What Caused The Great Depression

The Great Depression was the worst economic downturn in U.S history. It caused over half of the banks in the U.S to fail and shutdown, it brought poverty and unemployment levels to all time highs, and it also placed social, psychological, and ofcourse economic burdens on every family in the U.S. The Great Depression started after a stock market crash in 1929, but what caused the stock market to crash? Well throughout the period known as “The Roaring Twenties” the United States’ economy had grown expansively. The New York Stock Exchange, also know as NYSE was the place where millionaires and even janitors and cooks would invest their every cent into stocks. Due to this huge growth in investment the stock markets underwent rapid expansions until reaching its peak in the August of 1929. By 1929 unemployment has risen and production had declined. This made stock prices unusually high, so high that they were worth way more than their legitimate value. To

In the depths of the Great Depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected. Roosevelt took immediate action, announcing a “Four-day bank holiday”. During this time reforms would pass that would reopen the banks as if nothing had happened. Roosevelt also addressed the public on the radio, boosting the confidence and hope of his listeners. By the first 100 days Roosevelt had done everything in his power to stabilize industrial and agricultural production, and to make jobs available for the unemployed. Roosevelt also looked to find solutions so that another crisis did not happen again, as a result he created the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) which protected the accounts of depositors. He also created the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) which regulated the stock market and prevented future abuse as the one that led to the crash of 1929. With the aid of other programs the “road of recovery” had