Great Depression Dbq

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The great depression lasted from 1929-1939. In 1929 the stock market had crashed and the continuous drop of economics had further ensured the beginning of the depression.Over the next several years 4 million americans couldn’t find jobs in 1930 and by 1931 it had rose to 6 million while the country’s industrial production had dropped by half.If you were the lucky few who kept their jobs wages would be decreased immensely.With the lack of jobs, Soup kitchens, breadlines, and homeless people became more common.Farmers couldn’t even afford to harvest their crops so they left them rotting out in the field, and someone else starving. Many banks were failing, and despite the Hoover administration’s attempts many banks had to close or fire even more workers. (History.com staff, 2009, Great Depression).
Everything was expensive, and with low wages it wasn’t going to get easier. By 1933 the unemployment rate had increased to an …show more content…

In 1937-1938 the United States suffered another severe downturn, taking a step back from production, but after the mid 1938 American economy grew even more rapidly than in the 1930s. The output of America finally returned to its normal trend path in 1942. (Richard H. Pells and Christina D. Romer, 2018, Great Depression) Though the economy began improving again in 1938, this second severe contraction reversed many of the gains in production and employment and prolonged the effects of the Great Depression through the end of the depression. The Depression hardships had fueled the rise of extreme political movements in various European countries. German aggression led war to break out in Europe in 1939, and the WPA turned its attention to strengthening the military infrastructure of the United States, even as the country maintained its

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