Type a new keyword(s) and press Enter to search

The Great Depression

 

            The Great Depression of the 1930s was a result of many economic changes in America. The end of World War I came in 1919. Throughout the war, federal spending grew three times larger than tax collections. In 1920, the government cut back on expenses to balance their budget. This caused decreased business activity and extremely high unemployment rates throughout the 1920s. This period of time was known as the recession. In 1929, the stock market crashed in the United States. Thousands of investors lost large sums of money and many people lost everything. This crash led us into The Great Depression. Banks, stores, and factories closed leaving millions of Americans without a job. Unemployment rates reached record highs. The height of the depression was in 1932, when the number of unemployed Americans reached approximately 12.1 million. Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected president in 1932 and presented the New Deal to America. The New Deal gave the government more power and helped to ease the depression. The Great Depression ended as nations around the world increased production of war materials for World War II. This provided jobs and put large sums of money back into circulation. The main problem that caused The Great Depression was unemployment. This unemployment created an unequal distribution of wealth. The lower to middle class of America suffered because they could not find jobs, and the upper class suffered because the lower and middle class could not afford to buy their products. The Great Depression has greatly impacted the American society. It has lead us to realize that unemployment can cause a severe chain reaction in our economy. Since the depression, Americans have been very cautious of the economy. When the stock market took a plunge after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the government rebounded very quickly to keep us out of another depression. The economy has changed drastically since The Great Depression.


Essays Related to The Great Depression