The Great Depression: One Of The Worst Period In American History
The Roaring Twenties was one of the best periods in American history, with a burst in culture, fashion, music, and the economy. However, the end of the Roaring Twenties was the beginning of the worst period in American history. The United States was gaining its fortune at the end of World War I, when countries had to repay their debts to the United States. Investors and millionaires alike poured their money into the stock market, reaching its peak in August 1929. However, the economy was starting to slow down, and “[w]hen the economy began to slow in the summer of 1929, it sent signals to Wall Street that were disregarded by most investors, but heeded by many of the richest insiders. Among those who quietly got largely out of the market before
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The Great Depression had a legacy of being the worst economic event in the history of the industrialized world. After the stock market crash of 1929, spending and investment dropped between consumers and companies, causing declines in industrial output and employment as companies laid off workers. Fifty billion dollars were lost in the first two years of the depression (Elliot). To continue, “From 1930 to 1933 about 9,000 banks in the United States suspended operation and the money supply fell by one-third” (Great Depression). The United States market lost two-thirds of its value by 1933, and the number of banks fell thirty-five percent during that time period as well (Szostak). On an individual scale, the impacts were even more devastating. The average work week fell to 41.7 hours in comparison to 48. The unemployment rate peaked above twenty-five percent and “Industrial production was especially hard hit, falling some 50 percent” (Great Depression). “By comparison, industrial production had fallen 7 percent in the 1870s and 13 percent in the 1890s” (Szostak). The agricultural sector was one of the most hard-hit due to the Depression, as prices for agricultural prices had dropped to the lowest they had been since the Civil War. Drought was also a factor. Former millionaires stood on streets trying to sell apples for five
The Great Depression had a legacy of being the worst economic event in the history of the industrialized world. After the stock market crash of 1929, spending and investment dropped between consumers and companies, causing declines in industrial output and employment as companies laid off workers. Fifty billion dollars were lost in the first two years of the depression (Elliot). To continue, “From 1930 to 1933 about 9,000 banks in the United States suspended operation and the money supply fell by one-third” (Great Depression). The United States market lost two-thirds of its value by 1933, and the number of banks fell thirty-five percent during that time period as well (Szostak). On an individual scale, the impacts were even more devastating. The average work week fell to 41.7 hours in comparison to 48. The unemployment rate peaked above twenty-five percent and “Industrial production was especially hard hit, falling some 50 percent” (Great Depression). “By comparison, industrial production had fallen 7 percent in the 1870s and 13 percent in the 1890s” (Szostak). The agricultural sector was one of the most hard-hit due to the Depression, as prices for agricultural prices had dropped to the lowest they had been since the Civil War. Drought was also a factor. Former millionaires stood on streets trying to sell apples for five