THE GREAT DEPRESSION American success failed when the stock market crashed in 1929 during President Herbert Hoover’s administration. All of a sudden people were out of work, thousands lost their savings, and the nation was in a state of shock. Even millionaires lost their money. The problems and the causes that led up to The Great Depression were multiple. Farm income went down from the drought.
Millions of people lost their jobs during these tragic times, and left their homes in pursuit of securing work, but most fell short. As a result, many found themselves homeless and struggling for survival. Tom Kromer, who was twenty-three years old at the time, published a book in 1935 titled “Waiting for Nothing”, wherein he gave descriptive accounts of the cruel conditions
Known also as Black Tuesday, October 29th left stockholders shattered with recorded losses reaching $40 billion dollars (Kelly, n.d.). Many banks and financial institutions began collapsing which led to irretrievable, uninsured deposits and savings. Fearing further loss, people began spending less which led to a decrease in production and an increase in unemployment. As companies began to fail, the government devised the Smoot-Hawley Tariff in order to protect American businesses. The Tariff placed high taxes on imports leading to a decline in international trade.
Labor Union strikes were the most prominent form of worker insurrection against employers. During the period of 1875-1900, many labor unions participated in strikes, however many of them failed to achieve their goals. The biggest reason that farmers and workers went on strike was clearly stated by a machinist before the Senate Committee on Labor and Capital. Because machines were taking jobs away, workers would lose their livelihood, and most likely their only source of income. In the year of 1877, employees working for the four largest railroads went on strike due to the fact that their employers cut their wages by 10 percent; this was known as the Great Rail Road Strike.
From 1861 to 1865, approximately 620,000 soldiers' lives were cut short, not to mention the 50,000 civilian lives that were also claimed. Soldiers lost during that time exceeded the combination of soldiers lost from the Revolutionary War, both World Wars, the Korean War, the Mexican War, and even the Spanish-American War. In comparison to today's population, six million people would die in four years or two percent of our population. The impact of death on the human capital grew in importance. It became familiar in fact, a part of daily life for Americans at that time.
The collapse of the housing market and unemployment caused the most damage. Between 1991 to 1992 unemployment had gone back up to 2.6 million. Negative equity meant home owner were paying mortgages far higher than their homes were worth. Many people could simply not keep up with the increased prices and resulted in them losing their homes due to the bank repossessing them. The recession hit close to home for the Tories, effecting the middle class not just the working class of the industrial north.
American farmers suffered terribly during the Great Depression. Between 1930 and 1935 nearly two hundred of every thousand farms in the states of the Midwest, the South, and the Plains went into foreclosure. When the owners failed, croppers and tenants were also forced off the land. The migrant worker had no home, and moved around looking for work. 200,000 people mostly farmers migrated to California, which was not
Starting in the year 1929 and lasting throughout the 1930’s, America was brought into the worst economic slump that America and the rest of the world has ever been brought into. This would soon be known as The Great Depression. What caused this depression was the crash of the stock market in 1929 and almost all of the Americans had to suffer from the stock market crash. People were without jobs, homeless, and left without nothing but their families and the clothes on their back. Some of the hardships that the Americans faced were unbearable.
Writing Assignment Georgia History The Great Depression forever changed and effected Americans, the economy, and surrounding nations greatly. Millions of Americans lost their jobs and homes. The economy experienced major defaults in banking and trading. Europe and many other nations were set back from many of our inabilities to finance their needs and help with their broken economies as well. Many events as a whole led to the depression.
The Black Plague was one of the worst natural disaster in history. About one third of the population in Europe died. ("Fredrick F. Cartwright, p. 42") Cities were hit hard. Financial business was disrupted as debtors died and their creditors found themselves without recourse.