Great Depression Research Papers

The Great Depression was a historical monument that has shaped the present-day United States. In the 1930s, the United States and other countries were sent into an economic crisis, leaving many poor and jobless. The main characteristics of the Great Depression were bank failures, high poverty and unemployment rates, mass migrations, and weak economic growth (Gale 1). As recovery efforts were made, there were many changes in society and the governments that faced the Great Depression. In this research paper, we will understand the causes of the Great Depression and how it led to the United States becoming a powerhouse country. Just before the Great Depression, the United States was in a period known as the Roaring Twenties. The twenties was

However, as more and more people invested in stocks, some started borrowing money from the banks. Eventually, the stock market was being overused and had reached its limit leading to the stock market crash on October 29, 1929, also known as Black Tuesday (Gale 2). Following the stock market crash, several events drove the United States into the Great Depression. When people began to realize the extent to which the stock market had affected the economy, they started to distrust the economy and the management of the government. Trying to keep their money, citizens started to spend less, which halted economic growth and sent it into decline. In addition, banks were shutting down due to too many withdrawals and businesses were not making enough money to pay their employees so they fired them (Gale 2). The United States Government was unable to make any major changes in time and many people were in lots of debt with no job to pay their debts off. One of the only things that kept the economy from completely collapsing was the gold standard. The United States currency was valued based on real gold that could be weighed. However, the gold standard had the greatest effect on how much a dollar was

The last major cause of the Great Depression is the lack of support from the federal government and the Federal Reserve. Even before the Great Depression had begun, the federal government was increasing the federal fund rates and the interest rates to keep up with the stock market. Even after the stock market crash, the federal government increased the interest rates even more in an attempt to raise the value of the dollar (Amadeo 11). However, the rise in interest rates only lessened the amount of available money for businesses to work with, which sent even more businesses into bankruptcy. Alongside the value of the dollar decreasing, the federal reserves did not make more money or increase the supply of money to try and slow the deflation. While the entire economy of the United States was collapsing, the federal government allowed the supply of money to drop by over a third. The Great Depression was one of the most harsh times to live. With less money in circulation and increased prices to borrow money, many firms had to fire workers and raise their