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Thesis
The Great depression is assumed by some historians to be an opportunity to rebuild america from the ground up. However, the redistribution of funds to citizens in an unfair way, the setup of the economy for the future, and the alteration of politics counter this argument, showing that the condition of America wouldn't be able to pull themselves out for a long while. Therefore, this was not a great chance for America to rebuild itself properly from the ground up. -
First mass produced car- the Oldsmobile
Starting in 1901 the oldsmobile became the first mass produced car. It had almost no power and was essentially a mechanical horse buggy, but with a price of a mere 650 dollars it was affordable for the middle class American. This soon sent a car craze into motion, it became part of the American Dream and soon dominated mass media. The influence was so apparent that the US developed highway systems over other forms of infastructure. -
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Overproduction
Thanks to better production methods and electricity a huge amount of goods were produced and the overproduction soon saw a drop in prices nationwide. -
Treaty of Versailles
This treaty ending WWI was punitive to German economy. This started a chain reaction that lead to depression all over Europe until the US began to loan Germany money and make their payments more realistic. -
Rise of credit based purchasing
Starting in the 1800s credit purchasing started to rise starting in the 1900s. This spending of money that often times people didn't have as a major factor in the beggining of the depression. -
Unequal distribution of wealth
Since the lower half of society didn't have enough money to spend for goods and necessities, the flow of money budged quite firmly, which was a large factor that causes the great depression. If the money had been distributed then much more fairly, then the great depression may have never happened. -
Protectionism
The Underwood-Simmons Tariff was an experiment used as an experiment to lower the price of tariffs. In 1928, Hoover ran a platform for higher tariffs in order to protect farmers from European competition. Congress passed the Hawley-Tariff Act in 1930. From this, world trade for America decline by approximately 66% totally. This was a large hit that surely contributed to the Great Depression. -
Slow recovery
Since there was slow process to rebuilding what fell due to the major factor factors involved, everything else followed that led to the great depression. As the depression raced, the process of recovery remained slow, postponing its end. -
Black Thursday
A record amount of shares were held that quickly reflected panic selling. Investors who were involved attempted to sell their stocks, but failed and lost profits on a large scale. Due to the losses, a record 30 billion dollars was lost in the mass of panic. Overall, 40% of the total stock crashed from this brief event. -
Stock Market crash of 1929
The catalyst that set the great depression into motion. Billions of dollars were lost overnight as the eve of the great depression began -
American economic policy with Europe
Due to the aftershock of the first World War, an acute effect of the aftermath took effect on the countries there. America suffered as well. Poverty and unemployment was felt throughout both Europe and America. New challenges were given from this period after the war. All countries that were involved in this responded by developing strategies to slowly restore the economy. -
Bank failures
Many banks failed in the 1930's. Banks were uninsured, and lost their savings. Less and less expenditures were made due to the economic instability. -
Reduction in purchasing across the board
Consumers across the whole country were unsure of how the economy was going to turn due to the start of the depression. With the dust bowl involved and crops failing, no one wanted to risk losing any money through purchases unless absolutely needed. From this, money became much more valuable, because only few were willing to spend money regularly. Entirely throughout the country, as a whole, it suffered due to the lack of flow of currency. -
Changes in political power
The Republican party was dominant in the U.S. for many years until Roosevelt was elected. From this election until Reagan in 1980, the democratic party was in full dominance, shifting gut e way the country moved for decades. -
New Deal
The cut in excess crops to raise prices only hurt the economy since there was a need for cheap food for the people. Black markets that were selling cheap food were broken up from the New Deal. Workers halted in their jobs, which stopped the production in goods for the country. Large companies couldn't keep high payrolls since production was low, which led to employment to rise exponentially. -
U.S employment
emplyment rate was very low it was 24.9% -
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Dust bowl
Starting in 1934 and coming in major waves in 1936 and 1939-1940. This time was marked by severe drought that affected the great plains region of America. Wheat production dropped drastically and caused a sharp spike in price of wheat. The Dust Bowl also lead to major migration from the plains to California. Steinbeck wrote about and popularized the Dust Bowl with "The Grapes of Wrath". -
Drought conditions
Drought conditions within the country drained moisture where crops were grown. Due to the lack of water for crops to thrive, the numbers were immensely cut, causing the prices to rise tremendously. Citizens in America were sometimes unable to afford the produce to have a square meal. While some suffered, others tried action against it. What they didn't realize was that they couldn't shift the land's condition under such circumstances. -
Conclusion
While the Great Depression is usually referred to ending much earlier, it truly didn't draw to a close until the Dust Bowl had ended. With the ending of the Dust Bowl the US economy was finally able to fully recover and normalize its economy.
