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The Great Depression Dbq

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Yes, concerns about major social and political revolution were justified at the time of the Great Depression. After the stock market crashed, banks failed as well as a result of millions of Americans withdrawing their money. Unemployment ensued because of the rapid decrease of consumer spending. These all mostly affected the working class, since they were the ones who went out of work when the Depression hit. Additionally, the big disparity of wealth between the rich and poor encouraged the Depression; 32% of the country’s wealth went to the richest 5% of people, while only 10% when to the poorest 42%. This near-majority was therefore unable to take part in the consumer economy. The large monetary gap prompted a strong dislike towards the rich …show more content…

His plan, which he called the “Share-Our-Wealth” Plan, claimed that the government could end the Depression easily by using the tax system to take the wealth of the richest men and women in America and redistribute it to the rest of the population. The plan appealed to the poorer people, as they were against the rich anyway since they believed they were hogging the money that was much-needed throughout the rest of the country. The rich despised the plan for obvious reasons- they did not want their money to be taken away from them just to give it to the poor. Long gained a considerable amount of supporters because of the great amount of poor people in the country at the time, especially with the help of the organization he founded, the “Share-Our-Wealth” Society. The ideas that Long was delivering to the near-majority, the poor, added to the tensions between the rich and the poor, which ultimately added to the potential of a revolution as …show more content…

In 1924, Congress approved a payment to World War 1 veterans that they would receive a $1,000 bonus for their victory in the war by the year 1945. But in 1932, those veterans decided that they wanted their bonuses early because of the financial pressures they were under. Congress declined, so they marched to Washington, build camps around the city, and vowed to remain there until Congress approved legislation to pay the bonus. The very fact that the veterans, after fighting in the Great War, were willing to go through all this to get compensation from the government truly shows how much Americans at the time needed the money; if they were willing to march up to the Federal Government to demand money, the possibility of them demanding money through Huey Long’s economic plan was certainly applicable. The need for money that existed amongst the poor people, which was essentially the majority of the country at the time, was so intense that all these factors played a role in the rising tensions between the rich and the poor. If World War II hadn’t begun, a Civil War between the classes could have certainly been a viable result at the time, as there were many major social and political pushes towards it throughout the course of the

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DBQ Depression Essay Draft There are many opinions on the Great Depression. The stock market crash was a big part of this problem. Taxes and tariffs on imports did not help either. What came after the crash was the bad part. The stock crash and tolls are what caused the Great Depression.

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In Lizabeth Cohen’s book, Making a New Deal, it shows a timeline of the shift that took place in the American people during the Great Depression. Before the Great Depression in 1919 there was a wave of strikes that failed after the Great War. The disappointment from the little gains for the American working class caused the labors to abandon some of their values and look for better ways to organize the Unions. When the Great Depression hit America labors had to come up with new ideas and behaviors to create a stronger Unions. Stronger Unions made it possible for them to have power in national politics and still succeed in their work life.

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Although both men fought for the same cause, they went about their fights differently and shared different views. These differences are the reasons why we will remember them for many years to come. Huey P. Long, who was once an ally of Franklin Roosevelt, found himself going against Roosevelt in the end. The Fall of 1933 was the cause of the breach of the alliance simply because Long felt that Roosevelt did not solve the nation’s economic issues and did not change the distribution of the nation’s wealth among all American’s within the first “Hundred Days” of the New Deal legislation. Long then proposed the Share Our Wealth societies.

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The wealth during the 1920s left Americans unprepared for the economic depression they would face in the 1930s. The Great Depression occurred because of overproduction by farmers and factories, consumption of goods decreased, uneven distribution of wealth, and overexpansion of credit. Hoover was president when the depression first began, and he maintained the government’s laissez-faire attitude in the economy. However, after the election of FDR in 1932, his many alphabet soup programs in his first one hundred days in office addressed the nation’s need for change.

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607 Words | 3 Pages

On the other hand, “Long believed that it was morally wrong for the government to allow millions of Americans to suffer in abject poverty when there existed a surplus of food, clothing, and shelter.” He blamed the mass suffering on a capitalist system run amok and feared that impending civil unrest threatened the democracy. “By 1934, nearly half of all American families lived in poverty, earning less than $1,250 annually.” Huey Pierce Long, also known as The Kingfish, was an American politician who served as the 40th Governor of Louisiana from 1928 to 1932 and as a member of the United States Senate from 1932 until his assassination in 1935. A Democrat, he was an outspoken populist who denounced the rich and the banks and called for "Share the Wealth."

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The wealthy thought Long was a dangerous man who could have what he wanted and when he wanted. Long was publicly criticized in the media for being a demagogue and dictator. He raised taxes on them forcing the rich to pay more than the poor. They disagreed with the “Share Our Wealth” plan which was designed to provide a decent standard living to all Louisiana residents by spreading the wealth among all people.

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In his New Deal, Roosevelt attempted to revise a number of characteristics of society which he perceived to be the least beneficial and could be easily improved upon. One such feature was the highly uneven distribution of wealth in pre-Depression society. In a radio address, Louisiana governor and U.S. Senator Huey Long outlined a plan to mend the, “bad distribution of this nation’s wealth,” which detailed that, “no family shall own more than three hundred times the average family wealth” while, “every family shall have an income equal to at least one third of the average family income in America.” (Doc E) An extremely liberal opponent of the New Deal, Huey Long insisted that the New Deal propose many radical changes to form a new society in the wake of one that led to an economic depression.

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Speech Analysis The Great Depression was an extremely traumatizing event in the history of America. Because of this devastating occasion, it caused the social statuses of each american to be divergent. In the speech “Share Our Wealth” by Huey P. Long, the author’s main intention of the address was to influence Americans to spread equality throughout the nation. The speech took place on the 23rd of February, 1934 during the Great Depression.

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880 Words | 4 Pages

During the 20s, which became known at the Roaring 20s, American society was at an all time high and people were prospering as the nation’s wealth almost doubled and American was sent into the modern, consumer age. However following almost directly after the Roaring 20s, America entered a period of economic failure, also known as the Great Depression. During this period, the U.S faced economic, social, and political turmoil. The government and various individuals quickly sought after solutions to address the problems facing America during this time. Herbert Hoover, who was President at the start of the Depression, and his many reforms intended to revitalize the economy and create more jobs but would fail and his belief in rugged individualism

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894 Words | 4 Pages

The world in which Huey Long first gave his “share our wealth” speech was area where a majority of America in deep poverty. Mr.Long believed it was the government's job to save the impoverished in America by taxing the rich. Long’s speech had many “share our wealth”speech was given during the Great Depression in the 1930’s .The Great Depression was a time of economic struggle in the US.The Great Depression started in 1929 after the stock market crash which sent wall street into a fluster and caused millions of investors to wipe out. In the year of 1933 around thriteen to fifthteen million Americans lost their jobs which caused a drop of custormer investment (History.com Staff)

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143 Words | 1 Pages

Both, urban and rural Americans suffered during the Great Depression, but not in the same way. Many urban Americans had to deal with living in large communities of homes made out of cardboard boxes due to homelessness and lack of food in the cites (Schultz, 2013). At the same time, rural Americans were losing their farms due to the crops as a result of the drought. The Great Depression was a perfect time for the Communist Party of the United States to thrive, as a large portion of Americans believed that Capitalism was the cause of the whole thing.

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502 Words | 3 Pages

The Great Depression The Great Depression was by far one of the worst times of America’s history, and the world’s history. The Depression affected everyone except for the politicians and the wealthy. During the depression a lot of people lost their jobs which caused the unemployment rate to sky rocket to 14% of America’s population was unemployed, and the number would stay their till World War 2, and the depression started in the 1920’s. Middle class workers were hit the hardest in the depression. Most of the middle class citizens lost their jobs.

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655 Words | 3 Pages

The Great Depression was a major turning point for the United States’s economy because it changed the relationship between the government and the economy. Before the Great Depression, the economy was a Laissez-faire style market where the government had no influence on private party transactions and businesses. After the Stock Market Crash of 1929, the people of the United States sought for reliefs from the government. The Government responded by creating tax reforms, benefiting the stock market, wheat prices, employment, and the number of bank suspensions, and providing comfort for the people. As a result of their disparity, the people put their trust in the government in hopes that they would repair the broken economy.

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1089 Words | 5 Pages

During J. P. Morgan’s time, Morgan himself was in a position to loan the Federal government huge sums of money. In essence he indirectly controlled the federal government and influenced their policies to serve his interests. He considered it a form of nationalism by doing so, even though he was rewarded handsomely in the form of interest paid back on the loan. The amount of wealth amassed by the top 1% of the population began to unnerve the American public and politicians alike. The rich got richer while the rest remained stagnant or became poorer.

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775 Words | 4 Pages

Only wealthy people were getting the benefits of getting rich and the poor get poorer. The wealthy people were also taking advantage of the labors because they have more money and the poverty people did not have any support, unlike the wealthy people. However, in 1909, the 16th Amendment was pass which allows the Congress to collect income taxes so that the government could help the poor. Federal Reserve Act was also passed in 1913 which created a banking system to regulate nation money supply. Lots of economic reforms were made to close the gap between the rich and the poor.

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