Preview

Cause And Effect Essay On The Great Depression

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
955 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Cause And Effect Essay On The Great Depression
The Great Depression
Overview
The Great Depression was the deepest economic downturn of the Western industrialised world and last for ten years. It occurred on 1929 to 1939, beginning with the collapse of the New York Stock Market on Wall Street. Due to the decline in economic activity, millions of people were in poverty and left 28% of the population in the US without an income. It mainly affected the middle class families rather than the rich class who were oblivious to the situation.
Causes
Before the Great Depression, there was a period of time in the 1920s known as the Roaring Twenties where many opportunities expanding and the stock market rose leaving a feeling of optimism due to the high salaries and new products being produced. Many believed the stock market would rise from here but this only lead to the eventual market collapse.
One of the main causes is the stock market crash of October 1929, which marked the official beginning of the Great Depression. Two months after this crash, stockholders lost more than 40 billion dollars and thousands of investors were wiped out. The decrease in people spending and investing caused the production and construction of factories and business to slow down or fail and many began to fire their workers. Those who still remained employed got lower wages. Though the end of 1930 regained some losses from
…show more content…
One of these effects was the unemployment rate which was severe. This caused many people to lose their jobs and homes. With up to 11 million people in the United States looking for work in 1933, this was considered the worst year of the Depression. Due to the lack of money, the crime rate went up when the unemployed had to resort to theft to manage their lives. Divorce rates dropped sharply as it was too expensive to pay the legal fees and support the two households with no income. As women became desperate for a way to pay for the bills, they resorted to

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    The Great Depression had many causes that built up to make it as big as it was. During World War I the U.S. had loaned supplies and money to their European Allies; not having these supplies or money caused the countries to go into debt making the depression go worldwide. The U.S. had a weak economy. There was an inability of the political and financial institutions to cope with the downward spiral that had started in the late twenties. Even after political intervention fifteen percent of the work force were unemployed. The biggest cause of the Great Depression was the 1929 Stock Market Crash. On October 29, 1929 stock market prices dropped dramatically and continued to drop for the next three years. “Stock prices in the United States continued to fall, until by late 1932 they had dropped to 20% of there value in 1929”(Britanica 1).…

    • 2193 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    DBQ: The Great Depression

    • 657 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Great Depression in the United States was the worst and the longest economic collapse in the history of the modern industrial world, lasting from the end of 1929 until the early 1940s. The Great Depression saw rapid decline in the production and sale of goods and a sudden, severe rise in unemployment. Businesses and banks closed their doors, stock market crashed (Document 2), people lost their jobs, homes, and savings, and many depended on charity to survive. Natural calamities, such as the dust bowl added to the sufferings of the people. It caused major agricultural and ecological damage, destroying the lives of several thousands of families (Document 1). In 1933, at the worst point in the depression, more than 15 million Americans—one-quarter…

    • 657 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Great Depression was the greatest economic crisis in the Western World. The stock market crashed on October 1929, sending Wall Street up in flames. By 1933, the Great Depression reached a high point leaving over thirteen million Americans jobless (“The Great Depression”). Relief and reform measures were soon put into place to lessen the heavy load the Great Depression created, but America would not fully recover until after 1939.…

    • 676 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Great Depression Dbq

    • 1188 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The stock market crash was the beginning of the Great Depression but it was not solely the main cause of it. There was many different causes of the Great Depression like diversification and how the there was too few industries that could not handle the demands of the economy. Another big part of the Depression was the weaker consumer and how the businesses seemed to be taking more of the profits and giving the employees less to live on. The last cause is the increase in debt, people could not…

    • 1188 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    1929-1939 Great Depression

    • 1457 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The Great Depression was dated from 1929-1939. It was known to be the longest economic down fall in the history of western industrialized world. The Great depression was started after the stock market crashed in October 1929 ( “The Great depression”,n.d .). This event sent wall street into panic mode and swiped out millions of investors across the country. During the year 1933 the great depression had reached it’s peak and more than 13 million Americans were unemployed and half of our nations banks had failed. ( “The Great depression”,n.d .)…

    • 1457 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The starting point of the Great Depression is usually listed as 1929 which is commonly called Black Tuesday. Black Tuesday has been just one of the major causes of the Great Depression. This was the same day that the stock market dropped dramatically and had an enormous effect on American lives. Fifteen billion dollars in stock value were lost and many had to sell their cars, jewelry, and homes to pay their debt many of which who lost it all. In October the stock market had previously crashed and many companies lost…

    • 533 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Great Depression Dbq

    • 1432 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The Great Depression was the deepest and longest-lasting economic downturn in the history of the world. After the stock market crash of 1929, the American economy plummeted. This was devastating for many families. Thousands of people were out of their jobs, and left to starve on the streets. Many were forced to simplify their wardrobes, problems in the education systems arose, and the banking system was destroyed. People turned to the government to help them out of their problems. Hoover and FDR worked to pass relief acts that would boost the American economy.…

    • 1432 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    AMERICAN CIVIL RIGHTS

    • 715 Words
    • 3 Pages

    By 1933, when the Great Depression reached its nadir, some 13 to 15 million Americans were unemployed and nearly half of the country’s banks had failed.…

    • 715 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    What most people do not know, is that there was a happier and more successful time before the Great Depression. This time was called the Roaring Twenties. Beginning in the early 1920s, the Roaring Twenties were a time of social and political change. Many Americans started migrating from rural…

    • 899 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Great Depression started in 1929 and lasted for almost ten years. It was a very long, and tough ten years for everyone around in America. From the rich people to the poor people, everybody had it hard, but some had it harder than others. Even though it was over 80 years ago, people never forgot about the hard times they went through. There may have been lots of other economic depressions in the past that America has overcome, but this time, Americans’ lives changed forever. The Great Depression was the worst thing that happened to people but in the end, most people survived even with the lines of struggles behind them.…

    • 635 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Great Depression was the longest-lasting economic downturn in the history of the Western industrialized world. In the United States, the Great Depression wiped out millions of investors and American spending which resulted in high rates of unemployment and crime. Most historians consider the stock market crash of 1929 to be the start of the Great Depression; however, in the state of Iowa, the Great Depression started years before the stock market crash. The depression effected Iowan families with high unemployment rates and low income, but through the rough times, families were able to overcome the depression with great sacrifices and compromises.…

    • 890 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Great Depression was one of the worst economic downturn in the world's history. It started in 1929 when the markets crashed in October. When this happened, Wall Street began to panic. People stopped buying the things that they used too. Which caused unemployment because there were failing companies that were forced to lay off workers. The stock prices started to decline at a rapid rate. Nearly 25% of people were laid off, and banks were failing. [The depression effected the poor and the wealthy]. Also, the farmers were hit hard. The crop prices dropped 60%. Things decreased in prices, and people with jobs were paid very little.…

    • 225 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Starting in the year 1929 and lasting throughout the 1930’s, what would soon be known as The Great Depression, which was a time were many Americans were unemployed, homeless, and even starving to death. Consequently, these events were deprived from phenomenons during the 1920s like the stock market crash, over production, and business failures.…

    • 420 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    During the 1930’s or as the others know as the dirty thirties came the great depression. The great depression is the longest economic downturn in the history of the Western industrialized world. This happened in North America, Europe, Canada and many more places around the world. People went through a lot during the great depression and lost many people. It also made the employment rate drop in increasingly numbers.…

    • 440 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Great Depression was the toughest and the longest economic recession in the industrialized world, in most of the countries it started in 1929 and lasted till 1939. The Great Depression was the result of many causes; some of these causes are the crash of the stock market, and banks were not able to lend money because huge numbers of people were withdrawing their money. This withdrawal also caused the banks to fail. Another reason is that people were afraid of buying products and services after the stock market crash which lead to a huge decrease in the demand of products and services, this decrease in demands and the unwillingness to spend money made the level of unemployment increase sharply.…

    • 120 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays