What Caused The Great Depression
The Great Depression was the worst economic crisis in US history. The Great Depression began in 1929, and lasted until 1939. That was certainly a tough 10 years for the citizens living in the United States during that time. “By 1933, the unemployment rate had climbed from 3% to 25%. By 1932, over 13 million Americans had lost their jobs.” The great depression caused many hardships for millions of Americans. There were multiple events that sparked the great depression, but the most notable would be the stock market crash of 1929. The stock market crash of 1929, or black Tuesday, was caused by a huge drop in the stock market. The stocks were worth far less than they were valued at. “The stock market lost over 16 million shares in a single day.”
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Many banks were giving out loans to people who couldn’t afford to pay them back. When people saw the stock market beginning to crash, many of them went to the banks to withdraw their money. To their surprise, the banks had no money to give them. This left many people in a very difficult situation. “By 1933, nearly half of America’s banks had failed, and unemployment was approaching 15 million people, or 30 percent of the workforce.” (History.com)
To make matters worse, the US was also going through one of the worst droughts in its history. This was called the “Dust bowl”. This made farming nearly impossible; which caused shortages of food. The prices price of goods went up, without the finances to back it up. People barely had enough money to keep their families alive.
The great depression was eventually recovered from. Surprisingly, WWII is the leading cause of the recovery from the great depression. Production of goods increased dramatically, and employment rates began rising again. With many of the men fighting in the war, many opportunities opened up for women and minorities. With the war coming to a conclusion, this opened up the opportunity for new policies to be put in place in order to further relieve the economic
Many banks were giving out loans to people who couldn’t afford to pay them back. When people saw the stock market beginning to crash, many of them went to the banks to withdraw their money. To their surprise, the banks had no money to give them. This left many people in a very difficult situation. “By 1933, nearly half of America’s banks had failed, and unemployment was approaching 15 million people, or 30 percent of the workforce.” (History.com)
To make matters worse, the US was also going through one of the worst droughts in its history. This was called the “Dust bowl”. This made farming nearly impossible; which caused shortages of food. The prices price of goods went up, without the finances to back it up. People barely had enough money to keep their families alive.
The great depression was eventually recovered from. Surprisingly, WWII is the leading cause of the recovery from the great depression. Production of goods increased dramatically, and employment rates began rising again. With many of the men fighting in the war, many opportunities opened up for women and minorities. With the war coming to a conclusion, this opened up the opportunity for new policies to be put in place in order to further relieve the economic