Great Depression Dbq

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Zaid Mehmood Professor Brucher Paper 2, Draft 2 4 April 2024 A Time of Economic Disparity The Great Depression resulted in sharp economic downfall culminating in families across the country experiencing financial hardships. Farmers faced challenges with the agricultural economy declining, leading to falling crop prices, which ultimately led to many losing their farms, because they were unable to pay their mortgage and debt. Detroit took a severe downturn as the automobile industry collapsed, and thousands of employees lost their jobs. This included immigrants, most notably Mexicans, who faced heightened discrimination and were coerced to return back to Mexico. With growing unrest amongst the working-class, Americans collectively came together …show more content…

Amongst the working-class, the Great Depression had a notable effect on farmers, Ford factory workers, and Mexican immigrants, who experienced food scarcity, unemployment, reduced profits, and housing losses; as the government did not provide relief, the working-class became involved in politics, pressuring the government, which ultimately led to the enactment of the New Deal. The Great Depression caused a sharp decline in the agricultural economy which had profound effects and challenges on farmers. Whole families, including young children, had to work in the fields to survive, pulling three-hundred pounds of hand picked cotton across their shoulders. However, the picked cotton and even corn and wheat had very few buyers due to the decline in demand for agricultural products. In the 1930s, an overproduction crisis caused crop prices to plummet. Wheat prices fell by fifty percent and cotton prices by two-thirds. However, even with this due to decreased demand: “Low prices did not even repay the cost of raising crops, let alone the interest farmers owed on borrowed money” (Rockefeller …show more content…

With the combination of declining crop and land prices, farmers were unable to acquire financial assistance. The entire farm economy approached collapse—farms rapidly were being foreclosed on due to their owners being unable to meet their mortgage and loan payments. Thousands of families abandoned and lost their farms. As the Depression progressed, the demand for cars fell, resulting in wage reductions and mass layoffs of Ford Factory workers, leading to families experiencing financial challenges and an overwhelming feeling of hopelessness clouding Detroit. This economic downturn caused a third of the Ford dealers across the nation to shut down, as people could hardly afford to buy parts for their old cars, let alone buy new ones. As a consequence of decreased profits, Henry Ford was forced to reduce the minimum wage to four dollars and cut employees’ hours. Eventually Ford Motor Company stopped producing cars altogether in August 1931, leading to mass unemployment. This exacerbated the already dire situation in Detroit: “Now a depression within a depression shook Detroit as sixty thousand laid off Ford workers joined a hundred thousand unemployed already on the streets” (Else

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