The Great Depression was one of the most important historical events that has happened within the last century that impacted every Americans life one way or another. There were many factors that could be an explanation of why The Great Depression happened, but there is no one definitive list of the reasons of what caused The Great Depression. It was a mixture of events in the United States and outside of it that probably led to this period of time to happen. The main reason that everyone could agree on was the event of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. Because of The Crash, it made people go on a bank run which made thousands of banks to close because they simply did not have all the money for all the people wanting to withdraw their savings. Because everyone was trying to take their savings out, most people were turned down by the bank and essentially lost of their savings in the bank. The banks were failing and because they had no more money left, this stopped the banks from having available credit for people to use which made matters even worse for the people. This leads people to poverty and were left with nothing. Because people were poor and were scared of spending their money now, it made people stop buying extra things that weren't essential to live. This was the cause of the unemployment rates during this time period because if no one was buying anything, then there was no reason to keep extra workers for things people are not buying. In addition to all the things happening within the United States of America, the Tariff Act of 1930, or the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, which increased the tariff rates on almost everything that was imported from other countries to an extremely high percentage which led to less trade between the... ... middle of paper ... ...involve everyone. They could get away from all the troubles and turmoils they have to deal with the economy. Another way the family could get together for entertainment was with the radio. If someone could afford the radio, it was well worth the money because then it would be almost an endless supply of entertainment. With the radio there was always music being played but there was other programs on the radio for people to listen to as well. There were comedians that would broadcast over the radio for everyone. The women were able to listen to soap operas and the rest of the family could listen to famous stories such as The Lone Ranger and The Green Hornet. And the men would listen to sports games. Works Cited Gup, Ted. A Secret Gift: how one man's kindess--and a trove of letters--revealed the hidden history of the Great Depression. New York: Penguin press, 2010
·Tariffs doubly injured the majority of citizens, first by imposing heavy import taxes that were passed on to consumers and then by reducing the incentive for American manufacturers to produce goods at a lower cost than imports
Pindar, Ian. "The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression by Amity Shlaes." The Guardian, August 9, 2009.
Increased inexpensive imports led to business failures, bank closures, and unemployment in cities. Britain ended The War of 1812 with America and trade increases. Britain’s industrial capacity exceeded Americas’.5 Britain then exported its surplus of manufactured goods to America. U.S. factories could not compete with Europe’s low labor costs and low price of goods. American imports rose from $12.9 million in 1814 to $151 million in 1816. Businesses were forced to close.
There were many causes for the Great Depression. The first and one of the largest was the stock market crash. Before 1929 the stock market was flourishing and everyone wanted to buy stocks. People were so confident in the stock market that they were buying “on margin”, which meant that brokers would lend them 10% of the money they invested (D1). The problems began when stocks were being over speculated. When people began to realize this, they began selling there shares. On October 29, 1929, 16 million shares were sold (D9). This day became known as “Black Thursday”, the day the stock market crashed (D12). The second reason was the overproduction of goods. Factories had already produced too many goods and now there was no demand for them. The government began to raise tariffs to protect Canadian industries but things only led downhill from there.
Nelson, Sheila. Crisis at Home and Abroad: the Great Depression, World War II, and Beyond,
McElvaine, Robert S, ed. Down and Out in the Great Depression: Letters from the Forgotten Man. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1983.
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:
The great depression came about because the flow of money had become stagnant due to overproduction. As products became too numerous prices began to drop in a bad way. Everything began to lose its value and companies began to lost profits. In order to keep above bankruptcy, companies began to lay off employees, and with people getting laid off, people began to spend less money which made profits go down even lower. This downward spiral caused many to go unemployed and would be the main reason the great depression was so difficult to deal
The Great Depression led by many problems and caused many more. This is the time that many people were left with nothing, all because the economy had failed drastically. Americans lost their jobs, homes, and even family. Homelessness and unemployment were two of the biggest impacts the Depression had after all. The economy destroyed itself and everything else; it became a global issue and affected so much.
During the 1920's America experienced an increase like no other. With the model T car, the assembly line, business skyrocketed. Thus, America's involvement in World War II did not begin with the attack on Pearl Harbor. Starting in October 1929, the Great Depression, the stock market crashed. It awed a country used to the excesses of the 1920's. These are the events that lead up to the crash.
The Great Depression was caused by many situations with many scenarios. One major scenario was the Stock Market Crash of 1929, this was one of the major causes. Another is when the banks failed, this stopped the people from collecting their money so they could not get the goods they needed. A third scenario that kinda leads to the Great Depression is drought conditions, this led to people not being able to pay their taxes. There are so many small and major scenarios that could have or did lead to the Great Depression. Banks failing was a major too, people tend to rely on money a lot so this would have a major impact.
In 1932 Roughly 25 percent of the national workforce was unemployed, while the national unemployment average for blacks stood at 48 percent ( "The 1930s: Lifestyles and Social Trends: Overview”). Within the lower class African Americans had it the worst because of the racism during this time. People who lost their homes often lived in what were called Hoovervilles (Lehnardt). Hoovervilles were towns built on the edge of the city by the unemployed and consisted of huts and shacks. As well as living in Hoovervilles they used flimsy newspapers as blankets because many could not afford to buy real ones. The unemployed held street demonstrations to ask the government for jobs
The Great Depression was a time when unemployment rates increased, people lost their life saving, and banks went on a crisis. The primary reason why this happened is because of consumer culture. Borrowing money was easier than ever in the 1920s. Buyers could easily pack a small percent of the stock price and borrow the rest from a broker. Consumers were buying goods at a rate higher than their income was expanding (6). However, as the market was rising, stockers were happy to lend money to anyone. The methods used to purchase items caused the stock market to collapse. Borrowing money became risky when starting a business because you could only hope for profit. However, purchasing on layway and going into debt was becoming acceptable (6). This encouraged the continuation of these methods which lead to something greater. Consumer culture occurring in the 1920s is the primary reason why the Great Depression occurred. Consumers were using purchasing methods such as buying on the margin and layaway which caused the stock market to crash in the 30s.
The Great Depression was the deepest and longest-lasting economic downfall in the history of the United Sates. No event has yet to rival The Great Depression to the present day today although we have had recessions in the past, and some economic panics, fears. Thankfully the United States of America has had its shares 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.
The Great Depression was a period of first-time decline in economic movement. It occurred between the years 1929 and 1939. It was the worst and longest economic breakdown in history. The Wall Street stock market crash started the Great Depression; it had terrible effects on the country (United States of America). When the stock market started failing many factories closed production of all types of good. Businesses and banks started closing down and farmers fell into bankruptcy. Many people lost everything, their jobs, their savings, and homes. More than thirteen million people were unemployed.