The Great Depression was catastrophic. It was a critical time period in our history when our economy crashed. People lost their jobs, and families became homeless. Today, 564,708 people are homeless. Back then, two million people were homeless. The Great Depression has helped shape the United States to become the way we are today. There are numerous reasons this economic catastrophe happened. The Great Depression started in the year 1929. It ended in 1939. It is known to be President Hoover’s fault. However, that may not be entirely true. Four of the many reasons the Great Depression started are an unequal economy, credit disasters, worldwide depression, unemployment, and poverty. The unequal economy was showing signs of an economic disaster in the …show more content…
For the farmers they had to keep their businesses running, and since they didn’t have enough money to buy supplies they used credit. They also bought land using credit. To buy cars citizens used credit if they didn’t have enough money. However, when farmers and consumers (the citizens) didn’t pay off their loans, banks shut down because they had no money left. The worldwide depression struck not only the U.S., but also our allies. Europe needed money from our banks because, they had to sell goods to Americans to pay off their debts from World War 1. Due to the fact banks had no more money to give, they shut down causing our foreign allies to spend less money. Since the United States had to lower their funds, tons of people lost their jobs. By 1932, 25% of Americans didn’t have a job. For the people who didn’t lose their jobs, their pay got cut. The people who lost their jobs had issues paying for mandatory items. They fell under the poverty line. Soup kitchens served food for these people. The food wasn’t much, but for a person without money it helped. Soup kitchens often served bread, coffee, and a small bowl of soup. There are still charities today that help homeless/jobless