The Great Depression Affects The Americans

The Great Depression was a very influential era in American history, affecting many future generations. One of the most prevalent impacts it had on society was the extreme poverty that swept across the nation, affecting both people in cities and in the country. The main cause for this poverty was the mass loss of jobs among the middle class. Millions lost their jobs and consequently their homes. Families lived out of tents and cars in shanty towns or Hoovervilles. In these camps, many people didn’t have their basic human needs met, children and adults alike starved. They lived in clothes that were caked in dirt and tattered, too small for growing children and too cold for the frail elderly. Government relief programs attempted to help but offered little support to the now impoverished families of the millions that lost everything.

Herbert Hoover, the president in office when the Great Depression hit the country, did very little to ameliorate the devastating situation. Hoover underestimated the seriousness of the crisis, misdiagnosed the causes of the problems, and clung to his beliefs in individual achievement and self-help. His corrective measures, aimed at inflation and the federal budget, were thus damaging themselves. Furthermore, he hesitated to mobilize government resources to aid Americans and instead appealed to private groups to lend a hand (Encarta). Thus Hoover’s administration did little to mitigate the impact of the Depression.

The Depression changed social structure in America forever. “The real story of the 1930’s is how individual families endured and survived, whether battling the despair of hunger and unemployment in the city of the fear of unending drought and forced migration in the dust bowl of the Great plains.” (Press, Petra pg 6)

The Great Depression originated in the United States with the stock market crash on October 29, 1929. The depression was the biggest economic fall in American’s history. This crash stretched throughout the globe and affected the rich as well as the poor. There were many causes that assisted in bringing the depression into existence. However one of the main causes was the disproportionate riches during the nineteen-twenties. The gap between the rich and the working class people was the enlarged industrialize production during this period. Also in this period production cost fell quickly, wages rose slowly and prices remained steady.

Big business was sinking "big" money in loans to speculators because loan returns usually exceeded gains made by reinvesting in their own businesses. However, the confidence ended suddenly and sellers began significantly outnumbering buyers. As profits and savings declined from the resulting low stock prices, both speculators and big business cut back on investments and focused on paying off old debts, thus the market fell in 1929 (108). Stricker also argues that the problem relates to the Government 's fooling itself on the true unemployment rates and the health of the market. The published government estimates of unemployment were 2.2 to 5 percent. Stricker proposes that the numbers were far higher, 7.5 to 12 percent (102). Additionally, the impact of low-income growth may not have been fully appreciated. Based on the low growth of income for the average laborer (2.8 percent over the period 1924-1929) this equated, as discussed in this paper, to a 4 percent decline in income over the same period (104). Little of the "benefits of rising productivity went to wages" - though corporate profits rose 35 percent during the decade (101). Stricker 's paper "Causes of the Great Depression: or What Reagan doesn 't know about the 1920 's," presents a convincing argument to the real causes of the Great Depression. He presents a handful of interrelated issues that worked in concert with

At the time of this essay the Great Depression had occurred in 1929. “Herbert Hoover became the president in 1928.” The causes of the Great Depression was agriculture, gap between rich and poor and the Stock market speculation. ” There was a downward spiral in the Great Depression that affected people jobs.” “The Hawley-Smoot Tariff which made the Great Depression a worldwide depression.

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.

The 1920s seemed to promise a future of a new and wonderful way of life for America and its citizens . Modern science, evolving cultural norms, industrialization, and even jazz music heralded exciting opportunities and a future that only pointed up toward a better life. However, cracks in the facade started to show, and beginning with the stock market crash of 1929 the wealth of the country, and with it the hopes and expectations of its people, began to slip away. The Great Depression left a quarter of the population unemployed and much of the rest destitute and uncertain of what the future held. Wealth vanished, people took their money out of banks, and plans were put on hold. The most significant way in which the Great Depression affected Americans’ everyday lives was through poverty because it tore relationships apart and damaged the spirit of society while unexpectedly bringing families together in unity.

In October 1929 to 1939, the United states suffered the longest and most severe depression that has ever been seen in the western world . The great depression was a huge tragedy that happened in the United States after the first world war and affected millions of people in many negative ways. It is said that this depression “proved the inevitability of a new order built on government intervention, political and bureaucratic control, human rights and government welfare.” The great depression was an extreme, and abnormal event because it lasted over 10 years due to unexpected changes in technology, the government and government policies, endowment and many more. The Great depression of 1929 to 1939 resulted in a time of poverty and hopelessness due to the crash of the stock market. The crash of the stock market had many negative effects on the society, but most importantly, it caused the failure of banks, and a huge increase in the unemployment rate.

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.

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.

The great depression hadn’t appeared before in the history of the economic field. It was something unprecedented. Some countries recovered during a decade while others not. This depression affected the smallest individual tin the society even farmers were affected. This collapse created a special case which was known as bowl. In the west a catastrophe appeared from August 1929 to March 1939. It affected the economic field very severely for a long period. In spite of being

During the era of the great depression in the late 1920’s and early 1930’s numerous people were affected. The market crash of 1929 and the subsequent great depression of the years following highlighted numerous failings of the capitalist system. In the years following new ideological movements began in Europe with the emergence of Russian bolshevism and German fascism. The face of American politics began to change and the new acts in the labour market were a reflection of this. With the election of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, major changes began to unfold in American society, which were somewhat revolutionary in their nature. Due to the radical nature of the changes that were introduced in this term of administration, the volatile nature of

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.