Stock Market Crash Of 1929 And The Great Depression Essay
Bianca Broussard
3/3/16
The Stock Market Crash and the Great Depression
The Great Depression of the 1930’s was a long-lasting economic crisis as well as a worldwide phenomenon. The United States had experienced several recessions on and off since the start of the Industrial Revolution, but nothing as extreme or long-lasting as the Great Depression. So what exactly caused this harrowing time in American History? Many mistakenly believe that ‘Black Tuesday’ or The Stock Market Crash of 1929 was ultimately responsible for the Great Depression, truthfully however it’s just not possible to pin the blame on solely one factor. The Stock Market Crash was indeed one of the major event that sparked the Depression, but all in all it was a combination …show more content…
population. With the Industrial Revolution on the rise, the 20’s represented the beginning of modern America. Everyone was fascinated by Henry Ford’s new automobiles, women gained the right to vote and new electric machines made life easier on Americans. No one could have guessed or foreshadowed the events that were to come in the 1930’s. From the height of prosperity in the 20’s to the depths of depression in the 30’s, the U.S. GDP fell from $103.6 billion to $58.7 billion in a matter of 3 years. 9,000 banks failed, consumption, housing and construction, private investment and farm income were at all-time lows, with the unemployment rate as the only thing that seemed to be rising. Although the Stock Market Crash of 1929 may have seemed to trigger this economic turmoil, it alone cannot be blamed for the Great Depression. Bank failures, overproduction, reduction in spending, drought conditions and the Smoot-Hawley Tariff all played a role in the decline of the U.S. economy. Although the immediate consequences of the Stock Market Crash sparked the start of the Great Depression, longstanding weaknesses in the economy sent the nation into a downward spiral of
3/3/16
The Stock Market Crash and the Great Depression
The Great Depression of the 1930’s was a long-lasting economic crisis as well as a worldwide phenomenon. The United States had experienced several recessions on and off since the start of the Industrial Revolution, but nothing as extreme or long-lasting as the Great Depression. So what exactly caused this harrowing time in American History? Many mistakenly believe that ‘Black Tuesday’ or The Stock Market Crash of 1929 was ultimately responsible for the Great Depression, truthfully however it’s just not possible to pin the blame on solely one factor. The Stock Market Crash was indeed one of the major event that sparked the Depression, but all in all it was a combination …show more content…
population. With the Industrial Revolution on the rise, the 20’s represented the beginning of modern America. Everyone was fascinated by Henry Ford’s new automobiles, women gained the right to vote and new electric machines made life easier on Americans. No one could have guessed or foreshadowed the events that were to come in the 1930’s. From the height of prosperity in the 20’s to the depths of depression in the 30’s, the U.S. GDP fell from $103.6 billion to $58.7 billion in a matter of 3 years. 9,000 banks failed, consumption, housing and construction, private investment and farm income were at all-time lows, with the unemployment rate as the only thing that seemed to be rising. Although the Stock Market Crash of 1929 may have seemed to trigger this economic turmoil, it alone cannot be blamed for the Great Depression. Bank failures, overproduction, reduction in spending, drought conditions and the Smoot-Hawley Tariff all played a role in the decline of the U.S. economy. Although the immediate consequences of the Stock Market Crash sparked the start of the Great Depression, longstanding weaknesses in the economy sent the nation into a downward spiral of