The Great Depression was caused by more than the infamous stock market crash of 1929. The monetary society had become too lax with giving credit. Banks were lending money that they did not have. As people lost faith in the economy, they reduced their unnecessary spending. This lead to a chain reaction of stores and factories laying off employees because of a lack of demand of their products. These layoffs led to more people with less money who would certainly not buy any unnecessary products; they could barley afford necessities. This in turn led to more layoffs, pay

However, possibly the hardest hit were those the least responsible: the farmers. Many had bought their land and even farming equipment, on credit. Prices of crops were down, but railroad freight prices and local taxes were up (Romasco 97). Frantically trying to keep their heads above water in this whirlpool of economic destruction, farmers took action. Desperate to drive the prices of their crops up, farmers would dump milk on the highway. They slaughtered their pigs and then buried them because it was cheaper than selling them. The farmers burned corn in their fireplaces instead of selling it for coal. They let their fruit rot on the trees; the farmers were willing to take any steps available to them to lessen the supply and therefore increase the prices. All the while, many children in the cities grew thin with rickets (Burg 65). When the dust storms hit the Midwest it was the last straw. Many farmers gave up and went west looking for work in California, “the land of milk and honey” (Watkins 56).

cuts, reduces hours, and the like. These layoffs continued to perpetuate the continuing downward spiral of consumers buying less and less, and companies laying off workers (Unger 724). The unemployment rate eventually reached an unprecedented 25% (Watkins 55). The Unites States of America’s economic problems were so crippling that many of the factory workers who came over from Europe went back home. There was worldwide recession, but America was hit hardest. Everyone was effected.

“Clearly, the economy- agricultural, industrial, and financial- evinced not simply crisis but disaster of unprecedented magnitude” (Burg 65). This was the worst of the worst in America. We have, however, risen above this time of hardship, and good things have come from it. Without the Great Depression there may have never been a minimum wage, S

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