The Great Depression was one of the darkest time periods in history; it was when everything fell apart. Do you want to know how you would have lived during that time? If not, keep reading to find out how you would have lived depending on your class. The Great Depression, which lasted from 1929 to 1939, was a terrible economic downturn (Texas gateway). Every social class suffered horribly from the Great Depression. Some people through stocks, some from living conditions, some from sickness, and much more. Although everyone was affected by the Great Depression, the biggest impact was on the middle class, from the market crash, to rampant unemployment, and a drop in living conditions and family lifestyle. While the lower class suffered from similar events, they did not have much to begin with. The upper class on the other hand were wealthy and kept most of their wealth throughout the Great Depression.
The collapse of the stock market was one point during the Great Depression from which the Middle class suffered deeply. Millions of Americans had invested their savings
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Most stocks quadrupled in value, which is why most Americans chose to invest. They were also “sure” that the stock market would help them, so they kept investing more and more money (PBS, Public Broadcasting Service). Right before the stock market crashed, 16 million stocks were traded (Jimenez, David). Then the stock market crashed in October 1929 (Investopedia). Production started to fall, and unemployment had risen, leaving stocks far in advance of their true value. Low wages, huge bank loans that could not be repaid, an increase in debt, and decreased farming production were all factors in the Market crash of the Great Depression (Stock Market crash of 1929). 14 billion dollars was lost from the market crash that day (Jimenez,
When the stock market crashed many were unable to pay their debts not only to their stock purchases but also to their banks. Without payments to the loans given out, banks began to fail. Additionally, the gap between upper and lower classes greatly widened, which only increased the economic issues. On top of everything occurring, a drought developed in the Great Plains that created the “Dust Bowl” and destroyed the agriculture business. The sources of downfall in the Great Depression can be traced to the stock market failure, bank failure, farm failure, and job market failure.
Leuchtenberg sad, “There was no single cause of the crash and ensuing depression,” [Doc2]. Many things as stated earlier contributed to the crash, such as overexpansion of credit, goods, industries and rising rates of unemployment. Many Americans saw the Stock Market as an easy way to create wealth by buying stocks cheap, usually at a margin, and selling for a higher price, hopeful to profit. Buying on margin was the act of paying some money on a stock, but loaning the rest from a bank who expected would be paid back when profit was made. Stocks became more expensive to the point where nobody wanted to buy them because of their extreme price.
The great depression in the US, which began in 1929, and ended in 1938 was caused by many different things all happening at the same time in the economy. The wall street crash in October 1929 was one of the main causes, when the stock markets crashed. This was caused by many things, but the main reason for it was a deflation (which is an event where the general level of prices in an economy are reduced) On October 24th (black Thursday), share prices dropped by 14 billion dollars in a day, and more than 30 billion in a week. This forced many of the banks to close, due to them investing their client’s savings in the stock market.
Speculation and installment buying involved the decisions Americans made that caused the economy to plummet. In 1929 stocks began to be worth more than the value of the company. Most people believed that investing in stocks was the flawless way to become rich and that anyone could do it.
Great Depression DBQ Write Your Essay Here: (Be sure to BOLD your document #’s and highlight outside information) After the stock market crash of 1929, America went into a severe financial crisis known as the Great Depression. During this Great Depression, about 75% percent of American Families lived in poverty, and 25% of people lost their jobs and became unemployed. During this time, many banks went out of business too because people demanded their money back due to the Stock Market Crash. This caused a huge economic banking emergency.
The Great Depression was devastating to many people. From 1929 - 1939 life was a struggle. This all began when the stock market crashed in 1929 causing a great effect on people. Most stopped using banks and no longer trusted them. Jobs were scarce and people looking for them were plentiful.
On October 29, 1929 the stock market crashed by 12 percent by the end of the day. Many people realized that Americans was starting to go into an economic depression from this crash.
Imagine that one day you’re living a life of average or good wealth, good job, and, great homes. Then just imagine that all of a sudden all of that is taken away from you in an instant. You are then left with nothing now roaming these poor American streets in desperate hope of jobs. Unfortunately, events like this did happen in real life and many real Americans had to live with this economic nightmare. The United States suffered one of it’s biggest economic depression from 1929 to 1939 which was known as the Great Depression.
During the great depression, the United States faced one of the hardest economic crises the nation has ever seen. Before this, the economy was rapidly expanding, and people all over the country were investing in the stock market. However this was not sustainable, by 1929 many investors had seen the stock market to be overvalued leading them to mass sell their shares (History.com). This resulted in an economic collapse that affected millions of Americans. First, it puts a halt to the workforce causing many people to be unemployed, and unable to put food on the table, people even lose their homes and life savings.
Even though the stock market began to regain some of its losses, by the end of 1930, it just was not enough and America led into the Great Depression. Another cause was Bank Failures many Bank deposits were uninsured and thus as banks failed people simply lost their savings. Reduction in Purchasing Across the Board was another cause. With the stock market crash and the fears of further economic woes, individuals from all classes stopped purchasing
Firstly, the Great Depression harmed the American people by having them change their lifestyle. Since so many people lost their jobs, money was terribly scarce.
The Great Depression was one of the most devastating economic crises in the history of the United States. It began in 1929 after the stock market crashed, setting off an economic spiral. Lasting for a decade it caused widespread unemployment, poverty, and social unrest. The economic collapse had devastating effects that had impacted everyday American life, including individual families, to the national economy, and even the government. During this period of time the American people faced a range of challenges including, unemployment, homelessness, starvation, and social inequality.
he Great Depression was a time of huge economic downfall. During this time period people lost their homes, money, and everything they had ever earned. Millions of people were affected, including the middle and lower classes, who would just become poorer. People in upper classes, even dropped to the lower class. This downfall began on October 29, 1929, and the leading cause was the crash of the stock market.
The Hard Times which took place in the United States not only affected the stock market itself and the banking system but it also left its mark on the day to day lives of Americans. During the Great Depression, middle-class Americans were drastically affected in several ways. Families from different ethnic, religious, regional backgrounds reacted to the depression in various manners. In 1933, the average household income dropped to $1500 which is 40 percent less than that in 1929 family income of $2300.
The Great Depression The Great Depression was by far one of the worst times of America’s history, and the world’s history. The Depression affected everyone except for the politicians and the wealthy. During the depression a lot of people lost their jobs which caused the unemployment rate to sky rocket to 14% of America’s population was unemployed, and the number would stay their till World War 2, and the depression started in the 1920’s. Middle class workers were hit the hardest in the depression. Most of the middle class citizens lost their jobs.