The Great Depression
The Great Depression
"In other periods of depression, it has always been possible to see some things which were solid and upon which you could base hope, but as I look about, I now see nothing to give ground to hope—nothing of man."
- Former President Calvin Coolidge, 1932
The 1920s was a time of roaring prosperity marked by booming business and negligible unemployment. Even during the October of 1929, the thought of poverty was close to an end. In fact, in 1928, President Herbert Hoover stated, “We have not yet reached the goal, but given a chance to go forward with the policies of the last eight years, and we shall soon with the help of God be within sight of the day when poverty will be banished from the nation”. The prescience of the end of poverty became known as the ‘American Dream’. However, this foresight was shortly lived. On Tuesday, March 26, 1929, the Hoover Administration saw the largest stock market crash of their administration to that date. Several months later brought Black Monday, the largest stock market crash in American history and the cardinal cause of what is now known as the ‘Great Depression’.
The Great Depression was an economic deficit with worldwide effects that began with the stock market crash of October 1929. The most profound effect of it was the highest rate of unemployment in American history as banks, factories, and stores closed, leaving millions of Americans jobless with no money. Without money, many Americans had to rely on either the government or donations from charities to obtain food. As the depression continued, however, the Roosevelt administration created government agencies to aid in supplying Americans with food, relieving the effects of the Great Depression but leaving an irrevocable mark on the United States economic outlook and indeed, that of the entire world.
The causes of the Great Depression are still a matter of active debate among economists, and are part of the larger debate about economic
"In other periods of depression, it has always been possible to see some things which were solid and upon which you could base hope, but as I look about, I now see nothing to give ground to hope—nothing of man."
- Former President Calvin Coolidge, 1932
The 1920s was a time of roaring prosperity marked by booming business and negligible unemployment. Even during the October of 1929, the thought of poverty was close to an end. In fact, in 1928, President Herbert Hoover stated, “We have not yet reached the goal, but given a chance to go forward with the policies of the last eight years, and we shall soon with the help of God be within sight of the day when poverty will be banished from the nation”. The prescience of the end of poverty became known as the ‘American Dream’. However, this foresight was shortly lived. On Tuesday, March 26, 1929, the Hoover Administration saw the largest stock market crash of their administration to that date. Several months later brought Black Monday, the largest stock market crash in American history and the cardinal cause of what is now known as the ‘Great Depression’.
The Great Depression was an economic deficit with worldwide effects that began with the stock market crash of October 1929. The most profound effect of it was the highest rate of unemployment in American history as banks, factories, and stores closed, leaving millions of Americans jobless with no money. Without money, many Americans had to rely on either the government or donations from charities to obtain food. As the depression continued, however, the Roosevelt administration created government agencies to aid in supplying Americans with food, relieving the effects of the Great Depression but leaving an irrevocable mark on the United States economic outlook and indeed, that of the entire world.
The causes of the Great Depression are still a matter of active debate among economists, and are part of the larger debate about economic