of wealth, over production of goods, and a severe drop in business revenue. As these events transpired the state of economic crisis in the US began to skyrocket.

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

Many people speculate that the stock market crash of 1929 was the main cause of The Great Depression. In fact, The Great Depression was caused by a series of factors, and the effects of the depression were felt for many years after the stock market crash of 1929. By looking at the stock market crash of 1929, bank failures, reduction of purchasing, American economic policy with Europe, and drought conditions, it becomes apparent that The Great Depression was caused by more than just the stock market crash. The effects were detrimental beyond the financial crisis experienced during this time period.

Former President Calvin Coolidge said, “In other periods of depression, it has always been possible to see some things which were solid and upon which were solid and upon which you could base hope, but as I look about, I now see nothing to give ground to hope- nothing of man” and to some extent it was true. Americans lost all hope in life entering a deep dark tunnel with no light in the end. The Great Depression was not something that appeared out of thin air; it grew over time like a tumor and eventually plagued America with an excessive disease. No decade was more terrifying in the twentieth century than the 1930s. The stock market crashing, due to people buying stocks on load, the debts from WWI farmers and consumers in deep debt, and

In the 1920s, American economy had a great time. The vast majority of Americans in 1929 foresaw a continuation of the dizzying economic growth that had taken place in most of the decade. However, the prices of stock crested in early September of 1929. The price of stock fell gradually during most of September and early October. On “Black Tuesday” 29 October 1929, the stock market fell by forty points. After that, a historically great and long economic depression started and lasted until the start of the Second World War. The three causes of the Great Depression are installment buying, uneven distribution of wealth and the irrational behavior in the stock market.

When the citizens had bought all that they could buy, there was a decrease in demand. Suddenly, the industries had an excess of goods and no one to sell it to. At this point, the Fordney-McCumber Act began to cripple the economy of America. Other nations introduced high tariffs to boost their revenue and to spite the United States. Sadly for the United States, these high tariffs and low demand were instrumental in the depression that America experienced. When the stock market crashed on October 29th, 1929 or “Black Tuesday”, the united states, along with other nations were in economic turmoil and the widespread prosperity of the 1920s ended abruptly. The depression threatened people's jobs, savings, and even their homes and farms. During the heart of the depression, over one-quarter of the American population was out of work. For many Americans, these were extremely hard times. When Roosevelt was voted into office, he introduced the New Deal. While this plan tried to help the united states out of it’s isolationist rut, the second world war was the final solution. Mobilizing the economy for world war finally cured the depression. Millions of men and women joined the armed forces, and even larger numbers went to work in well-paying defence jobs.

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:

The economic expansion of the 1920’s, with its increased production of goods and high profits, culminated in immense consumer speculation that collapsed with disastrous results in 1929 causing America’s Great Depression. There were a number or contributing factors to the depression, with the largest and most important one being a general loss of confidence in the American economy. The reason it escalated was a general misunderstanding of recessions by American policymakers of the time.

America’s agricultural economy had already been suffering for a decade when nature conspired against the country to exacerbate the Great Depression. From 1931 through 1939,

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.