Great Depression Causes
Causes of The Great Depression
By
anon
HIS 112-003
Imagine witnessing the faces of pitiful starving young children, frantic men and women lining up in front of closed banks that held their life savings, and/or the homeless living in cardboard shantytowns. Unfortunately, these were just a fraction of some of the horrific sights of everyday life during the Great Depression. For most people, it was a very harsh time that was filled with despair, starvation, suicide, and suffering.1 A boy living in this era describes it well, “For a whole week one time we didn‟t have anything to eat but potatoes. Another time my brother went around to grocery stores and got them to give meat for his dog-only he didn‟t have a dog. We ate that dog …show more content…
I went to school hungry and came home to a house where there wasn‟t any fire.”2 This was a common scenario that was played out in many homes across the nation.
For the United States, it was one of the worst economic collapses of its time.3 It began soon after the stock market crash of October 1929, which sent Wall Street into a panic and wiped out millions of investors.4 Many people were out of work and poverty became the norm after a decade of prosperity and good times. There were many contributing causes to this catastrophe, which included the stock market crash, reduction in purchasing after years of mass consumption, bank failures, the economic policy of the United States with the rest of the world, and the severe drought. Even though Franklin Roosevelt initiated many new programs in his New Deal such as the Civilian Conservation Corps and Works Progress Administration, these only served to alleviate some of the problems but not end the depression.
1
Ronald Reis, The Great Depression and The New Deal (New York: Chelsea House, 2011), 7.
Quoted in Studs Terkel, Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression. (New York: …show more content…
It took another war to accomplish that feat.
10
Bibliography
Farrell, Jacqueline. The Great Depression. San Diego: Lucent Books, 1996. This book gave a good description of what life was like during this time using both primary and secondary sources.
Gill, Kathy. “What Caused The Great Depression?” About.com US Politics, http://uspolitics.abour.com/od/economy/tp/what_caused_great_depression.htm?p=1 (Accessed 29 March 2012). This Internet article gave a brief summary of the Great
Depression, its causes and effects.
McElvaine, Robert. The Depression and New Deal. New York: Oxford University Press,
2000. This book contained a collection of primary documents that told the history of the Great Depression and the effectiveness of the New Deal.
Nishi, Dennis. Life During the Great Depression. San Diego: Lucent Books, 1998. This author describes life for people living in the cities and rural area during the depression using primary sources that included speeches, songs, interviews, and pictures. . “1028 Economists Ask Hoover To Veto Pending Tariff Bill,” New York Times, 5 May
1930,
By
anon
HIS 112-003
Imagine witnessing the faces of pitiful starving young children, frantic men and women lining up in front of closed banks that held their life savings, and/or the homeless living in cardboard shantytowns. Unfortunately, these were just a fraction of some of the horrific sights of everyday life during the Great Depression. For most people, it was a very harsh time that was filled with despair, starvation, suicide, and suffering.1 A boy living in this era describes it well, “For a whole week one time we didn‟t have anything to eat but potatoes. Another time my brother went around to grocery stores and got them to give meat for his dog-only he didn‟t have a dog. We ate that dog …show more content…
I went to school hungry and came home to a house where there wasn‟t any fire.”2 This was a common scenario that was played out in many homes across the nation.
For the United States, it was one of the worst economic collapses of its time.3 It began soon after the stock market crash of October 1929, which sent Wall Street into a panic and wiped out millions of investors.4 Many people were out of work and poverty became the norm after a decade of prosperity and good times. There were many contributing causes to this catastrophe, which included the stock market crash, reduction in purchasing after years of mass consumption, bank failures, the economic policy of the United States with the rest of the world, and the severe drought. Even though Franklin Roosevelt initiated many new programs in his New Deal such as the Civilian Conservation Corps and Works Progress Administration, these only served to alleviate some of the problems but not end the depression.
1
Ronald Reis, The Great Depression and The New Deal (New York: Chelsea House, 2011), 7.
Quoted in Studs Terkel, Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression. (New York: …show more content…
It took another war to accomplish that feat.
10
Bibliography
Farrell, Jacqueline. The Great Depression. San Diego: Lucent Books, 1996. This book gave a good description of what life was like during this time using both primary and secondary sources.
Gill, Kathy. “What Caused The Great Depression?” About.com US Politics, http://uspolitics.abour.com/od/economy/tp/what_caused_great_depression.htm?p=1 (Accessed 29 March 2012). This Internet article gave a brief summary of the Great
Depression, its causes and effects.
McElvaine, Robert. The Depression and New Deal. New York: Oxford University Press,
2000. This book contained a collection of primary documents that told the history of the Great Depression and the effectiveness of the New Deal.
Nishi, Dennis. Life During the Great Depression. San Diego: Lucent Books, 1998. This author describes life for people living in the cities and rural area during the depression using primary sources that included speeches, songs, interviews, and pictures. . “1028 Economists Ask Hoover To Veto Pending Tariff Bill,” New York Times, 5 May
1930,