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main causes and effects of the great depression
1929 wall street stock crash and their economic and social impact in USA
1929 wall street stock crash and their economic and social impact in USA
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From the ideas of isolationism of the 1930's, between 1940 and 1962, the United States went from a country that did not want anything to do with the rest of the world to a country that was involved all over the world. Isolationism was caused not by an unwillingness of the American people to help those in need, but by the thought process that it was more important to help ourselves. During the 1930's, the United States was in the midst of the "The Great Depression". The "Great Depression" began with the stock market collapse of 1929. Prior to the collapse, the United States had enjoyed a long economic boom in which individual wealth had blossomed. That all ended on October 29th 1929. Losses were unbelievable. By the end of 1929, two months after the initial crash, stockholders had lost 40 billion in paper values, or more than the cost of World War 1 to the United States. The stock market collapse heralded a business depression at home and abroad that lasted longer than anything we or the rest of the world had seen. No other industrialized nation suffered so severe a setback. By the end of 1930, there were more than 4 million workers who were jobless. By 1932, that number had risen to 12 million. Jobs were non- existent. Over five thousand banks collapsed in the first three years of the depression, carrying down with them the life savings of tens of thousands of ordinary citizens. Thousands of people lost their homes. Bread lines formed, soup kitchens dispensed food and apple sellers stood on street corners selling their wares for 5 cents. It was the economic system that had broken down, not individual initiative. Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected to the presidency in 1932. During his inaugural address, he declared that the gov... ... middle of paper ... ...rs the United States wanted to contain and then eradicate communism, today it is trying to contain and destroy terrorism. Today, the United States is the only major super power in the world and is asked for many things. From the use of our military to try to rid the world of terrorism, to providing million of dollars for Third World country AIDS research, to providing food for starving countries, to providing a new home for millions of immigrants, the United States is trying to do much for the world. We unfortunately have a most difficult time because other countries do not like our president or what he stands for. Whether that is true or not is open to debate. What is not open to debate is that the rest of the world looks to the United States in times of need. We have lead and will continue to do so because we know that the survival of this planet depends on it.