The great depression, which started in 1929, was a time of terrible poverty, rising unemployment, and dropping production. The main cause of the great depression was the loss of confidence in banks and businesses by the American public. Many banks and businesses failed during the depression because they lost so much money on the stock market or on loans, and this caused people to lose faith in them. This loss of confidence affected the nation in many ways including, economically, psychologically, and politically. The great depression started in 1929 and lasted through 1939.
People are led to believe that the Great Depression started with the stock market crash of October 1929, but that isn't true and it leads people to mistake correlation with cause. When one thinks of the Great Depression they think it began after the stock market crash, but not because of it. The underlying economic conditions in the U.S before the stock market crash weren't all "moonshine and rainbows"; The 19 twenties featured large scaled domestic consumption of relatively new consumer products, which was good for American industry. Much of this consumption was fueled by credit and installment buying, which as it turned out was very unsustainable. The thing about credit is that it works fine unless and until economic uncertainty
Although the Great Depression was relatively mild in some countries, it was severe in others, particularly in the United States. By 1928, Germany, Brazil, and the economies of Southeast Asia were depressed. By early 1929, the economies of Poland, Argentina, and Canada were contracting, and the U.S. economy followed in the middle of 1929. In almost every country of the world, the Great Depression caused drastic declines in output, severe unemployment, and acute deflation. Its social and cultural effects were no less astounding, especially in the United States, where the Great Depression represented the harshest adversity faced by Americans since the Civil War.
The great depression officially began in Wall Street October 29, 1929 – 1933, and was an economic slump caused by a collapse in the stock market. When the stock market crashed, the stock prices dropped fast and there was little hope for recovery. This lead to panic among the people and all tried to sell their stock at the same time, but this was useless since nobody wished to buy the stock. Therefore, the stock market became the path to bankruptcy. Thousands of Americans lost their job and were forced into poverty.
The Great Depression The Great Depression was a horrendous time for the American people. The Depression lasted from 1929 to 1939 making it to be the worst economic downturn in the history of mankind. The US suffered serious downturns, including the destruction of the US plantation land which caused several complications with making money. There are many leading components that may have caused the Great Depression, many may have thought that the main factor of the depression was the Stock Market Crash but what they didn’t know was there were major events that led up to the Stock Market that eventually led to the Great Depression. During the Great Depression, living habits were amateurish, many Americans settled in housing that had no plaster, no rugs or even a heating stove.
The Great Depression of 1929 was a global economic catastrophe. In the United States, the crisis blanketed the country with widespread unemployment, almost seizing construction and industry, and a near 90% decline in stock prices was observed. The acquisition of raw materials and the price of commodities also suffered greatly. The exportation of coffee beans, other agricultural products, and metals was starkly impacted by an increase in tariffs, a strategy implemented my many nations to compensate for the economic downfall. Prior to the depression, Americans lived in time referred to as the New Era (1900 – 1929).
In 1929 America fell into “The Great Depression’’ which lasted until 1939. The great Depression was a time where America was both economically and socially weak. The American economy fell due to the oblivious actions of the government. Many people had enormous debt and many banks had no money. Businesses fell because many people bought products on credit.
World War Two Ending The Great Depression In a time, when The Progressive Movement had created hundreds of different reform movements with progressive ideals and when World War Two ended with an American victory in Europe and in The Pacific. It is in this context that the Great Depression had completely devastated the American Economy. Three significant ways World War Two brought The United States out of the Great Depression were the massive amount of wartime production, and influx of new types of workers. Admittedly, one significant cause that brought The United States out of the Great Depression was the New Deal (A). The New Deal brought The Great Depression to an end because the government used deficit spending and created jobs for the desperate
The Great Depression started with the stock market crash of 1929. “In 1925, the total value of the NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE was $27 billion. By September 1929, that figure skyrocketed to $87 billion” (The Market Crashes 1). Stocks were being sold for way more than their reasonable value and that couldn’t go on indefinitely. Although more people in the U.S.owned stock than ever before, “90% of American households owned precisely zero shares of stock” (Sinking Deeper and Deeper 1).
“On October 24, 1929 prices on the New York Stock Exchange collapsed. Losses estimated between $8 billion and $9 billion”( Account of the Stock Market Crash of 1929, October, 1929). As a result, the “Great Depression” was a period of severe economic hardship that began in 1929 and lasted most of the 1930’s. Therefore, many Americans lost their jobs, homes, and their savings. “The Great Depression affected many countries worldwide.