The Great Depression

1188 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Government role in the economy

World War I and the Roaring 20s brought in an entire new culture and environment for the United States to adjust to; hemlines were shorter, social equity was being challenged, industries were booming, and Germany was indebted to the new and highly influential U.S. power. However, the aftermath of the war and underlying problems in a shadowed economy soon brought the economy to one of the worst depressions in history, and none other the Great Depression.
After World War I, the United States substantially kept an anchor in both Europe due to the substantial amount of loans Europe still needed to pay off; these loans and war (approximately $11 billion according from America: Connecting With the Past) bonds ultimately was the source of how they could even fund the war. This business helped exert the power and influence the U.S. had over the outcome of the war.
Also, the United States kept a foot in the door with Latin America; they did this by keeping soldiers based in the area since Latin America still owed money to the U.S. They also began building railroads and other transportation areas to increase their power while weakening the connectivity of any armed forces from Latin America. Thus, the U.S. reaped from this benefit by taking advantage of the resources they have. Of course, this brought one of the most popular supplies over to America: Sugar.
In addition to growing internationally, they also grew domestically. Similar to Latin America, the United States branched out the reach of their transportation systems. This branch caused a domino effect: Road construction led to the creation of suburban housing which led to the rising demand of cars. More roads also helped increase the efficiency of transporting resources across t...

... middle of paper ...

...xing this situation. Basically, there were far many issues that the United States could not correct in time. The policies Hoover implemented seemed to prolong the depression instead of prevent it; this may also be because government was less involving and more laissez-faire in fixing the economy. The economy was not set up to recover from a depression. However, the policies that Roosevelt would introduce in the future stepped the line of government intrusion, but these policies are what have heavily influenced the United States to be today.

Works Cited

Brinkley, Alan. American History: Connecting with the Past. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012. Print.
Kaufman, Bruce E. "Wage Theory, New Deal Labor Policy, And The Great Depression: Were Government And Unions To Blame?" Industrial & Labor Relations Review 65.3 (2012): 501-532. Business Source Premier. Web. 23 Feb. 2014.

Show More
Related

  • Roosevelt Vs Hoover Essay

    741 Words  | 2 Pages

    Historians claim that Hoovers term during the depression was filled with false promises and accuse the president of doing nothing while the depression worsened. Along with worsening the debt and a fairly aggressive use of government it is clear his approach towards the situation was not the best. FDR’s approach would prove during his administration to suffice in the augmentation of the crisis. Although it seemed like a completely opposite presidency, many ideas came from his predecessor. Roosevelt’s team of advisors understood that much of what they produced and fashioned into the New Deal owed its origins to Hoover’s policies.

    Read More

  • America’s Great War: World War I and the American Experience by Robert H. Zieger

    1764 Words  | 4 Pages

    After the election of 1920 America would return to its isolationism roots and watch as the nations of Europe headed down a path for another world war. As Americans watched Communism rise in Russia they questioned for the first time the patronage of their fellow Americans. Economic and social reforms that started up during the war were set to a status-quo mentality. The actions set forward from the Treaty of Versailles and stance the U.S. Congress took on the League of Nations would eventually lead the world in the worst depression ever and ultimately to a second world war in a mere twenty years.

    Read More

  • The New Deal Dbq Analysis

    740 Words  | 2 Pages

    In 1929, the stock market crashed, bringing great ruin to our country. The result, the Great Depression, was a time of hardship for everyone around the world. The economy in the US was lower than ever and people were suffering immensely. During these trying times, two presidents served- Herbert Hoover and Franklin Delano Roosevelt (F.D.R.) Both had different views on how the depression should be handled, with Hoover believing that the people could solve the issue themselves with no government involvement, and with F.D.R. believing that the government should work for their people in such difficult times.

    Read More

  • FDR's Response to the Great Depression

    1222 Words  | 3 Pages

    The stock market crash of 1929 set in motion a chain of events that would plunge the United States into a deep depression. The Great Depression of the 1930's spelled the end of an era of economic prosperity during the 1920's. Herbert Hoover was the unlucky president to preside over this economic downturn, and he bore the brunt of the blame for the depression. Hoover believed the root cause of the depression was international, and he therefore believed that restoring the gold standard would ultimately drag the United States out of depression by reviving international trade. Hoover initiated many new domestic works programs aimed at creating jobs, but it seemed to have no effect as the unemployment rate continued to rise. The Democrats nominated Franklin Roosevelt as their candidate for president in 1932 against the incumbent Hoover. Roosevelt was elected in a landslide victory in part due to his platform called "The New Deal". This campaign platform was never fully explained by Roosevelt prior to his election, but it appealed to the American people as something new and different from anything Hoover was doing to ameliorate the problem. The Roosevelt administration's response to the Great Depression served to remedy some of the temporary employment problems, while drastically changing the role of the government, but failed to return the American economy to the levels of prosperity enjoyed during the 1920's.

    Read More

  • Herbert Hoover, One of the Worst Presidents in American History

    892 Words  | 2 Pages

    In conclusion, Herbert Hoover tried every method he could think of to combat the Great Depression, unfortunately for him, he didn't know what the proper method was. This depression was unprecedented in American History, and Hoover tried to just let boom and bust run its course. He had some good ideas but they were too late in his term, he was too orthodox in his thinking, and he wasn't willing to try anything drastic. Herbert Hoover could have been a great president in a different era, but he just happened to be very unlucky with when he was elected. Hoover may end up being one of the worst presidents in history, but when you look at it closely, he was a victim of circumstance and environment.

    Read More

  • Review of "SInce Yesterday"

    784 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hoover is also vilified repeatedly for his inaction with the Depression. His personal policy and his party’s policy were designed to let the country find its own way, for if it became dependent on government aide, it would be a weaker nation that if it found it’s own way. This was a flawed assumption on their behalf though, because even in the 1920’s, there was a movement from many of the nation’s younger voters advocating change.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Franklin Roosevelt And Hoover's Inaugural Address

    708 Words  | 2 Pages

    He promises swift action to the problems the he and the nation face. The third issue was the impact of the Great Depression. Hoover’s focused on the recovery from World War I; however, the great depression clouded the nation during the rest his Presidency. Even though he, nor the rest of the nation could not foresee the depression, Hoover did indicate the failures of many institutions that could lead to the downfall of an economy recovering from war.

    Read More

  • 1920s: The Roaring Decade

    1722 Words  | 4 Pages

    World War I may not have made the world safe for democracy, but it did help to lay the groundwork for a decade of American economic expansion. The war began in Europe in 1914, and the United States entered the fray in 1917. The 1920s saw the growth of the culture of consumerism. A significant reason for United States involvement in the war was the nation’s economic links to the Allied Powers, and especially to Great Britain. American soldiers returned home in May 1919 with the promise of a prosperous decade (Baughman 197).

    Read More

  • Roosevelt and Hoover DBQ

    1437 Words  | 3 Pages

    The American people began to view Hoover’s ideas of the ideal small government as conservative, while Roosevelt’s progressive policies became the representation of liberalism. Therefore, it can be said that the Great Depression was a major contributing factor in changing the way in which Americans differentiated between liberalist and conservative beliefs. As a result of this shift in America’s perception of these policies, Roosevelt became a liberal in the eyes of the people, whereas Hoover gained the reputation of a conservative. However, these former presidents are noted for occasionally supporting similar policies. The Great Depression hit the United States while Hoover was serving his first and only term as president.

    Read More

  • The Great Depression and the New Deal

    986 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Great Depression was in no way the only depression the country has ever seen, but it was one of the worst economic downfalls in the United States. As for North America and the United States, the Great Depression was the worst it had ever seen. In addition to North America, the Depression greatly affected Europe and other various countries throughout the world significantly during the 1920’s and 1930’s. The Great Depression was caused by the collapse of the Stock Market, which happened in October of 1929. The crash exhausted about forty percent of the paper values of common stocks. It was the worst depression due to the fact that at the time of the Great Depression the government involvement in the economy was higher than it had ever been. A unique government agency had been set up exclusively to prevent depressions and their related troubles for instance bank panics. All of ...

    Read More

  • The Great Depression

    944 Words  | 2 Pages

    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:

    Read More

  • The Great Depression

    915 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Great Depression through World War II: Causes, Events, and Solutions

    2431 Words  | 5 Pages

    During the 1920's America experienced an increase like no other. With the Model T car, the assembly line, business skyrocketed. Thus, America's involvement in World War II did not begin with the attack on Pearl Harbor. Starting in October 1929, the Great Depression, the stock market crashed. It awed a country used to the excesses of the 1920's.

    Read More

  • The Great Depression

    1204 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Great Depression was a period, which seemed to go out of control. The crashing of the stock markets left most Canadians unemployed and in debt, prairie farmers suffered immensely with the inability to produce valuable crops, and the Canadian Government and World War II became influential factors in the ending of the Great Depression.

    Read More

  • Contrast Between The 1920's And The 1930's

    1940 Words  | 4 Pages

    The 1920s were known as carefree and relaxed. The decade after the war was one of improvement for many Americans. Industries were still standing in America; they were actually richer and more powerful than before World War I. So what was so different in the 1930’s? The Great Depression replaced those carefree years into ones of turmoil and despair.

    Read More

More about The Great Depression

Open Document