The Causes of the Great Depression

Imagine a society where over 25% of the population was unemployed. That is what it reached during The Great Depression (“The Great Depression”). During the depression unemployment rates were the highest they have ever been. It is highly speculated to this day on what exactly caused The Great Depression. Most historians agree it was a chain of events, one after another, that brought our country into chaos. Some events were more impactful than others. These events caused pandemonium among the public, which blew it even more out of proportion by trying to save themselves from bankruptcy. The three major events that caused The Great Depression were the Stock Market Crash of 1929, the bank crisis, and public overreaction.

Numerous factors caused the Great Depression in the United States from 1929 to 1945. One of these was stock market speculation. People began to buy stocks with money loaned from banks, and used these stocks as collateral to buy more stock. The stock market began to increase rapidly on false hopefulness and borrowed money. Due to this, the stock market was uneasy and many began to lose confidence in it. Those with stocks tried to sell them, and no one was willing to buy. This ultimately led to the downfall of the ...

October 29th, 1929 marked the beginning of the Great Depression, a depression that forever changed the United States of America. The Stock Market collapse was unavoidable considering the lavish life style of the 1920’s. Some of the ominous signs leading up to the crash was that there was a high unemployment rate, automobile sales were down, and many farms were failing. Consumerism played a key role in the Stock Market Crash of 1929 because Americans speculated on the stocks hoping they would grow in their favor. They would invest in these stocks at a low rate which gave them a false sense of wealth causing them to invest in even more stocks at the same low rate. When they purchased these stocks at this low rate they never made enough money to pay it all back, therefore contributing to the crash of 1929. Also contributing to the crash was the over production of consumer goods. When companies began to mass produce goods they did not not need as many workers so they fired them. Even though there was an abundance of goods mass produced and at a cheap price because of that, so many people now had no jobs so the goods were not being purchased. Even though, from 1920 to 1929, consumerism and overproduction partially caused the Great Depression, the unequal distribution of wealth and income was the most significant catalyst.

The Great Depression was an economic problem in North America, Europe, and other industrialized countries around the world that began in 1929 and lasted until 1939. It was the longest and most stressing depression ever. The U.S. economy had gone into a depression six months earlier, but the Great Depression had begun with a breakdown of stock-market prices on the New York Stock Exchange in October 1929. The next three years stock prices in the United States had continued to drop, until 1932 it had dropped to about 20% of its value. Other than messing up thousands of individual investors, the decline in the value of good banks and other financial facilities went bad. Many banks were constantly forced to hide their debts, and that’s why by 1933, 11,000 of the United States 25,000 banks had failed. The failure of so many banks was because of the lack of confidence the economy had, which had led to too much reduced of spending and demanding money. This was constantly dropping, and unemployment began rising. By 1932, U.S. manufacturing had dropped to 54% of its money, and unemployment had gone up to between 12 and 15 million workers. The Great Depression began in the United States, but then had turned into a worldwide economic problem.

The Great Depression caused the prosperous American economy of the 1920s to dwindle. This was caused by a chain of events. The Depression began with the Stock Market crash in 1929, in which stock...

The definite cause of the Great Depression is not only the simple Wall Street crash, but there are numerous other factors like the decline in foreign trade, the overproduction of goods as well as the uneven distribution of wealth during the 1920s. Consequently, attempts to discover ways out of this global catastrophe were the source of a great deal of discussions and disagreements for much of the depression period.

The Great Depression began in October 1929, when the stock market in the United States dropped rapidly. Thousands of investors lost all of their of money and were forced to live on the streets often going without food. This crash led into the Great Depression. The ensuing period of 10 years ranked as the worst period of high unemployment and low business activity in modern times. Banks, stores, and factories were closed and left millions of Americans jobless, homeless, and without food. Many people came to depend on the government or charity to provide them with food. The Depression became a worldwide business slump of the 1930's that affected almost all nations. It led to a sharp decline in world trade as each country tried to protect their own industries. The Depression led to political turmoil in many countries such as Germany where poor economic conditions helped lead to the rise of Hitler. Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected President in 1932 and his 'new deal' reforms gave the government more power and helped slow the depression. The Great Depression ended as nations increased their production of war materials at the start of World War II. This increased production provided jobs and put large amounts of money back into circulation. Several factors led to the great depression. One being the lack of diversification in the American economy. The prosperity of America had been basically dependent on a few industries like construction and the automobile and in the late 20's these industr...

The most major cause that led to the Great Depression was the Stock Market Crash of 1929. Most Americans, however, also remember it as Black Tuesday, when the stock market crashed. That day, the stock market dropped violently, losing most of its value. The Dow Jones Industrial average fell by 13%. In less than eight weeks, the market lost a total of 40% of its value. Then after three years, the Dow Jones Industrial lost 89% of its value. Stock holders lost 10 billion dollars and New York Stock Exchange lost 5 billion dollars after Black Tuesday. Unfortunately, Black Tuesday was only the beginning, and it had already impacted the economy very heavily. Soon, there was more to lose.

Great Depression was one of the most severe economic situation the world had ever seen. It all started during late 1929 and lasted till 1939. Although, the origin of depression was United Sattes but with US Economy being highly correlated with global economy, the ill efffects were seen in the whole world with high unemployment, low production and deflation. Overall it was the most severe depression ever faced by western industrialized world. Stock Market Crashes, Bank Failures and a lot more, left the governments ineffective and this lead the global economy to what we call today- ‘’Great Depression’’.(Rockoff). As for the cause and what lead to Great Depression, the issue is still in debate among eminent economists, but the crux provides evidence that the worst ever depression ever expereinced by Global Economy stemed from multiple causes which are as follows:

The Great Depression is a defining moment in time for not only American, but world history. This was a time that caused political, economical, and social unrest. Not only did the Great Depression cause a world wide panic, it also caused a world wide crisis unlike any before it. This paper will analyze both the causes and the effects of the Great Depression in the United States of America.