Papers On The Great Depression
Tucker Hickman
Ms. DeGreef
English IV
10 March 2017 The Great Depression The Great Depression (1929-1939) was the deepest and longest-lasting economic downfall in the history of the Western industrial world. In the United States, the Great Depression began soon after the stock market crash of October 1929, which sent Wall Street into a panic and wiped out millions of vital investors. Over the next several years, consumer spending and investment dropped, causing steep economic declines in industrial production output and rising levels of unemployment as failing companies laid off workers. By 1933, when the Great Depression reached its peak, some 13 to 15 million Americans were unemployed and nearly half of the country’s banks had collapsed. …show more content…
At the same time, stock prices continued to rise, and by the fall of that year had reached levels that could not be justified by anticipated future earnings. On October 24, 1929, the stock market finally crashed, as investors began dumping all of their shares. A record 12.9 million shares were traded on that day, known as “Black Thursday.” Five days later, on “Black Tuesday” some 16 million shares were traded after another wave of panic swept Wall Street. Millions of shares ended up worthless, and those investors who had purchased stocks “on margin” (with borrowed money) were wiped out altogether (History.com …show more content…
During the exact same years that farmers were being told to actually take land out of production, which would remove most tenants and sharecroppers, the farm production was drastically reduced down due to severe water shortages that hit the Great Plains states. Intense winds and dust storms that ravaged the southern Great Plains was also common during these times. Now known as the "Dust Bowl," throughout the 193Os, but particularly from 1935 to 1938 The damages were enormous people and their animals were hurt, crops were obliterated, cars and machinery were rendered useless. Around 800,000 people; often called "Okies," left Arkansas, Texas, Missouri and Oklahoma during the 1930s and 1940s Most of these travelers headed for the west coast to California, the great land of promise and wonders. The migrants were not only farmers, but professionals as well, retailers and others whose lives were also affect and connected to the health and wellbeing of the farming operations. California did not live up to their expectations, however, as conditions in the “promise” state were just as bad if not worse as those in the original origin from which many of the migrants had tried to flee from. Pretty much every migrant was fighting for low paying seasonal jobs, such as picking field crops (John
Ms. DeGreef
English IV
10 March 2017 The Great Depression The Great Depression (1929-1939) was the deepest and longest-lasting economic downfall in the history of the Western industrial world. In the United States, the Great Depression began soon after the stock market crash of October 1929, which sent Wall Street into a panic and wiped out millions of vital investors. Over the next several years, consumer spending and investment dropped, causing steep economic declines in industrial production output and rising levels of unemployment as failing companies laid off workers. By 1933, when the Great Depression reached its peak, some 13 to 15 million Americans were unemployed and nearly half of the country’s banks had collapsed. …show more content…
At the same time, stock prices continued to rise, and by the fall of that year had reached levels that could not be justified by anticipated future earnings. On October 24, 1929, the stock market finally crashed, as investors began dumping all of their shares. A record 12.9 million shares were traded on that day, known as “Black Thursday.” Five days later, on “Black Tuesday” some 16 million shares were traded after another wave of panic swept Wall Street. Millions of shares ended up worthless, and those investors who had purchased stocks “on margin” (with borrowed money) were wiped out altogether (History.com …show more content…
During the exact same years that farmers were being told to actually take land out of production, which would remove most tenants and sharecroppers, the farm production was drastically reduced down due to severe water shortages that hit the Great Plains states. Intense winds and dust storms that ravaged the southern Great Plains was also common during these times. Now known as the "Dust Bowl," throughout the 193Os, but particularly from 1935 to 1938 The damages were enormous people and their animals were hurt, crops were obliterated, cars and machinery were rendered useless. Around 800,000 people; often called "Okies," left Arkansas, Texas, Missouri and Oklahoma during the 1930s and 1940s Most of these travelers headed for the west coast to California, the great land of promise and wonders. The migrants were not only farmers, but professionals as well, retailers and others whose lives were also affect and connected to the health and wellbeing of the farming operations. California did not live up to their expectations, however, as conditions in the “promise” state were just as bad if not worse as those in the original origin from which many of the migrants had tried to flee from. Pretty much every migrant was fighting for low paying seasonal jobs, such as picking field crops (John