Great Depression
After World War I, the United States was very prosperous and benefited from the war know as the roaring 20's. But not for long in the 1930’s the United States faced the "Great Depression." America often was the leading country who balanced the economic systems around the world. Which means they set the tone for the economic failure or succession. All though they benefited from the war ,every country was suffering from the war because they were on the road to recovery in paying off the wars debt. Many countries, during the war required a lot of raw materials in order to support their troops. When the war ended there was a lot of overproduction causing an economic distress. Over production caused an imbalance within society, causing the farmers to produce less and the prices to drop which benefitted the middle class but did not benefit the farmers. On the other side the factory workers got higher wages causes their goods were more expensive and the average people could not afford factory goods. Due to the chaos within the economic there was an imbalance with the merchandise. When the stock market started to grow people began to take out loans in order to enhance their company and make it larger. The banks would lend money so that they can buy more stocks, but after the customer of the bank made the money, they had to pay the bank back the money they borrowsedand some interest. Unfortunately the people taking loans could not pay their loans back,causing the stock market to plummet. Many people became very scared because the brokers took back the loans. They ended the loans, because too many people were borrowing money. After the people were unable to pay the loans back the stock market crashed. The conditions became so bad, factories shut, business closed and no one was able to help each other because everyone was in the same situatuion. The whole world reached turmoil within there country. The people could not afford anything they that had to sleep in public parks or the street and they attended soup kitchens to survive.
In plans to fix the disaster the United States decided to expand their market in order to fix their economic struggles. This ended up back firing because other countries tried to expand their markets causing a complete economic, global failure. "Depression” began to spread and people lost complete faith within the democratic government “crying for change.” Many converted to communism and wanted complete change within society. This period of time was devastating people were dying from famine, and not having sanitation available. It was a very gloomy period of time when people felt like there was no way out of this mess. Although there was a “Great Depression” the countries eventually found a way out of it many a couple years later.
Review Questions
1) Name two causes of the "Great Depression" in North America, and explain why they caused the economy to crash.
2) What are loans? And why did they fail?
3) If you were the president during this "Great Depression" what would you do to change this period of "depression."
Citations:
-"Breadline in New York City." Image. Franklin D. Roosevelt Library. World History: The Modern Era. ABC-CLIO, 2013. Web. 11 Mar. 2013.
-Ellis, Elisabeth G., Anthony Esler, and Burton F. Beers Sr. World Histroy Connections To Today. Upper Saddle R River: Prentice Hall, 1916
-N.d. Photograph. File:Poor Mother and Children, California 1936 by Dorothea Lange.jpg. Wikipedia, 2 Jan. 2006. Web. 7 Mar. 2013.
-N.d. Photograph. UnemployedMarch.jpg. Wikipedia, 31 Dec. 2007. Web. 7 Mar. 2013.
After World War I, the United States was very prosperous and benefited from the war know as the roaring 20's. But not for long in the 1930’s the United States faced the "Great Depression." America often was the leading country who balanced the economic systems around the world. Which means they set the tone for the economic failure or succession. All though they benefited from the war ,every country was suffering from the war because they were on the road to recovery in paying off the wars debt. Many countries, during the war required a lot of raw materials in order to support their troops. When the war ended there was a lot of overproduction causing an economic distress. Over production caused an imbalance within society, causing the farmers to produce less and the prices to drop which benefitted the middle class but did not benefit the farmers. On the other side the factory workers got higher wages causes their goods were more expensive and the average people could not afford factory goods. Due to the chaos within the economic there was an imbalance with the merchandise. When the stock market started to grow people began to take out loans in order to enhance their company and make it larger. The banks would lend money so that they can buy more stocks, but after the customer of the bank made the money, they had to pay the bank back the money they borrowsedand some interest. Unfortunately the people taking loans could not pay their loans back,causing the stock market to plummet. Many people became very scared because the brokers took back the loans. They ended the loans, because too many people were borrowing money. After the people were unable to pay the loans back the stock market crashed. The conditions became so bad, factories shut, business closed and no one was able to help each other because everyone was in the same situatuion. The whole world reached turmoil within there country. The people could not afford anything they that had to sleep in public parks or the street and they attended soup kitchens to survive.
In plans to fix the disaster the United States decided to expand their market in order to fix their economic struggles. This ended up back firing because other countries tried to expand their markets causing a complete economic, global failure. "Depression” began to spread and people lost complete faith within the democratic government “crying for change.” Many converted to communism and wanted complete change within society. This period of time was devastating people were dying from famine, and not having sanitation available. It was a very gloomy period of time when people felt like there was no way out of this mess. Although there was a “Great Depression” the countries eventually found a way out of it many a couple years later.
Review Questions
1) Name two causes of the "Great Depression" in North America, and explain why they caused the economy to crash.
2) What are loans? And why did they fail?
3) If you were the president during this "Great Depression" what would you do to change this period of "depression."
Citations:
-"Breadline in New York City." Image. Franklin D. Roosevelt Library. World History: The Modern Era. ABC-CLIO, 2013. Web. 11 Mar. 2013.
-Ellis, Elisabeth G., Anthony Esler, and Burton F. Beers Sr. World Histroy Connections To Today. Upper Saddle R River: Prentice Hall, 1916
-N.d. Photograph. File:Poor Mother and Children, California 1936 by Dorothea Lange.jpg. Wikipedia, 2 Jan. 2006. Web. 7 Mar. 2013.
-N.d. Photograph. UnemployedMarch.jpg. Wikipedia, 31 Dec. 2007. Web. 7 Mar. 2013.