The Great Depression: Franklin D. Roosevelt And World War II

640 Words3 Pages

Great Depression

The Great Depression was a time filled with devastation and economic decline. There were many things that contributed to make this devastating time occur and affect many people around the world. The crash of the stock market was one of the leading causes of the Depression. The crash had lead to unemployment and poverty. Fortunately, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and World War II revived the world from such a sad part in time.

The Great Depression started in 1929 and continued on until 1939. It all started when the stock market crashed and stock prices started to go up. (“First”) Many people started losing their jobs and homes. There were over 4 million people who were unemployed. (“Unemployment”) A majority of people who had jobs still could not afford food and other necessities. This was because their wages were going down and the prices of goods were going up. Businesses and factories were slowing down production and firing workers. People were being fired because the company they were working for was not making enough money to pay them. (“Great Depression”) …show more content…

As soon as the stock market crashed citizens started demanding for their money. Many banks started to panic because they could not give all of these people money. President Roosevelt decided to start giving banks loans from the government. He did this because it would start to boost the bank's confidence and everyone else's. He also started something called “bank holiday”. “Bank holiday” was when all of the banks would close so congress could then pass reform legislation and reopen the banks. Another thing he did was he started something called fireside chats. Fireside chats was a live broadcast on president Roosevelt addressing everyone about the situations around them. This helped people a lot because it gave them hope. Hope that soon all of the devastating things around them would soon come to an end.