Great Depression Dbq

Although the 1920’s were booming and prosperous, the United States soon entered a prolonged economic depression. In October of 1929, prices in the stock market began an uneven downward slide (Document 2). As investors decided that the previous boom in the stock market was over, they sold more stock, thus causing the declination to increase even further. Many citizens of the United States were greatly affected by this. Families who had invested in stock lost most, if not all, or their life savings.

Many Americans lost all their money to the stock market when it crashed in 1929. Americans looked to President Hoover to end the depression. Most of Hoover’s policies were not likely to end the Great Depression. For example, President Hoover believed if the government could save business’ like banks, railroads, insurance, etc. that it would stop business collapse.

Imagine waking up on what seems to be a normal day. Just to find out that stock markets have crashed and all of your hard earned money is gone! Well, it happened. Thursday October 24, 1929 the Great Depression had begun. People lost nearly everything, lost jobs, lost the ability to do what they want when they want, and had to make major cutbacks.

Throughout the years to come, investments and consumer spending would crumble, creating a huge drop in industrial output and large numbers of unemployed workers due to the results of failing companies. As of 1933 the Great Depression hit an all-time low, 13 to 15 million Americans were unemployed and now half of the Nation’s banks had failed. With President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s policies and new deal programs, he aimed to end the Great Depression. Even though the economy would not make a full turn around until after 1939, President Roosevelt concentrated on immediate relief as well as long term, and restoring hope back into the economy.

“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself” proclaimed a hopeful President FDR as he took the stage of the first inaugural address. Once the Great Depression gained momentum Americans lost hope that the country would return to prosperity. FDR’s public image of assurance and strength gave Americans much needed confidence that the Depression could be overcome. The conditions at the onset of the Great Depression caused a series of issues affecting the United States on both a domestic and worldwide scale. The Great Depression began with the Stock Market Crash of 1929.

When the stock market crashed, wealthy people had all their saved money wiped. People couldn’t really take loans out because they were in debt owing money to the bank. After banks shut down, then local stores, factories, and restaurants all shut down. This then escalated into unemployment. Over 600% of citizens were unemployed and had no income.

During the Great Depression, the U.S. was facing a plethora of problems. The economy collapsed and a huge portion of the money was among a very small number of very wealthy individuals. Common people and workers resorted to living in villages called Hoovervilles where the houses were made up of whatever could be salvaged. Before the Great Depression began people took out loans carelessly without money to back it up; people were paid too little and goods cost too much. The result of a larger amount of goods were produced than sold eventually lead to an economic downfall.

New Deal The Great Depression began soon after the stock market crashed. As a result, the people lost their jobs, banks failed, and companies went bankrupt. One long term cause of the Great Depression was when people put their money in banks and when they went back to get It, It was not there because the banks had no money because they loaned it out to big companies and then the big companies were not making money so they could not pay the banks back. The second long term cause was when they had to shut down the railroad tracks because It was replaced by busses and cars.

In 1832, he shared these ideas in his Annual Message to Congress. His first point was the “continuing reduction of all government expenditures, whether national, state, or local” was essential to repairing the economy (Hoover). Hoover states the importance of this step by saying, “That is the first necessity of national stability and is the foundation of further recovery. It must be balanced in an absolutely safe and sure manner if full confidence is to be inspired” (Hoover). He acknowledges that the only way to move forward in recovery is through the stabilization of the nation.

Hoover tried to make policies for his citizens but those policies just made everything worse than it already was. Hoover gave out more taxes, and while he was trying to stimulate the economy, the unemployment rates continued to rise and the country fell deeper into debt. Hoover didn’t do much during this period to help people out, Wikipedia Contributors. “Herbert Hoover.”, states, “The causes of the Great Depression remain a matter of debate, but Hoover viewed a lack of confidence in the financial system as the fundamental economic problem facing the nation.”

The wealth during the 1920s left Americans unprepared for the economic depression they would face in the 1930s. The Great Depression occurred because of overproduction by farmers and factories, consumption of goods decreased, uneven distribution of wealth, and overexpansion of credit. Hoover was president when the depression first began, and he maintained the government’s laissez-faire attitude in the economy. However, after the election of FDR in 1932, his many alphabet soup programs in his first one hundred days in office addressed the nation’s need for change.

 Hoover is often blamed for not doing anything to end the Great Depression, but he actually did try to use the government to create infrastructure projects, thus creating jobs. Like the Hoover Dam and the Reconstruction Finance Corporation to try to end the Depression. There are two major differences between their approaches.  One is that President Roosevelt was willing to do more than President Hoover to combat the Great Depression.  Roosevelt was willing to let the government become more involved in the economy.

In the early 1930s the labor force in countries that were industrialized saw as much as one forth of its workers unable to find work. Conditions were starting to improve by the mid 1930s, however total recovery did not happen until the end of that decade. This was a very difficult time in United States history and around the world, but it could be said that something good came out of it, central banks throughout the world now try to thwart or moderate recessions. It is unclear whether a change like this would have occurred if not for the

Roosevelt’s idea was almost the exact opposite he believed that it should be the government's responsibility to get the people out of this crisis. Today we are still reaping the benefits of Roosevelt's new deal such as social security act, National Youth Administration and many more that helped us get out of the deepest depression this country has ever

If you got lucky and did not get fired the wages fell and the buying power increased. The americans that were forced to buy on credit fell into debt,and the numbers of repossessions and foreclosures increased steadily. The gold standard fixed currency exchanged around the world, and helped spread economic distress from the U.S. through the world.7When the country elected Franklin D. Roosevelt he promised he would create federal government programs to end the Great Depression.8 The federal government programs allowed people to get more jobs and help the economy increase. Roosevelt was a big influence during this time period and impacted many people, giving jobs to citizens and boosting the economy. After Franklin Roosevelt created the federal government programs it allowed the economy and society to grow and strength from the unlucky situation.