The Great Depression Analysis

The Great Depression following the First World War was a universal devastation of every country it could possibly reach, whether it was directly or indirectly. The objects of our scrutiny Being so close in vicinity and having such similar downfalls, these countries are particularly interesting to watch to see what was more successful against the dilemma. Despite initial similarities in cause and implemented combatants to the economic fallout, the United States and Canada diversified and diverged from each other in the severity of approaches to the problem of the Great Depression – the United States leading to a fast-paced recovery with its direct and more radical risks that the country needed, and Canada flopping due to unwillingness to put
to progress with great similarity. The Dust Bowl was a period in the 1930s when the prairies of both the United States and Canada suffered environmental damage from intense dust storms caused by severe drought (“About the Dust Bowl”). The nutrient topsoil, that was essential for a successful harvest, was eroded away by the wind causing farmers to be unsuccessful in yielding a crop, in turn decreasing their incomes to nearly nothing (“The Dust Bowl”) Unable to make profit, farmers were faces with severe debt as they were incapable of paying off the money they were loaned to purchase seed and various machinery. With upwards of one hundred million acres of prairie now a wasteland, large numbers of farmers faced bankruptcy and the banks of rural communities declined (“The Dust Bowl”). Caroline Henderson, the wife of a prairie farmer wrote the following in a letter to a friend in Maryland regarding the devastating effects of the Dust Bowl: “With no more grass or even or even weeds on out 640 acres than on your kitchen floor, and even the scanty remnants of dried grasses from last year cut off and blown away…All hope of a wheat crop had been abandoned” (Henderson). The negative impact of the drought on agriculture resulted in a cease in crop production leaving farmers across both countries hopeless and poor as they were unable to yield and type of profit. Both countries experiences experienced a massive drop in money flow as well. Within the United States, decreased monetary circulation was caused by the halt of domestic purchases (“Causes of the Great Depression”). The halt in consumer demand caused a decrease in production and a decrease in the need for employees—unemployment soared as a result and spending decreased even further. Conversely, in Canada, decreased monetary circulation was caused by an over-dependence on profits from exports—international