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THE GREAT DEPRESSION

 

             I lost all of it!" Many were saying just that in the afternoon of October 24, 1929 when the stock market crashed. The stock market crash was the one of the worst economical disasters in American history. There were many changes in American life due to the crash, such as an irreversible depression, new types of culture developing, and a new sense of pride in the presidency because of the New Deal. .
             The depression that occurred as a result of the stock market crashing sent the American and foreign governments, and their people into complete disarray. Governments tried in vain to sustain the value of their currency. In the end it did not succeed and the value of the dollar diminished rapidly. This caused dramatic inflation and the increased price of imports. Also exports from America dropped swiftly from 1929 to about 1938, and this increased the strain on the already damaged economy. Many banks went bankrupt because most of its investments were in the stock market, meaning that investors lost everything. The depression was felt around the world with many foreign nations holding stock in the U.S. markets. The industrial production in many countries dropped forty percent and fell fifty percent alone in the US. Those who took the worst hit were the third world countries that exported raw materials to the larger nations for manufacturing. People who worked part-time and full-time jobs were eventually laid off due to an enormous lose of income. As a result this put thirty percent of the American population into unemployment and eventually poverty. Some families who were law-abiding citizens ended up in a life of petty crime to keep from starvation. The government and charities tried to provide what they could for the American people, but nothing was enough to get America on its feet again quickly.
             New types of culture began forming as an affect of these events. To many of today's adults the twenties were known as roaring but that was only a small part of history.


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