Impacts of the Great Depression

The Great Depression The Great Depression had a negative impact on America and the world. The Great Depression started when the stock market crashed in 1929, this was caused by over speculation in the stocks of land, the crash caused people to lose all the money they had invested in stocks and people started becoming poor, when this happened there was not enough demand for all the goods and services that the economy produced, “unsold goods built up and manufacturers cut production, laid off workers and bought less of the raw materials” (Caldwell). Demand for durable goods, such as automobiles, house appliances, and home furnishings, decreases when people don’t feel prosperous which adds to the lowering economy. Another factor which led to the Great Depression was the infamous Dust Bowl. The Dust Bowl itself lasted for a decade and was caused because farmers were over farming the land and not rotating their crops which left the top soil very dry and loose. Also “the severe drought which had hit the plains that year was a major factor to the occurrence of the Dust Bowl” (Ganzel). When the raging winds of the plains hit these arid places they sent all the dust from the farm lands flying into the sky which caused thousands of dollars in damage of property and belongings, it also took the lives of many people that were suffocated with the dirt while they were caught in the dust storms. Sometimes complete houses were left buried in the dust. Many people that were farmers started to move to more urban states like California and this put a strain on relief fund in places which led to more economic failure. Many thought the economy would hit rock bottom and then the economy would start to rise but that did not happen. Total demand stayed low, business firms continued to lay off employees and went bankrupt. Then in 1930 the banks