...year is 1930, during the Great Depression. Some of the main reasons why the Depression is so very important, is because without this, we might not have had the incentive to work so hard to make things better afterward. The society of America is amazing, the people that put forth the time and the effort to make a nation thrive, ought to be remembered proudly and courageously. The Great Depression was a time of sadness for our nation, a pedestal, that stood in our way of greatness. Great Depression Causes It started out as people were being run out of jobs, forced to feed their families off of the streets, with only the kindest hearts. This was labeled the Stock Market Crash, which would prove to be a tremendous factor...
Words: 2249 - Pages: 9
...US HISTORY - THE DEPRESSING THIRTIES THE GREAT DEPRESSION (1929-1941): FROM THE STOCK MARKET CRASH TO WORLD WAR II I. IMPACT ON THE AMERICAN PEOPLE A. HOMELESS AMERICANS 1. HOOVERVILLES - SHANTYTOWNS BUILT OF SCRAP MATERIALS BY THE HOMELESS ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF MANY CITIES 2. HOBOS - OVER 1 MILLION MEN AND CHILDREN WANDERING THE RAILS FOR WORK 3. BREAD LINES & SOUP KITCHENS - ATTEMPT TO END HUNGER AMONG HOMELESS B. FARMERS 1. 1929-32 - 400,000 FARMS LOST TO FORECLOSURES 2. DUST BOWL - DRAUGHT AFFECTS THE PLAINS FROM CANADA TO MEXICO; KANSAS, TEXAS & OKLAHOMA HARDEST HIT; ONE STORM HAD A CLOUD 3 MILES HIGH WITH WINDS THAT BLEW OVER 100 MPH FOR 5 DAYS ACROSS THE US TO THE ATLANTIC 3. OKIES MIGRATION TO CALIFORNIA - JOHN STEINBECK’S THE GRAPES OF WRATH - WOODY GUTHRIE’S DUST BOWL BALLADS C. VETERANS 1. BONUS ARMY - WWI VETERANS WANT CASH VALUE OF INSURANCE POLICY NOW NOT IN 1945; 17,000 MARCH ON DC CONGRESS VOTES DOWN BILL & 2,000 WON’T LEAVE; MacARTHUR & IKE USE ARMY AND GAS TO REMOVE VETS; 11 MONTH OLD IS KILLED AND AN 8 YEAR OLD IS BLINDED; BAD PR FOR HOOVER D. WOMEN 1. MARRIED WOMEN HAD TROUBLE FINDING EMPLOYMENT - MARRIAGES DECLINE 2. FRANCES PERKINS BECOMES THE FIRST FEMALE CABINET MEMBER (LABOR) E. CHILDREN 1. CHILD WELFARE SERVICES CUT BY STATES 2. MANY SCHOOL CLOSINGS 3. BREAD LINES AND SOUP KITCHENS F. WORKERS 1. BUSINESS FAILURES...
Words: 841 - Pages: 4
...essay discussing the problems created by the Great Depression and actions taken by the federal government to solve these problems The Great Depression was the period of worldwide economic depression which happened from 1929 to about 1941. Although it was a global event, the United States was the country attracting the most attention of people all around the world, which resulted in its great influence to the global economy. Some people said that the Great Depression created problems which weakened the U.S, while others argued that thanks to it, the nation had opportunity to fix itself and experienced a following long prosperous period. My essay will discuss the problems caused by the Great Depression and actions taken by the Federal government and the President to solve these problems. After years by years of optimism, development and prosperity, it was on Tuesday, October 29th,1929 , called “Black Tuesday” when the U.S officially faced the despair of the Great Depression with the Crash of the Stock Market. Though the Falling of the Stock Market was not the only cause of the Great Depression, it was the starting point of a decade of high unemployment, poverty, low profits, deflation, plunging farm incomes, and lost opportunities for economic growth and personal advancement. The main effect was a sudden and loss of confidence in the economic future. What were the problems created by the Great Depression? Years by years from that time, not only...
Words: 2251 - Pages: 10
...Chapter 24: The Great Depression and the New Deal, 1929-1939 I. Causes of the Depression A. The Stock Market Crash · There was extreme prosperity in the 1920’s. · Prices were steadily rising and the stock market was values at $27 billion. · Some 9 million Americans were playing the stock market, borrowing most of what the stock was worth. · Margin buying - the use of credit, in which stockbrokers lent speculators up to 75% of the stock’s actual cost. · Black Thursday - October 24, 1929 - there was an unexpected volume of selling on Wall Street, and stock prices plunged. · Black Tuesday - October 29, 1929 - the bottom fell out as millions of investors ordered their brokers to sell, when there were no buyers to be found. · From then on the stock market continued to decline. B. Uneven Distribution of Income · Wages were barely rising compared to the rise in production and corporate profits. · The top 5% richest people received a third of the income. C. Excessive Use of Credit · Brought on by the increased desire for material things. D. Overproduction of Consumer Goods E. Weak Farm Economy · Farmers suffered from high debts and low cost for their products. · Severe weather and long drought. F. Government Policies · Government had high faith in businesses and did little to control them. · High tariffs protected U.S. industries, but severely hurt farmers. G. Global Economic Problems · Resulting in high debts from...
Words: 2655 - Pages: 11
...FDR and the Great Depression “The Great Depression,” a name that always brings up images of pain, suffering, and severe poverty. So by the time the presidential election of 1932 rolled around, America wanted a new president. So Along came Democratic Franklin Delano Roosevelt who beat out than Republican President Herbert Hoover by over seven million votes. FDR came up with what is known as the three pronged plan. It entailed correcting the financial crisis and providing short term emergency relief for the unemployed, industrial recovery by federal support and paying farmers to reduce crop and herd sizes which raised prices. He also came up with the New Deal policy. The New Deal totally rewrote the nation’s labor laws, reshaped government and the general populace interactions and also put millions back to work. This New Deal was successful in short term relief but vastly differed in how it affected the rural and urban communities both good and bad. Roosevelt declared that the New Deal would bring relief, recovery, and reform. While it did help the economy a little it was not the grand save FDR imagined it to be. People living in urban areas benefited the most from the deal because many of the new jobs were in the city. Musicians, artists, dancers, and performers all benefited from the new theater project. The Public Works Administration put thousands back to work by repairing roads and doing heavy construction and this new administration is still being used...
Words: 672 - Pages: 3
...Ch.12. 1.Speculation-The practice for making high risk investments in hopes of getting a huge return. 2. Black Tuesday-October 29, 1929. Share prices on the New York stock exchange completely collapsed, becoming a pivotal factor in the emergence of the great depression. 3. Herbert Hoover- 31st president of the u’s: in 1929 the stock market crashed and the economy collapsed and Hoover was defeated for reelection by FDR. 4. Great depression- the economic crisis and period of low business activity in the u’s and other countries, roughly beginning with the stock market crash in October, 1929, and continuing through most of the 1930’s. 5. Hawley-smooth tariff- raised import duties to protect American businesses and farmer, adding considerable strain to the international economic climate of the Great Depression. 6. Okies- a migrant agricultural worker from Oklahoma who had been forced to leave during the depression of the 1930’s. 7. Breadline- a group of needy persons waiting in the line for free food to be distributed by a government agency or charitable organization. 8. Hooverville- a shantytown built by unemployed and destitute people during the depression of the early 1930’s. 9. Dust bowl- An area of Oklahoma, Kansas, and northern Texas affected by severe sell erosion caused by windstorms in the early 1930s, which obliged many people to move. 10. migration-movement from one part of something to another. 11. Bonus Army- was the popular name of assemblage of some 43,000...
Words: 671 - Pages: 3
...protected alcohol interests and moderately supported woman suffrage. First incumbent U.S. senator and first newspaper publisher to become president. Teapot Dome Scandal-bribery incident that further destroyed public reputation of Harding administration Calvin Coolidge-republican lawyer, conduct during boston police strike of 1919 gave him reputation of a man of decisive action. Soon after elected as 29th president to succeed Harding in 1923, gained reputation as a small-government conservative, and also a man who said very little. Herbert Hoover-republican candidate who assumed the presidency in March 1929, promising Americans prosperity and attempted to deal with the Depression by trying to restore public faith in the community. “rugged individualism”-moral stance, political philosophy, ideology, or social outlook that promotes the exercise of one’s goals and desires and so independence and self-reliance. Republican Decade-The decade after WWI where there were 3 Republican presidents: Warren Harding, Calvin Coolidge, and Herbert Hoover. Laissez-faire-the type of economy where government does not interfere because the businesses are supposed to know what’s best for the economy; businesses do their own thing and government does not interfere. Great Crash-book written by John Kenneth Galbraith depicting the economic lead up to the Wall Street Crash of 1929. Argues that the market crash was able to be seen by the rampant speculation in the stock market,...
Words: 1524 - Pages: 7
...Why the Greatest Economic Downfall in the United States Happened The main cause of the Great Depression was the Stock Market crash of 1929, which lost 40 billion dollars. Taxes were very high back then, which led to people not purchasing almost anything.The Great Depression was the longest-lasting and deepest economic downfall due to bank failures and not trading goods with other countries, it was a dismal time in the United States. The Great Depression was a gloomy time for the United States of America caused by many different factors and not just one. One of the major causes of it was the Stock Market crash that happened on October 29, 1929. The stock market started to regain some of their losses, but by 1930 it was not enough and this is when America truly entered...
Words: 765 - Pages: 4
...going to look at the facts that lead to these crisis’ in the U.S. economy. The financial press often states the definition of a recession as two consecutive quarters of decline in real GDP. NBER (National Bureau of Economic Research) states that a recession is a period between a peak and a trough, which does not necessarily always consist of two consecutive quarters of decline in real GDP but a significant decline in economic activity that spreads across the economy and can last from a few months to more than a year. [1] The first recession we are going to explore is The Great Depression which many say started as a recession. Although the economy began to decline in the middle of 1929 and continued to fall until the first few months of 1933, Black Tuesday, (October 29, 1929) was the day the stock market crashed and what many people affiliate to the beginning of the Great Depression. Stock prices plummeted, and since many banks had also invested large portions of their clients' savings in the stock market, they were forced to close when the stock market crashed. People saw banks closing which caused another panic across the country because people where afraid they would lose their own savings, so they rushed to banks that were still open to withdraw...
Words: 1889 - Pages: 8
...The Great Depression was an economic slump in North America, Europe, and other industrialized areas of the world that began in 1929 and lasted until about 1939. It was the longest and most severe depression ever experienced by the industrialized Western world. Though the U.S. economy had gone into depression six months earlier, the Great Depression may be said to have begun with a catastrophic collapse of stock-market prices on the New York Stock Exchange in October 1929. During the next three years stock prices in the United States continued to fall, until by late 1932 they had dropped to only about 20 percent of their value in 1929. Besides ruining many thousands of individual investors, this precipitous decline in the value of assets greatly strained banks and other financial institutions, particularly those holding stocks in their portfolios. Many banks were consequently forced into insolvency; by 1933, 11,000 of the United States' 25,000 banks had failed. The failure of so many banks, combined with a general and nationwide loss of confidence in the economy, led to much-reduced levels of spending and demand and hence of production, thus aggravating the downward spiral. The result was drastically falling output and drastically rising unemployment; by 1932, U.S. manufacturing output had fallen to 54 percent of its 1929 level, and unemployment had risen to between 12 and 15 million workers, or 25-30 percent of the work force. The Great Depression began in the United States...
Words: 3517 - Pages: 15
...May 2014 The Works Progress Administration: How Federalism Enabled Social Reform Through Art Franklin D. Roosevelt once said, “The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.” The Works Progress Administration, established by Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1935, aimed to provide an opportunity for both people and the American economy during a time of great struggle within the United States. What made the Works Progress Administration significant in United States history was the fact that it unintentionally stimulated social reform and progress within American society, even though its main purpose was to create jobs for artists and stimulate economic growth. An analysis of artwork from the Works Progress Administration, reveals that, through the United States’ involvement of creating jobs for artists, social, racial and gender barriers were disseminated, which allowed for progress in American society both economically and socially. After being elected into the presidency in 1932, Franklin Delano Roosevelt delivered his New Deal to the American people, which addressed the devastating effects of the Great Depression. A number of bills were passed as part of the New Deal that was meant to alleviate the poverty rate, reduce unemployment, and stimulate economic recovery. Historians consider the Works Progress Administration to be one of the New Deal’s major work relief programs...
Words: 2352 - Pages: 10
...Analyzing the Causes and Solutions of The Great Depression The Great Depression was a disastrous time for not only Americans but for many people across the entire world. The depression was felt in a great deal of places, from both North America, South America, all the way to Europe, and even Japan. From cotton farmers, commonly known as “Okies”, to bankers in the big city, everyone felt the impact from the depression (Smiley, 2008, p.1). Although economists argue the main causes of the Great Depression, there were many different contributing factors that led to the worst financial crisis in America’s history. As the depression wore on many politicians and economists attempted to solve the problems facing Americans. It is important to remember what had caused the Great Depression as well as what brought the country back. A look into our past can possibly help to prevent future disaster facing our economy. The most commonly known factor leading to the Great Depression was the crash of the United States stock market. Although the stock market crash of 1929 is seen as the starting point of the Great depression, there were a number of causes beforehand that lead to the event that is now known as Black Thursday. The 1920’s had experienced a tremendous surge in stock prices. The Federal Reserve could not justify these prices by future earnings and in 1928 the Federal Reserve raised interest rates in order to slow rising stock prices (Pells, 2012, p.4). These higher interest...
Words: 2695 - Pages: 11
...therefore the most significant of the short term effects of the New Deal was FDR’s implementation of radical legislative reforms. It led to a number of positive economic and social changes in a very short space of time, which contrasted greatly with the inaction of the previous Hoover regime. This opinion is supported by well-known New Deal historian Anthony Badger, who stated that "When Roosevelt took power on March 4, 1933; many influential Americans doubted the capacity of a democratic government to act decisively enough to save the country".The creation of public work schemes and relief programmes provided Americans with improved social stability giving them the confidence to support their government’s initiatives, thus enabling Roosevelt to restore elements of the pre-depression economy. Agriculture was also supported to create more jobs and allow business to grow again as opposed to declining as it had during the depression. These changes were all reinforced by the modernisation policies brought in by Roosevelt in the ‘100 days’. Page 1 Word Count: 291 Page 1 Word Count: 291 This cartoon was published in 1933 by the Pittsburgh Press by Harold Talburt. The use of this cartoon of Uncle Sam ‘holding all the Aces’ shows how the new policies of Roosevelt were supported by the electorate, while also showing the confidence the American people had in his leadership in the period of the New Deal. The reliability of this source may not appear to be high due to the satirical nature of...
Words: 2449 - Pages: 10
...The Great Depression The Great Depression was an extremely severe worldwide economic downturn that left many homeless and even more jobless. The depression originated in the U.S., but affected many countries throughout the world. The time period of The Great Depression varied depending on the country, but first began in the late 1920’s. It ended in the late 1930’s or early 1940’s when the Second World War began. It devastated virtually everyone, rich and poor, people of all occupations. The term was first coined by British economist Lionel Robbins who wrote a book in 1934 called “The Great Depression” but popularized by President Herbert Hoover in a statement: “I need not recount to you that the world is passing through a great depression.” The cause of The Great Depression is still an open debate amongst economists and historians. Theorists can be split into two major categories: classical economists and Keynesian economists. When classical economists theorize The Great Depression, they focus on how central banking decisions lead to overinvestment and an economic bubble, or on the supply of gold which backed many currencies at that time. Keynesian economists, on the other hand, blame underconsumption and overinvestment or government and banking incompetence. Many agreed that the main event which spurred The Great Depression was the crash of the stock market in 1929. Known to most as Black Tuesday: the most famous stock market downturn in American history, October 29, 1929...
Words: 2667 - Pages: 11
...Running head: PROGRESSIVE ERA THROUGH THE GREAT 1 Progressive Era Through the Great Depression Zarick L. Robinson Contemporary U.S. History – II Professor Patrick Peacock Strayer University August 1, 2013 PROGRESSIVE ERA THROUGH THE GREAT DEPRESSION 2 The progressive era in America describes a broadly based reform movement that reached its height early in the 20th century. In the decades following the Civil War, rapid industrialization transformed the United States. A national rail system was completed; agriculture was mechanized; the factory system spread; and cities grew rapidly in size and number. The progressive movement arose as a response to the vast changes brought about by industrialization. Two major turning points during this period was reform at the state level and of course the national level. At the state level, reformers turned to state politics, where progressivism reached its fullest expression. A model of progressive reform was Robert La Follette’s term as governor of Wisconsin. He won from the legislature an anti-lobbying law directed at large corporations, a state banking control measure, and a direct primary law. Taxes on corporations were raised, a railroad commission was created to set rates, and a conservative commission was set-up. In state after state, progressives advocated a wide range of political, economic, and social reforms. They...
Words: 2852 - Pages: 12
