The Great Depression is viewed as one of the most notable economic crashes in the history of the United States, and due to the United States’ global influence, the Great Depression is studied by economists in all corners of the world. Between 1929 and 1939, the Great Depression held its grip the tightest on every US citizen, regardless of race, gender, or economic standing. The lower class increased its size dramatically as middle-class citizen lost most of their income, and the upper-class citizens suffered losses in their stock. Every person experienced a dwindling of their personal savings as banks failed across the country, workplaces went bankrupt, and farmlands diminished. With that being said, the Great Depression is notorious for weakening …show more content…
For example, the stock market’s tumble led to the failure of many thousands of banks in the coming months, this panic led to bank rushes, where people were desperately trying to withdraw all of their savings before the banks were forced to shut down. In turn, these bank rushes caused many more banks to collapse, and the vicious cycle continued. Over 9,000 banks failed by the end of the decade (Kelly). Furthermore, with lack of money in cycle, people began spending less on commercial goods, and the economy suffered as a result. Many banks, much to their customers’ dismay, had invested a good chunk of their money in the stock market, so as Americans rushed to take their money out, they were stunned to learn that much of it wasn’t there. Less money in circulation caused an immense degradation to credit, making it almost completely nonexistent for many Americans (Kelly). Less credit caused a decrease in the amount of money spent on commercial goods, which in turn hurt many businesses, both small and large-scale. While the stock market crash had quite a hefty impact on the average American, it isn't the only apparent cause of the Great …show more content…
by reducing agriculture for the U.S., thus causing a decline in exports. The farmlands of Western and Central United States suffered greatly as a remarkably sturdy drought choked the soil of its water supply. Many farmers were forced to seek government assistance as they couldn’t afford to water their crops efficiently. In fact, by 1937, a reported 21% of rural families were receiving government aid (“The Great Depression.”). While the entire U.S. was affected by this widespread drought, farmlands on the Great Plains were affected the most as huge dust storms swept across the vast area. The area quickly became known as the Dust Bowl; many cities were forced to evacuate the streets during some of the most powerful dust surges. Dry winds and loose dust further harmed crops and livestock, forcing many farmers and ranchers out of work and in search of new jobs (“The Great Depression.”). While agriculture was not the most profitable workforce in the United States, it played perhaps the largest role in the American economy. Agriculture made up 27% of the workforce during the 1920s, however,this high percentage fell to just 15% by 1940 (“Historical Timeline - 1930.”). Because of this, the drought is yet another studied factor of the Great
Three of the main causes to The Great Depression involved the crash of the stock market, job loss and buying on credit. To begin with, the crash of the stock market was the starting factor that let to the downfall of many lives. The stock market was flourishing with investors but reduced economy by 60% over all (Document 1). Around 4 million Americans including many banks had invested large amounts of money in stocks hoping to earn gains (Document 3).
The Great Depression was devastating to many people. From 1929 - 1939 life was a struggle. This all began when the stock market crashed in 1929 causing a great effect on people. Most stopped using banks and no longer trusted them. Jobs were scarce and people looking for them were plentiful.
The Great Depression was a roughly 10-year period in the early twentieth century that was shaped by the United States’ national economic crisis, but affected the global economy, as well. It began in 1929, when the stock market first crashed and stock prices began to fall, but only 2% of Americans owned stock and were affected at this time. (1:48) It wasn’t until tens of thousands of people began to withdraw money from banks and hundreds closed across the country, leaving 28 states bank-less (5:32) that the population truly began to suffer. Unemployment rates skyrocket and more and more people begin to go bankrupt, with 34 million Americans left with no source of income by 1932.
When the stock market crashed, wealthy people had all their saved money wiped. People couldn’t really take loans out because they were in debt owing money to the bank. After banks shut down, then local stores, factories, and restaurants all shut down. This then escalated into unemployment. Over 600% of citizens were unemployed and had no income.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the 32nd president of the United States. He was born on January 30, 1882 in New York. He went to reputed schools like Groton and Harvard. He was married to Anna Eleanor Roosevelt at the age of 23 on March 17 ,1905, who was also his distant cousin. Together they had a daughter and five sons.
Depositors lost all the money stored in that bank. Because of this, consumers spent small amounts of money, which threatened many businesses. Meanwhile, farmers and factories were responsible for the overproduction of goods. Customers’ money was lost
The Great Depression is the worst economic downturn that America has ever experienced. Over a ten year period lasting from 1929 through 1939, America witnessed hardships like no other. At the lowest point in the Great Depression nearly 25% of Americans were out of work, and that rate increasing by twelve thousand every day. The Great Depression made many people question the “American Dream” and people were weary of the future. Many effects came out of the Great Depression, one being more government programing.
The stock market crash sparked the new beginning of an era. An era known as the Great Depression where millions lived in poverty and were being fired from their jobs or at least having their wages cut. Banks all across America and Europe went bankrupt due to many people wanting to withdraw money from the banks. The depression lasted eleven years, at least in America, and in that time, many people died or went homeless, but some people helped others go through the Great Depression. Woody Guthrie, John Steinbeck, and Will Rogers were some of those people who helped influence society during the depression.
Dust Bowl and Economics of the 1930s The Dust Bowl was a very desperate and troublesome time for America. The southwestern territories were in turmoil due to the arid effect of the drought causing no fertile soils. As the rest of America was being dragged along with the stock market crash and higher prices of wheat and crops since the producing areas couldn't produce. This was a streak of bad luck for the Americans as they were in a deep despair for a quite some time.
In the 1930s, before the Dust Bowl, the Great Depression occurred. Life was harsh since many people didn’t have jobs, however, the Dust Bowl made the situation worse. In the Great Plains, while the United States was in the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl occurred because of the bad weather and soil erosion. Dust storms would occur because of the soil not being fertile enough plus the strong winds blowing across the soil which led to many people moving to the West. The Dust Bowl had many causes and effects that led up to the event and there were many significant changes that impacted the United States like restoring the Great Plains and preventing another Dust Bowl.
The Great Depression was catastrophic. It was a critical time period in our history when our economy crashed. People lost their jobs, and families became homeless. Today, 564,708 people are homeless. Back then, two million people were homeless.
The news of the Dust Bowl spread very quickly and many people were devastated and tried helping those who needed it. The USA lost millions and billions of dollars because of the Dust Bowl. The dust bowl was one of the worst droughts and “cost Americans around $50 billion in agricultural losses—staple crops including soy, corn and wheat have all been devastated—as well as forest fire destruction and other financial casualties,” (Lynn 2). Farmers lost billions of dollars in profit because of the events of the Dust Bowl. The soil was horrible and crops wouldn’t grow.
In 1929, the U.S. was hit with the worst economic crisis in the history of the country, the Great Depression. The Great Depression left millions of people unemployed and cost millions their life's savings. The Depression lasted for ten long years for the American people. Since the Great Depression ended, people have studied it, trying to figure out what happened that started it all. The problem was, in fact, the poor economic habits of the people at the time, such as speculation, income maldistribution, and overproduction.
The Great depression was the worst economic crash in U.S. history. It started after the stock market crash on October, 1929. It sent Wall Street into panic and wiped out millions of investors. In turn, this led to millions of americans becoming unemployed, and nearly half of american banks had failed. Over the next couple of years, consumer spending and investment made a steep dive, so did the industrial output and employment rates.
The Great DepressionTopic: the great depressionQuestion: How did the great depression affect americans?Thesis statement:The great depression affected americans because it destroyed their economy. Millions of families lost theirs savings as many banks collapsed in the 1930’s. The Great Depression was the worst economic drop of all times in the industrial world1. The Great Depression began because of a stock market crash in 1929 and came to end ten years later in 1939, around 15 million americans were unemployed and about half of the American banks failed. It was one of the darkest era in the United States.