the great depression

1543 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Causes of the great depression dbq

I. Introduction The Great Depression was a heavy economic depression in the decade before World War II. An economic depression is defined as a substantial and sustained shortfall of the ability to purchase goods relative to the amount that could be produced using current resources and technology.[1] The Great Depression affected most national economies in the world throughout the 1930s. The depression mostly affected industrial countries such as USA and United Kingdom, and caused the increase in unemployment. Also, construction sector almost stopped, the price of agricultural products declined markable, and the farmers and rural people were affected adversely. The mining was also the most affected sector due to unexpected decline in demand. Economic historians usually consider that the start of depression is the sudden collapse of US stock markets on October 29, also known as Black Tuesday. And among the problems involved in assesing the causes of depression none is more intractable than the responsibility to be assigned to the stock market crash. The rise of mass unemployment is considered as a result of the crash, however the crash is not the sole event that caused the depression. The Wall Street Crash is usually seen as having the greatest impact on the events that followed and consequently is widely accepted as pointing the devastating economic circumstances that led to the Great Depression. True or not, the consequences were terrible for almost everybody. Most academic experts agree on one aspect of the crash: Billions of dollars of wealth vanished in one day, and this immediately depressed consumption. .II. Body - Causes and Effects 1. How It Started The world economy seemed to have recovered from the devastation of... ... middle of paper ... ...ome issues such as social security. Until 1935, states -except Wisconsin- had behind the times insurance laws, or much worse these programs were underfunded and as a result almost worthless. The United States became a country where its people were trying to overcome the depression without any social security nationally. Consequently, the most significant program of 1935 was undoubtly the Social Security Act. It aimed to bring innovation to the country in terms of retirement pensions, unemployment insurance. Also Roosevelt insisted that it should be funded by payroll taxes rather than from the general fund; he said, "We put those payroll contributions there so as to give the contributors a legal, moral, and political right to collect their pensions and unemployment benefits. With those taxes in there, no damn politician can ever scrap my social security program.”

Show More
Related

  • Roosevelt Vs Hoover Essay

    741 Words  | 2 Pages

    After nearly a decade of optimism and prosperity, the United States took a turn for the worse on October 29, 1929 the day the stock market crashed, better known as Black Tuesday and the official beginning of the Great Depression. The downfall of the economy during the presidency of Herbert Hoover led to much comparison when his successor, Franklin D. Roosevelt, took office. Although both presidents had their share of negative feedback, it is evident that Hoover’s inaction towards the crises and Roosevelt’s later eccentric methods to simulate the economy would place FDR in the positive limelight of fixing the nation in one of its worst times.

    Read More

  • Jim Braddock and The Great Depression

    694 Words  | 2 Pages

    The stock market crash of 1929 is one of the main causes of the Great Depression. Before the stock market crash many people bought on margin, which caused the stock market to become very unbalanced, which led to the crash. Many people had invested heavily in the stock market during the 1920’s. All of these people who invested in the stock market lost all the money they had, since they relied on the stock market so much. The stock market crash also played a more physiological role in causing the Great depression. More businesses became aware of the difficulties, which caused businesses to not expand and start new projects. This caused job insecurity and uncertainty in incomes for employees. The crash was also used as a symbol of the changing times. The crash lead the American peop...

    Read More

  • Dust Bowl Dbq

    585 Words  | 2 Pages

    Nextly, the stock market crash also caused the economic fallout which resulted in the Great Depression. Because “Black Tuesday” wiped away billions of dollars and thousands of investors, it caused a great amount of economic fallout. When “Black Tuesday” struck Wall Street on October 29th, 1929, investors traded 16 million shares on the the New York Stock Exchange in just a day which caused billions of dollars to be lost and thousands of investors who got all their money wiped out. After the fallout of “Black Tuesday” America’s industrialized country fell into the Great Depression, which was one of the longest economic downfalls in the history of the Western industrialized world.

    Read More

  • Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Impact On American Society

    1672 Words  | 4 Pages

    When he took office, 'the nation was in the fourth year of a disastrous economic crisis' and 'a quarter of the labor force was out of work [and] the banks had been closed in thirty-eight states' (Greenstein 16). In order to remedy these problems and restore trust in the government, FDR enacted the New Deal in the Hundred Days legislation. Many of the programs created in the legislation are still around today in some form, continuing to show FDR's influence on the modern presidency. Such programs as the Works Progress Administration and The Tennessee Valley Authority helped poor Americans unable to get jobs or afford the luxury of electricity. These programs were some of the major reasons FDR was so popular during his terms in office. Also created was the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which insured the money in banks. This helped because then in the case of another bank crisis, people's money would not be lost. The FDIC was another reason, along with FDR's rhetoric, that people began to trust the banks and government again. One major policy FDR began was social security, which is still around today. When creating this idea of social security, it is clear he meant it to help the people, but also that he meant it to be permanent. FDR wanted, and received, a lasting effect on the government. By designing and implementing so many new programs and policies to help Americans, FDR showed what

    Read More

  • 1920s: The Roaring Decade

    1722 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Great Depression was a period in United States history when business was poor and many people were out of work. The beginning of the Great Depression in the United States was associated with the stock market crash on October 29, 1929, known as Black Tuesday. Thousands of investors lost large amounts of money and many were wiped out, lost everything. Banks, stores, and factories were closed and left millions of Americans jobless and homeless (Baughman 82).

    Read More

  • The Great Depression and the New Deal

    986 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Great Depression was in no way the only depression the country has ever seen, but it was one of the worst economic downfalls in the United States. As for North America and the United States, the Great Depression was the worst it had ever seen. In addition to North America, the Depression greatly affected Europe and other various countries throughout the world significantly during the 1920’s and 1930’s. The Great Depression was caused by the collapse of the Stock Market, which happened in October of 1929. The crash exhausted about forty percent of the paper values of common stocks. It was the worst depression due to the fact that at the time of the Great Depression the government involvement in the economy was higher than it had ever been. A unique government agency had been set up exclusively to prevent depressions and their related troubles for instance bank panics. All of ...

    Read More

  • The Great Depression

    944 Words  | 2 Pages

    Great Depression was one of the most severe economic situation the world had ever seen. It all started during late 1929 and lasted till 1939. Although, the origin of depression was United Sattes but with US Economy being highly correlated with global economy, the ill efffects were seen in the whole world with high unemployment, low production and deflation. Overall it was the most severe depression ever faced by western industrialized world. Stock Market Crashes, Bank Failures and a lot more, left the governments ineffective and this lead the global economy to what we call today- ‘’Great Depression’’.(Rockoff). As for the cause and what lead to Great Depression, the issue is still in debate among eminent economists, but the crux provides evidence that the worst ever depression ever expereinced by Global Economy stemed from multiple causes which are as follows:

    Read More

  • The Great Depression

    915 Words  | 2 Pages

    October 29th, 1929 marked the beginning of the Great Depression, a depression that forever changed the United States of America. The Stock Market collapse was unavoidable considering the lavish life style of the 1920’s. Some of the ominous signs leading up to the crash was that there was a high unemployment rate, automobile sales were down, and many farms were failing. Consumerism played a key role in the Stock Market Crash of 1929 because Americans speculated on the stocks hoping they would grow in their favor. They would invest in these stocks at a low rate which gave them a false sense of wealth causing them to invest in even more stocks at the same low rate. When they purchased these stocks at this low rate they never made enough money to pay it all back, therefore contributing to the crash of 1929. Also contributing to the crash was the over production of consumer goods. When companies began to mass produce goods they did not not need as many workers so they fired them. Even though there was an abundance of goods mass produced and at a cheap price because of that, so many people now had no jobs so the goods were not being purchased. Even though, from 1920 to 1929, consumerism and overproduction partially caused the Great Depression, the unequal distribution of wealth and income was the most significant catalyst.

    Read More

  • The Great Depression

    1204 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Great Depression was a period, which seemed to go out of control. The crashing of the stock markets left most Canadians unemployed and in debt, prairie farmers suffered immensely with the inability to produce valuable crops, and the Canadian Government and World War II became influential factors in the ending of the Great Depression.

    Read More

  • The Great Depression

    1724 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Great Depression began in October 1929, when the stock market in the United States dropped rapidly. Thousands of investors lost all of their of money and were forced to live on the streets often going without food. This crash led into the Great Depression. The ensuing period of 10 years ranked as the worst period of high unemployment and low business activity in modern times. Banks, stores, and factories were closed and left millions of Americans jobless, homeless, and without food. Many people came to depend on the government or charity to provide them with food. The Depression became a worldwide business slump of the 1930's that affected almost all nations. It led to a sharp decline in world trade as each country tried to protect their own industries. The Depression led to political turmoil in many countries such as Germany where poor economic conditions helped lead to the rise of Hitler. Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected President in 1932 and his 'new deal' reforms gave the government more power and helped slow the depression. The Great Depression ended as nations increased their production of war materials at the start of World War II. This increased production provided jobs and put large amounts of money back into circulation. Several factors led to the great depression. One being the lack of diversification in the American economy. The prosperity of America had been basically dependent on a few industries like construction and the automobile and in the late 20's these industr...

    Read More

  • The Causes Of The Great Depression

    738 Words  | 2 Pages

    The stock market crashed in October of 1929. Also known as ‘Black Tuesday’ this crashed deleted the value of all paper stocks. A lot of people lost their life savings and unemployment rose to a rate of 25%. Although The Depression happened here in the United States, many counties world-wide were affected as they relied heavenly on companies that exported their goods from America.

    Read More

  • The Great Depression in "Cinderella Man"

    1586 Words  | 4 Pages

    The stock market crash of 1929 was the primary event that led to the collapse of stability in the nation and ultimately paved the road to the Great Depression. The crash was a wide range of causes that varied throughout the prosperous times of the 1920’s. There were consumers buying on margin, too much faith in businesses and government, and most felt there were large expansions in the stock market. Because of all these positive views that the people of the American society possessed, people hardly looked at the crises in front of them.... ...

    Read More

  • The Great Depression Research Paper

    2275 Words  | 5 Pages

    The black Tuesday, October 29th, 1929 has been identified as the symbol of the Great Depression. Stock holders lost 14 billion dollars on a single day trade, and more than 30 billion lose in that week, which was 10 times more than the annual budget of the Federal government.[ [documentary] 1929 Wall Street Stock Market Crash

    Read More

  • The Great Depression Essay

    1508 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Great Depression was the deepest and longest-lasting economic downfall in the history of the United States. No event has yet to rival The Great Depression to the present day, although we have had recessions in the past, and some economic panics, fears. Thankfully, the United States of America has had its share of experiences from the foundation of this country and throughout its growth, many economic crises have occurred. In the United States, the Great Depression began soon after the stock market crash of October 1929, which sent Wall Street into a panic and wiped out millions of investors ("The Great Depression."). In turn, from this single tragic event, numerous amounts of chain reactions occurred.

    Read More

  • The Causes Of The Great Depression

    1180 Words  | 3 Pages

    When the stock market started failing, many factories closed production of all types of goods. Businesses and banks started closing down and farmers fell into bankruptcy. Many people lose everything, their jobs, their savings, and their homes. More than thirteen million people are unemployed. The Great Depression caused major political changes.

    Read More

More about the great depression

Open Document