The history of the Great Depression has changed the world in drastic ways. The Great Depression was the longest and most severe depression ever experienced by the industrialized western world. It was mainly caused by a series of weaknesses in the economy. It specifically started with the dramatic crash of the stock market on “Black Thursday.” This significant event in history was caused by economical issues in America, which impact the many lives of individuals, and ultimately ended changing this country as it is know for today. The Great Depression was caused by a series of weaknesses in the economy. It began with the dramatic crash of the stock market on “Black Thursday” on October 24, 1929 when 16 million shares of stock were quickly sold by panicking investors who had lost faith in the American economy. Income was unevenly distributed among people. Americans spent more than they actually earned from their jobs. This cause sent the nation into …show more content…
About 700 banks failed just months after 1929, and more than 3,000 collapsed by 1930. When the banks failed the people started to lose their money which then caused them to panic and go out on “bank runs” where they would take out all their money from their accounts, this then forced even more banks to close down. By the end of the decade about 9,000 banks had failed. The surviving institutions were concerned only of their own survival became unwilling to lend any of their money. Thus made the situation worse and lead to less and less spending. As a result to having their investments be worthless, their savings gone, credit very close to being nonexistent, and many being spent by consumers, many workers were laid off from their jobs. As people were losing their jobs they weren’t able to keep paying for items they bought through installment plans. The unemployment rate rose to 25 percent, this meant less spending to help make the economic situation