Great Depression Dbq

The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression that took place

mainly during the 1930’s. The effects of this forced families into homelessness, Men and

Women alike out of work, and caused a rippling effect that was felt the world over. This event

singlehandedly

forced all nations to reevaluate the way that they safeguard against such large

scale depressions and how nations like the United States could best control the banks while still

keeping a laissez faire economy. This being said, the Great Depression was a time of profound

social and economic change felt by all.

. Most historians agree that the major causes for the origin of this depression was people's

falling faith in the banking system as well as the events of October

29, 1929 ( more commonly
referred to as “Black Tuesday”) When panicked sellers traded an estimated 16 Million shares at
the New York Stock Exchange and the Dow Jones industrial average fell approximately 12%.
This, coupled with the fact that people came in droves to remove their money from banks before
they were affected by the events of Black Tuesday, forced many employers to lay off mass
quantities of their work force just to keep their businesses above water.

In light of this, many

families loss their primary (and often only, due to the fact that it was entirely uncommon for a

Women to work at the time) source of income. As men were laidoff

they would return to the

job market and try to low bid employers, moreorless

saying that they’ll work another man's job

for less than the price that they were doing it for ( very similar to the practices that were common

during the “Gilded Era” ) these practices became so extreme that the average annual income by

the end of the Great Depression was $1315 versus the begining average of approximately $1407

for persons who had secure jobs.

By the Fall of 1930, the estimated unemployment total hovered near the 6 Million person

mark. This staggering figure gave birth to a new form of public assistance; Bread lines. Men and

Women whom found themselves unable to find work began begging and picking over refuse in

city dumps until finally they’d gathered up the resolve to stand and be seen publicly in a

bread
line for free food. To assuage their hardships, charities, missions, and churches began programs
to feed these people and their families. Following the rise of bread lines, came Soup Kitchens,
which were similar in idea but separate in practice in that provided heartier meals.
Faced with a growing National crisis, President Herbert Hoover was forced to think of a
way to stabilize the economy. Knowing that the average American man wouldn’t take a
Government handout, and that the Government itself was struggling, President Hoover
commissioned the building of the Boulder Dam (Later renamed the Hoover Dam in tribute by
Franklin D.

Roosevelt) to supplement the workforce and to provide persons with the opportunity

to work. As families the Nation over heard of the availability of jobs surrounding the Boulder

Dam, They flocked to the site and established hastily built towns that became known as

“Hoovervilles”.

Theses crude Shantytowns housed countless persons as they worked on the

Dam.

As the Decade wore on and the depression only seemed to worsen, new president

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, passed legislation that began to rebuild the currently ruined

economy.As a first corse of action, FDR began working on creating the Works Progress

Administration. (Its name would soon be changed in 1939 to the Work Projects Administration.)

The program would soon employ more than 8.5 million men and women in over 3,000 counties

throught the nation. These individuals, working for a salary of only approximately $41.57 a

month, would improve or create highways, roads, bridges, and airports. In addition, the WPA

will put thousands of artists writers,

painters, theater directors, and sculptors

to
work on
various projects. Under its reign, ending in 1943, FDR was able to implement the WPA in such a
way that it both improved American infrastructure and the general standing of the economy.
Though the average business was sinking, Business Week magazine announces that
"Depression is a forgotten word in the automobile industry, which is forging ahead in
production, retail sales, and expansion of productive capacity in a manner reminiscent of the
'twenties.'" This was due to the American Automotive industry expanding overseas and
beginning to sell to other nations. These factories were what helped dig the economy out of it’s
drought as the events in Europe began to lead into WWII. As Nazi Germany instigated a new
war, America began to profit, cannibalizing all its factories and machine shops into production
points for the war. This triumphant return to industry ,coupled with the fact that The United
States was Importing less and less while also exporting to war ravished nations, bolstered the
economy to the point of a true profit.