The Great Depression Summary

The Great Depression was the most powerful worldwide economic depression, having its origins in the United States. It began in 1929 and lasted until 1941, causing the economy of the U.S. to drop off 50% in the first 5 years, raising the unemployment rate from 3.2% to almost 25%, and making 50% of the banks fail. During that time factories were shut down, farming, especially harvesting crops, became worthless, mines were left, while people went hungry.

The American economy was declining during the summer of 1929, as the amount of money that a consumer would spend was diminishing and unsold goods began to expand, which resulted in slowing down the factory production. On 24th of October 1929, known as “Black Thursday”, as investors hurried to

In the spring of 1935, Roosevelt launched a serie of more aggressive federal programs, called the “Second New Deal”. He created the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in order to fulfil the need of jobs, focusing on construction industry, more specific on building post offices, bridges, schools, highways and parks. In August 1935 , FDR guaranteed pensions to people of America, set up a system of insurance for unemployed people and agreed to offer help for disabled children, after signing the Social Security Act of 1935. Under Roosevelt’s command, the government assumed new responsibilities in the benefit of the people. The New Deal recorded a new relationship between the government, as the central unit in charge of economic recovery, and the people of America who suffered the most from the Great Depression.

From 1933 until 1941, President Roosevelt’s policies did not only adjust interest rates, or create “short-term make-work programs”. They created a brand-new political alliance that put together white people, African Americans and intellectuals. They all shared a strong belief that a government that would involve in people’s needs was what they needed for their families, for the economic recovery and for the development of the