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The Great Depression
An economic recession that began on October 29, 1929, following the crash of the U.S. stock market that led to economic and political unrest.
2,874 Questions
What year the Great Depression took place?
The great depression began around September 4, 1929 and became worldwide news with the stock market crash of October 29, 1929 (Known as Black Tuesday).
The economy restored in the middle of the 1930's. (source: wikipedia)
Which families became rich during the great depression?
There were pockets of prosperity in the USA during the Great Depression of the 30's, and there are similar pockets of prosperity today.
The motion picture industry experienced the height of it's success during this period, because it provided cheap entertainment and a way for people to escape their problems. Warner Brothers was producing 50 movies per week, and Hollywood overall was producing over 250 movies a week. The motion picture industry is one of the largest industries in the USA, and almost everyone catering to it did well financially, including the theaters across the nation. I expect Netflix today to do well, because it's cheap and affordable entertainment.
The alcoholic beverage industry did well. Joe Kennedy was one of thousands who made a fortune in this industry. Success in this industry was the result of Prohibition and, like the motion picture industry, was a means for people to escape their problems. Marijuana today is doing well because it is prohibited and is a cheap form of entertainment for people to forget their problems.
Specialty farming, like raisins, figs, almonds, and walnuts (to name a few) did well. Agriculture and heavy industry run opposite cycles to each other. Mainline agriculture like corn, wheat, pork, cattle, and lamb which could be mass produced did not do well, but specialty crops, like those grown in California did well. The movie, "The Grapes of Wrath," ends with sharecroppers leaving the Oklahoma, Arkansas, Colorado and Texas to come to California. In California they did very well. Organic farming today is doing very well.
New technology, like the radio industry, did well. Today, revenue from the iPod more than doubling every year. Also, everyone across the nation associated with that industry is doing well. People making special cases for the iPod can't supply the demand.
The export industry did well later on in the Great Depression. The Great Depression was world wide, but the USA was the last country to come out of the Great Depression because new Government taxes took money out of the money supply. When war broke out in Europe, Europe depended upon the USA to supply them. Fortunes were made supplying Europe with food, clothing, and war material. Today, war in Iraq, Afghanistan, West Africa, and elsewhere, is destroying the general economy of the USA, which is devaluing the US Dollar , which is making USA exports cheap overseas.
Businesses catering to the rich did well (that's how Alpo got started). Mulberry, as well as Coach hand bags, are doing very well today.
The Great Depression caused change. GREAT fortunes were made in the oil industry when Big Oil cut back, allowing wildcatters a chance to enter the business (i.e., Bass, Getty, Stewart, etc.), resulting in some of the biggest oil finds in the USA.
These are just a few of the "pockets of prosperity" during the Great Depression. More money was made catering to these industries.
Was the Great Depression good or bad?
Yes, it affected the entire world. (Singapore, Australia, US, those are just a few I've heard of.)
Where did the name the Great Depression come from?
the name the great depression came from a long time ago when people lost jobs and the taxes went up
the name the great depression came from a long time ago when people lost jobs and the taxes went up
Yes, President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal, proposed in 1933, was a series of programs that were intended to help the country recover from the devastation created by the Great Depression. It included things such as jobs programs and emergency relief programs.
What adult games were there during the Great Depression?
they played cards, went huting, ice skating, fishing, hop scotch , hang man , dodge ball ,and duck duck goose
What impact did FDR's new deal have on the Great Depression?
The Tennessee Valley Authority was created in 1933. The Securities and Exchange Commission was established to regulate the stock market. The Social Security Act of 1935 provided for unemployment insurance and old-age pensions. Both of which made a big impact on the economy for some.
What were the goals and accomplishments of the New Deal?
The new deal goals were to create and accomplish the Three R's. Recovery, Relief, and Reform.
Recovery meaning temporary programs that would go towards the recovery of the great depression. Relief meaning, immediate action taken to halt the financial deterioration. And Reform meaning, permanent programs to avoid another depression.
How did president Hoover combat the effects of the great depression?
Hoover did very little. He believed that the economy would "right itself." He told America that "Prosperity is just around the corner." He did not believe that govenment should intervene in the private sector and, as a result, one third of the nation became unemployed.
What Seven of the following events led to great depression?
overconfidence in the nation's prosperity
large industries not as successful as they appeared
farmers producing more than they could sell
competition from foreign countries
United States extending loans to foreign countries for the purchase of its products
people buying too much on credit
speculative buying on the stock market
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What types of prejudice existed in the great depression?
Segregation of the races was still legal in many Southern States, as a result of the Supreme Court decision known as Plessy v Ferguson (1896), which allowed "separate but equal" public facilities for Black and White. DeFacto segregation (separation of races by "fact" not by "law") existed in the North during the years of the Depression.
What were the domestic and international causes of the Great Depression?
Around the world a slump in agriculture contributed, prices of farm products dropped. Farmers didn't share the growth with the economy and poverty rates increased in rural areas.
In 1927 there was a boom in the stock market. Even though prices were rising business activity was decreasing. After WWI Britain and France forced Germany to repay billions of dollars that were spent on the war. This crippled the German economy causing financial strain across Europe, forcing many banks to close. At the same Tim the U.S force Britain and France to pay for loans and supplies during the war. The U.S loaned millions to Germany and the Germans used these loans to pay back Britain and France. Britain and France used that money to pay back the U.S loans.
On 10/24/1929, also called Black Thursday stock losses were at 9 billion by noon.It dropped even more by Tuesday. After three weeks 26 billion was gone. The crash upset the balance between the U.S and Europe.
During the 1930's an economic crisis caused money to drain from one country to another. Especially when gold supplies went from one country to another. To stop this nations withdrew from international economy. With that foreign investors withdrew fom U.S banks.
What is the NYA during the Great Depression?
The National Youth Administration was part of the WPA. It paid students for "work study" programs at their schools and paid students for part-time work that included job training. It included both boys and girls. The students worked in construction or repair jobs. The NYA also ran programs for kids that were out of school. Wikipedia has an article dealing with the NYA.
How did the Great Depression affect social welfare programs in the US?
There are many impacts on American society from the Great Depression and the New Deal.
Some of them are laws that were enacted and still persist today, like the Social Security Act (a mandatory government retirement insurance program), the Fair Labor Standards Act (which established a minimum wage and other labor laws), and the National Labor Relations Act (which gave labor unions more power and ultimately resulted in unions becoming political machines for the Democratic party).
Another result was that it began a period of dominance for the Democratic Party. From the Civil War to the Depression, while the Democrats used segregation "Jim Crow" laws to disenfranchise the blacks and stop them from voting to dominate the south, the Republicans were dominant elsewhere. This resulted in the Republicans winning 15 of 19 presidential elections from Abraham Lincoln to Herbert Hoover. Roosevelt's New Deal policies gave federal money (patronage) to many specific people and groups (unions, farmers, etc.), resulting in them voting for Roosevelt and other Democrats. This was known as the New Deal Coalition and it helped the Democrats win 7 of 9 presidential elections from Roosevelt to Lyndon Johnson.
Another impact is the perception of what a government should do in the event of a recession. People commonly believe that government intervention into the economy will help it recover since the New Deal was a huge government plan. But the reality is that the New Deal programs kept the US in depression, as many of the laws restricted business to the point of crippling the economy. One such policy, the National Recovery Administration, allowed industry to be regulated in terms of wages, prices, and many other things. The Supreme Court finally overturned it because a chicken vendor was going to be punished for allowing customers to freely choose any chicken to purchase. The law said that a customer had to stick his hand into a chicken coop and wait for the first chicken to go to his hand, and he had to take that one. The Supreme Court overturned the law by 9-0. Another disastrous policy was the Agricultural Adjustment Act, which paid farmers to not farm on some land and to destroy food so that the prices would remain high and more people starved. The US was importing bacon from Europe while the American farmers were destroying piglets! This too was overturned by the Supreme Court.
It is good for Americans to learn about the mistakes made in the New Deal policies in the hope that these types of policies do not happen again.
What would the world be like if the Great Depression had never happened?
the world will have less technological developments since scientists had devoted their time more to look for advance ways to end the depression like roosvelt asked them to. but will be more peaceful due to no atomic weapon findings
What effect did the great depression have on political parties?
The New Deal programs of FDR created a liberal political alliance made up of labor unions, blacks and other ethnic and religious minorities, intellectuals, the poor, and some farmers. These groups became the backbone of the Democratic Party for decades following the Depression. Those opposed to FDR and the New Deal, businessmen and industrialists, upper middle class and the wealthy, and most conservatives would find a political home in the Republican Party.
Why did people build shantytowns and stand in bread lines during the great depression?
They built shantytowns because many of them were foreclosed and had no where to live. But because there were so many of them they banded together and formed makeshift communities called "Hoovervilles", after the president at the time, Herbert C. Hoover. People blamed Hoover for the depression because they believed he did not act quickly enough to stop it, or provide any real relief for the poor.
People stood in bread lines because many of them were out of work and could not afford food. Bread lines provided the poor and homeless with food so they would not starve, much as homeless shelters do today.
Hawks.
What did people think of president hoover's response to the great depression apex?
they thought that he was really freaken coool and the best president of the uniter states
1 of them was lack of jobs making there be lots of people wanting work and living on the streets and in parks
How did the crash of the stock market affect America overall?
It affected the monetary status of people across all income levels. Many investors had invested huge amounts of money in the stock market owing to the bull run in the year 2007. when the markets crashed in 2008 they lost more than 50% of their investments or more which essentially burnt a big hole in all their pockets. not
What was not an effect on the great depression that began in the middle of the fourteenth century?
increase in population
What key factors caused the Great Depression?
There were several major causes of the Great Depression in the United States. 1. Unequal distribution of wealth. There was not a large middle class. While wages were rising for the majority of workers, they were not keeping pace with the increase in the cost of living or the wealth in the hands of the industrialists and others in the upper income classes. 2. There was over speculation in the Stock Market, which was not regulated.Many Americans purchased stock on credit. This was known as margin buying. 3. Increased manufacturing and agricultural output, but wages that did not keep pace for the consumers to purchase all that was produced or grown. Hence, inventories increased and agricultural income remained low. 4. Buying on credit, known in the 1920s as installment buying. People purchased things like refrigerators on time, and did not have money to pay for the product in the future, when the bills became due. 5. Federal regulations on businesses also contributed to the cause. Especially favorable to the large corporations were the taxes laws which were written to encourage business expansion. 6. Banks were permitted to speculate in land and the stock market with little government regulations. 7. High tariffs and war debts helped spread the depression world wide. 8. The Stock Market Crash of 1929 signaled the beginning of the Great Depression.
