Great Depression Dbq Essay

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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. However, there was light at the end of the tunnel, for the government did have ways to help them out of the Great Depression. Throughout the long and hard period in which the Great Depression lasted through, Americans faced many problems and hardships. First, the unemployment rate in the U.S. immediately skyrocketed after the Stock Market crash. (Doc. 1) Soon after in the years following the crash, the unemployment rate in 1931 was as high as 16% and then shot up all the way to 23% in 1932, putting many Americans out of a job and out of money. Next, many people’s life savings that were earned throughout their lives have now vanished. (Doc. 2) After people have realized that their stocks have completely hit rock bottom, people stormed to the banks to try and get what remained of their money to store at home, usually in their mattress, because they felt that it would be safer there. Because so many people tried to get to their money so quickly, many were upset due to the fact that they weren’t there fast enough and banks literally ran out of money to give to the people. (O.I.) Last, many Americans were struck by poverty so bad, they were not even able to feed their whole family. (O.I.) Back during the depression, a very harsh example of this was when a teacher asked her student with no lunch why she wasn’t eating, the student
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