Discuss The Causes Of The Great Depression

How far was the New Deal a turning point in US history? The New Deal was made in response to a set of policies by Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) to combat issues caused by the global financial meltdown of 1929, initiated by the Wall Street Crash. This decade long historic financial downturn has been identified as the Great Depression (1929-1939). The New Deal focused on what people refer to as the ‘three R’s’:

The Great Depression was a time during 1929 to 1939, It was the longest lasting economic disaster. The two presidents in term during this crisis, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Herbert Hoover, approached this problem in different ways. Hoover’s idea on this was to have private citizens help each others, while Roosevelt believed the government should take care of its people with social programs. Looking at these ideas in more depth we can infer ways our country should go. Herbert Hoover served as president during 1929 to 1933.

. Compare and contrast the responses of Herbert Hoover and Franklin D. Roosevelt to the Great Depression. a necessity for survival, Hoover as well as Roosevelt had their work cut out for them to save their nation from the grips of this depression. Bothe hoover and Roosevelt did share some common attributes when it came to approaching the great depression. Both presidents tried to rely on and use the federal government to help the economy, more so than any previous president before them.

The Great Depression was a financial and industrial recession that began in 1929. Two long-term causes of the Depression were the overproduction of crops by farmers, which exhausted the land and spurred a huge decrease in crops’ value, and a large number of people buying on margin in the stock market, forcing banks to lose more money than they could afford. President Herbert Hoover, elected in 1928, believed in rugged individualism, which meant there would be no government handouts, voluntary cooperation, where people help themselves and the government only mediates, and that the economy has cycles and therefore the Depression should not be considered dangerous. These beliefs prolonged the Depression because Hoover did not give aid to citizens nor did he attempt to change the economy. When President Franklin

Roosevelt leads America through the depression and helped the American people recover. Roosevelt becomes President after Hoover, easily beating Hoover who was blamed by many for the depression. In his first "hundred days" of office, Roosevelt started a program to bring recovery to business and agriculture, relief to unemployed and to the people in danger of losing their homes. Despite his efforts, America was still suffering and Roosevelt looked to a more aggressive federal program. This include the creation of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) which provided jobs for the unemployed.

Hoover President Herbert Hoover didn’t believe that it was the federal government’s role to provide direct relief. Instead he suggested voluntarism, asking corporations to improve working conditions and wages. Lowering income taxes was another idea promoted by Hoover. If people would spend less on taxes, they would invest in stock market and purchase products. Hoover refused against any form of a welfare program.

The wealth during the 1920s left Americans unprepared for the economic depression they would face in the 1930s. The Great Depression occurred because of overproduction by farmers and factories, consumption of goods decreased, uneven distribution of wealth, and overexpansion of credit. Hoover was president when the depression first began, and he maintained the government’s laissez-faire attitude in the economy. However, after the election of FDR in 1932, his many alphabet soup programs in his first one hundred days in office addressed the nation’s need for change.

During his first term in office, he took on programs and policies to relieve the effects of the depression, collectively known as the New Deal. During this time, many social policies were passed to specifically aid the working class. Some of the acts Roosevelt implemented were the Glass-Steagall Act, the Federal Deposit Insurance, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Home Owners Loan Corporation, the Works Progress Administration, the National Labor Relation Board, and Social Security. All of these acts were put in place to aid the working class, and prevent the severity of future depressions. The outcome of the New Deal gave a new role for the federal government, which is the partial responsibility for the people’s financial

In 1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt became the president of the United State after President Herbert Hoover. The Great Depression was also at its height because President Hoover believed that the crash was just the temporary recession that people must pass through, and he refused to drag the federal government in stabilizing prices, controlling business and fixing the currency. Many experts, including Hoover, thought that there was no need for federal government intervention. ("Herbert Hoover on) As a result, when the time came for Roosevelt’s Presidency, the public had already been suffering for a long time.

President Franklin Roosevelt administration to the problems of the Great Depression. The Great Depression which lasted from 1929 - 1939, had more than one cause for happening. The Stock Market Crash, on October 29, 1929, had production declining and unemployment rising. After two months, stockholders had lost more than $40 billion dollars.

Throughout the years to come, investments and consumer spending would crumble, creating a huge drop in industrial output and large numbers of unemployed workers due to the results of failing companies. As of 1933 the Great Depression hit an all-time low, 13 to 15 million Americans were unemployed and now half of the Nation’s banks had failed. With President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s policies and new deal programs, he aimed to end the Great Depression. Even though the economy would not make a full turn around until after 1939, President Roosevelt concentrated on immediate relief as well as long term, and restoring hope back into the economy.

He met businessmen and asked them to keep the wages high so that when people will start earning money, they will spend money on buying their products. But this failed because the cost of productivity was high and “output prices were falling.” Due to his believe in Laissez-faire, his action were very damaging during the time great depression. After two years of his presidency, Hoover signed the Davis-Bacon Act, which intended “that all federally funded or assisted construction projects pay the ‘prevailing wage’.” He intervened the immigration of foreigners, because he thought that if less people immigrate to the United States, all the jobs will be available to Americans.

All of these programs seemed to help and Americans were better off, but the Great Depression was over. Roosevelt continued to push for more reform, but in 1937 business slowed and another recession hit the nation. Now Roosevelt is being blamed for the nation’s problems. He was now at a

America had experienced other depressions or “panics,” but none were like the Great Depression. The Great Depression began on October 29, 1929, Black Tuesday, with the stock market crashing. Most people believe that the cause of the Great Depression was the stock market crashing. Although that is what triggered the Great Depression there were many underlying causes that lead up to the stock market crashing. Some of the underlying causes include under-consumption/over-production, uneven distribution of wealth, loose banking and corporate regulations, tariffs policies, and the stock market.

The Great Depression The Great Depression was by far one of the worst times of America’s history, and the world’s history. The Depression affected everyone except for the politicians and the wealthy. During the depression a lot of people lost their jobs which caused the unemployment rate to sky rocket to 14% of America’s population was unemployed, and the number would stay their till World War 2, and the depression started in the 1920’s. Middle class workers were hit the hardest in the depression. Most of the middle class citizens lost their jobs.