By Alexandra Blockton
ablockton@lc.edu
It simply started in the United States as it quickly spread throughout the world. First, the stock market crashed in October of 1929. That was when bank failures, consumer debt, drought overproduction of goods, and stock speculation all began to take place. But 16 million shares of the stock were sold fast by the investors who were panicking because they had lost the faith they once had for the American Economy.
By the 1930s the economy was in a huge deal of trouble because many people were left without jobs, were starving, and homeless. Even farmers had defaulted on their loans! Many individuals would stand in long lines just to eat at soup kitchens for only a bite to eat. For the many people that did not eat at the soup kitchens were not sure of where their next meal was coming from.
Americans, as well as many people all around the world, we’re living just to be able to survive in the midst of a crisis. In 1939, it was the worst year ever of The Great Depression because Wall Street was sent into a panic and millions of investors were wiped out.
Immigrants also started to go back to their native countries!
According to an article called the Great Depression in the United States, from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, “The Depression caused major political changes in America. Three years into the depression, President Herbert Hoover, widely shamed for not doing enough to combat the crisis, lost the election of 1932 to Franklin Delano Roosevelt by an embarrassingly wide margin. Roosevelt’s economic recovery plan .“The New Deal”, instituted unprecedented programs for relief recovery and reform, and brought about a major realignment of American Politics.”
The stock market had lost almost 90% of its value between the years of 1929 and 1933. There were around 11,000 banks that had failed during the Great Depression and it left many people without savings. In 1929, unemployment was around only 3% and the average family income dropped by 40% during the time the Great Depression occurred throughout the world.