The Cause Of The Great Depression

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Throughout history, the United States economy has both prospered and hindered in growth, stability, and success. Eras such as the Industrial Revolution and the Roaring Twenties, were times in America when production and industry were at their highest. However, when these prosperous times came to an end, the economy suffered. When this occurred it was called a depression, or a long-term downturn in economic activity in one or more economies. There have been many depressions throughout American History; the first beginning in 1807 and ending in 1814. The worst of these depressions was called The Great Depression. This economic demise began in 1929 and resulted in four years of chaos; eventually ending in 1933. The cause of this catastrophe…show more content…
Many historians believe that the immediate cause of The Great Depression was the Stock Market Crash in the fall of 1929. That event occurred on October 29, 1929; also known as Black Tuesday. It also marked the end of the era known as The Roaring Twenties. On that day stocks plummeted to an all-time low, causing mass devastation. However like history has shown, a time of economic prosperity, like the Roaring Twenties, result in a depression. Like every other depression, The Great Depression resulted in many social, economical, and political tribulations; it changed lives in the matter of a…show more content…
When the stock market crashed, it immediately affected the economy in the matter of a few hours. At this time President Herbert Hoover was in office, and he was overwhelmed with the tragic situation. During his Presidency, he did his best to fix the economy. However, things did not begin to get better until Franklin D. Roosevelt took office in 1932. Roosevelt immediately began reconstruction on the American economy. He did this with the creation and passing of multiple organizations and laws. All of these were constructed to help with the banks, farm relief, unemployment, and the overall economy. (Document I) Roosevelt began doing this with the passing of the First New Deal. This was essentially a series of multiple organizations and laws that were aimed to reconstruct the United States economy. The three main goals of the First New Deal were relief, recovery, and reform. It contained these organizations: Public Works Administration (PWA), Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), Works Progress Administration (WPA), Social Security Act, Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA), Emergency Banking Relief Act, and the Civil Works Administration (CWA). While most of these focused directly on economy, organizations like the Agricultural Adjustment Administration worked to help farmers by reducing production of staple crops, therefore

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