Some might be wondering, what caused the Great Depression? Well, the Great Depression arrived in 1929. American citizens were out of work and didn’t want the government's “charity”. Stock market crashes, supply and demand, and contractions are some of the causes that can be found throughout the Depression. The stock market began to crash on October 24, 1929, also known as “Black Thursday.” Stock exchanges were created to address the capital issue. A stock market was where the owner of a business would sell his ownership in shares. Shareholders would put money into a business and when the business received a profit shareholders would get paid. “More investors put their money into stocks so they could make a quick profit.”(Doc 5) A Ladies Home Journal would talk about how to become rich, you just have to save and invest in a stock market. This journal said “I am in my firm belief that anyone not only can be rich but ought to be rich.”(Doc 2). This journal was influential for people just to …show more content…
A contraction is when consumer spending and investment dropped, causing steep declines in industrial output and employment as failing companies laid off workers. Contraction started to begin when the roaring 20s were coming to an end. Many people were getting laid off. People were getting laid off because production fell and businesses failed. Some people were living off of $22 a month.(Doc 7). People did not have enough money to buy items they used to buy. People started to make their own clothes and wash their own clothes. This also made demand go down because people started making their own items. One man was working four jobs and was making the same amount of money when he was working one job. (Doc 7). A numerous amount of people were living on the poverty line. $2000 was considered the poverty line and 60% below the poverty line.(Doc 9). There was not enough money flow to keep people