The Great Depression
In 1929 a depression started when the stock market crashed and millions found their life savings were worth nothing. The crash had a great impact on America and Americans. Banks closed, people lost their jobs and some lost everything. If not for World War II (WWII), it could have lasted much longer.
According to Cary Nelson “On October 24, 1929, the stock market bubble finally burst, as investors began dumping shares in mass. A record 12.9 million shares were traded that day, known as “Black Thursday.”” This is how The Great Depression began. Investors tried to sell all their stock before it became worthless. Many businesses and factories were forced to close because their stock was worthless, this caused the unemployment number to skyrocket. Many banks also closed because they had no money, and most of the people who invested in them lost the money they invested.
In addition, The Great Depression had a great impact on Americans. In the fall of 1930 the first of four bank runs occurred. A bank run is when people who invested in the bank demand their deposits back in cash because they have lost trust in the
…show more content…
President Hoover thought that local groups and charities should help people out of poverty and if the government tried to help it would do more harm than good. However sometimes with a problem of this magnitude, the government needs to help at least somewhat. The government did start to get involved; an example of one early government group was the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). The goal of this organization was to help put young men ages 18 to 25 back to work. When Franklin Delano Roosevelt became president, he started putting more government programs into action. However it wouldn't be until WWII that the United States would fully emerge from The Great Depression. WWII awakened the country’s manufacturing industries in order to produce materials for the