October 29, 1929 was the worst day of many American’s lives. That was the day the stock market crashed and the Great Depression was launched. At first, the President, and other politicians thought it would end after just a few months but it turned out to be the absolute worst stock market crash in the history of America. America lost 14 billion dollars on that one detrimental day and by the end of the week, America lost a flabbergasting 30 billion dollars. Today, that would be the equivalent to exactly $377,587,032,770.41. This also happens to be almost ten times more than America’s budget at the time and that much money had not even been spent during World War 1 (“Great Depression”).
Money was not the only thing in short supply during Depression. Food was in such short supply in the Great Depression that over seven million people died of undernourishment, which is about how many deaths occurred during the Holocaust in Europe. This was such a shock to so many of the people who had just experienced the abundant “roaring twenties”. Sickness was also a sudden killer in the Depression. Tuberculosis and pneumonia were raging and money was so tight that getting a doctor was out of the question for many Americans. Although famishment and illness were largely responsible for many deaths, they were not the main cause for death in the 1920s to the 1940s. (Gold 18)
The number one cause for death in the Great Depression was suicide. After the initial shock of the crash there was a sky rocket in suicides. As a result of the increase in suicides hotel managers would ask if the clients needed a room for sleeping or for jumping. Many committed suicide because of the growing unemployment and the inability to support themselves o...
... middle of paper ...
...
Works Cited
"Amazon.com: The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression (9780066211701): Amity Shlaes: Books." Amazon.com: Online Shopping for Electronics, Apparel, Computers, Books, DVDs & More. Web. 18 Jan. 2012. 16 Jan. 2012. .
Gold, Christina Anne Sheehan. Hoovervilles: Homelessness and Squatting in California during the Great Depression. 1998. Print. Page 17-19.
"Great Depression." Random Facts | Fun Trivia | Interesting Insight. Web. 18 Jan. 2012. 2 Jan 2012. .
Hawkins, William. “Panic Control.” The Washington Times. 12 Dec 2008. 27 Dec 2012.
McElvaine, Robert S. The Great Depression: America, 1929-1941. [New York, N.Y.]: Times, 1984. Print. Page 36.
Nishi, Dennis. The Great Depression. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven, 2001. Print. Page 24.
After nearly a decade of optimism and prosperity, the United States took a turn for the worse on October 29, 1929 the day the stock market crashed, better known as Black Tuesday and the official beginning of the Great Depression. The downfall of the economy during the presidency of Herbert Hoover led to much comparison when his successor, Franklin D. Roosevelt, took office. Although both presidents had their share of negative feedback, it is evident that Hoover’s inaction towards the crises and Roosevelt’s later eccentric methods to simulate the economy would place FDR in the positive limelight of fixing the nation in one of its worst times.
The stock market crash of 1929 is one of the main causes of the Great Depression. Before the stock market crash many people bought on margin, which caused the stock market to become very unbalanced, which led to the crash. Many people had invested heavily in the stock market during the 1920’s. All of these people who invested in the stock market lost all the money they had, since they relied on the stock market so much. The stock market crash also played a more physiological role in causing the Great depression. More businesses became aware of the difficulties, which caused businesses to not expand and start new projects. This caused job insecurity and uncertainty in incomes for employees. The crash was also used as a symbol of the changing times. The crash lead the American peop...
When “Black Tuesday” struck Wall Street on October 29th, 1929 investors traded 16 million shares on the on the New York Stock Exchange in just a day which caused billions of dollars to be lost and thousands of investors who got all their money wiped out. After the fallout of “Black Tuesday” America’s industrialized country fell down into the Great Depression which was one of the longest economic downfalls in history of the Western industrialized world. On “Black Tuesday” stock prices dropped completely. After “Black Tuesday” stock prices couldn’t get any worse or so they thought but however prices continued to drop U.S fell into the Great Depression, and by 1932 stocks were only worth about 20 percent of their value. Due to this economic downfall by 1933 almost half of America’s banks had failed. This was a major economic fallout which resulted in the Great Depression because it caused the economy to lose a lot of money and there was no way to dig themselves out of the hole of
"America's Great Depression and Roosevelt's New Deal."DPLA. Digital Public Library of America. Web. 20 Nov 2013. .
The Great Depression America 1929-1941 by Robert S. McElvaine covers many topics of American history during the "Great Depression" through 1941. The topic that I have selected to compare to the text of American, Past and Present, written by Robert A. Divine, T.H. Breen, George M. Frederickson and R. Hal Williams, is Herbert Hoover, the thirty-first president of the United States and America's president during the horrible "Great Depression".
The United States experienced a severe economic depression during the 1930’s called the Great Depression. 13 million Americans lost their jobs, over 300,000 companies were out of business, and millions of families were living on the streets and going hungry. Sounds horrendous right? Well, this was the harsh reality for millions of Americans affected by the Great Depression. It was the most extensive, devastating economic downturn America has ever encountered.
Watkins, T.H.. The Great Depression: America in the 1930s. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1993.
Over the course of history, America has dealt with its share of economic troubles. One of America’s darkest moments, economically, came in the year of 1929. On October 29th, 1929 America’s stock market crashed. This would become what we now know as the Great Depression. The Great Depression lasted approximately ten years. The Great Depression affected the entire country. Seven decades later we experienced what is known as the Great Recession. This also affected many Americans economically. Both of these economic meltdowns share commonalities.
Levine, Linda. “The Labor Market During the Great Depression and the Current Recession”. 19 June 2009. 6 March 2010. < http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/R40655_20090619.pdf>.
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 speculation and the resulting stock market crash acted as the trigger for the already unstable United States economy. Due to the maldistribution of wealth and the unstable economy of the 1920’s, the nation headed into a decade of trouble. In response to its economic difficulties, the United States set up even higher trade barriers with other nations, causing more trouble within the nation. Many of the working class lost their jobs, and since these people did not have savings, they were in big trouble. Unemployment grew to 13 million by 1932 as the country quickly spiraled into a catastrophe. The Great Depression had begun due to the maldistribution of wealth, a bad economy based on over confidence, and the irresponsible erratic of the “bull” stock market.
The Great Depression was a heavy economic depression in the decade before World War II. An economic depression is defined as a substantial and sustained shortfall of the ability to purchase goods relative to the amount that could be produced using current resources and technology.[1] The Great Depression affected most national economies in the world throughout the 1930s.
Huge numbers of Americans had their lives upset by the Depression. Homelessness, poverty and despair characterized much of the nation in those days. Many of those who could not provide for their families, in larger cities as well as smaller towns, committed suicide to put an end to their troubles.
The stock market crash of 1929 was the primary event that led to the collapse of stability in the nation and ultimately paved the road to the Great Depression. The crash was a wide range of causes that varied throughout the prosperous times of the 1920’s. There were consumers buying on margin, too much faith in businesses and government, and most felt there were large expansions in the stock market. Because of all these positive views that the people of the American society possessed, people hardly looked at the crises in front of them.... ...
On Tuesday, October 29th, 1929, the crash began. (1929…) Within the first few hours, the price fell so far as to wipe out all gains that had been made the entire previous year. (1929…) This day the Dow Jones Average would close at 230. (1929…) Between October 29th, and November 13 over 30 billion dollars disappeared from the American economy. (1929…) It took nearly 25 years for many of the stocks to recover. (1929…)