Summary Of First Hand Accounts Of The Great Depression By Erin Cobb

When reading the text “First Hand Accounts of the Great Depression” by Erin Cobb, it expresses what this historical event was. It is mentioned that “The Great Depression was a time of economic turmoil in the United States'' (Cobb). Following that, it is recalled in the text that people began to spend less, resulting in stores not being able to sell their goods. This also led to factories slowing down the production of goods. According to the text, “these were all signs of a recession, or a decline in the economy” (Cobb). It also goes into detail about what this event led to, stating that “nearly 11,000 banks closed, and some people lost all of their money” (Cobb). The rate of people losing their jobs was so great, “1 in 4 Americans had no job during this time” (Cobb). Furthermore into the topic of The Great Depression, history.com also includes information on how the Great Depression came to be.

Consequently, rapid expansion took place, peaking in August 1929. During this time, “the production had already declined and unemployment had risen, leaving stock prices much higher than their actual value” (history.com). Additionally during this time, wages were very low, and consumer debt was high. It’s also mentioned that “the agricultural part of the economy was struggling due to drought and falling food prices and banks had an excess of large loans that could not be paid back” (history.com). On the other hand, a text belonging to McKim Dell goes over the topic of the Dust Bowl and what exactly was