A system based upon-short term investments and faulty investment practices did not provide the support for the stock market to perform consistently on a long term basis. To make matters worse, a national federal banking system designed to regulate the monetary financial system, The Federal Reserve, stood largely idle through excessive lending and faulty credit and operated on a open market according to the Library of Economics and Liberty. The stock market started to take a turn for the worse when investors overseas could see the path the American economy was heading down and promptly decided to cash out their investments (digitalhistory.uh.edu). The value of stocks in the stock market continued to decline and banks, which had invested heavily …show more content…
The difficult situation poor people faced was compounded by the fact that many had little to no savings to serve as a safety net. Those that had mortgages were unable to pay them leading to foreclosures and widespread homelessness. An insight into the world of the depression could be realized in a 1933 letter that current president Herbert Hoover wrote to Senator Simeon Fess recounting what he described were the first five periods of the Great Depression. In the letter, Hoover recounts widespread unemployment, destruction of public confidence, falling prices, and “general economic demoralization.” It is worth noting how Hoover handled the depression during his administration and the implications of his actions. Hoover took a conservative approach to the financial difficulties and believed that Americans should be self-reliant and should forego government aid. As could could be predicted, the conservative tactic did not prove effective and did not remediate the financial burden that so many faced. Furthermore, the stance Hoover took angered Americans and led to the popular belief the president was insensitive and out of touch, adding to the demoralization (Lashbrook). Homelessness became so pervasive that shantytowns popped up all over the country where residents would create makeshift homes out of anything tangible they could find (history.com). These shantytowns were coined