DEPRESSION Essay -- essays research papers

Advertising.com COSHE.COM : uncategorized : Great Depression Great Depression The Great Depression was a disastrous business slump that affected millions of people throughout the entire United States. It began in 1929 and continued on, to some degree, until Click Here to Search COSHE's Database Again Great Depression The Great Depression was a disastrous business slump that affected millions of people throughout the entire United States. It began in 1929 and continued on, to some degree, until 1939. People lost their jobs, and families lost their homes. The country was in total chaos. Some believed that America could never totally recover. There were several factors that contributed to the start of the Great Depression. One of them was the crash of the stock market. It was 1929, and Republican Herbert Hoover had just been recently elected. During the previous few years, the stock market had been steadily rising, and everyone wanted their piece of the profits. By this time, over 1.5 million people owned stock in various companies. People in every kind of financial situation owned stocks. It seemed that it was an easy way to make money, and most investors were getting rich. The stock market reached its all-time high on September 3, 1929. This caused even more people to buy stock. In October of 1929, however, the stock prices slowly began to decrease. This did not bother the stockholders that much because they just figured that the stocks would go back up like they always did. Unfortunately, these predictions were terribly wrong. On the 24th of October, the stock market plummeted. Shareholders rushed to sell their stocks as quickly as possible, but they found no buyers. The 24th came to be known as "Black Thursday." Five days later there was a "Black Tuesday." That was when more than sixteen million stocks were sold at a great loss. One stock had dropped from one hundred dollars to only three dollars per share. The President and the bankers tried to assure people that there was not a crisis and that it was only a temporary situation, but they could not have been more wrong. When the stock market crashed, it upset the whole economy. Because the stock prices were so low, no one would invest in them. This meant that the large and small companies who depended on the stockholder's support now had major financial problems. Thousands o... .... President Franklin D. Roosevelt had truly done what the American people so desperately needed. He helped save the United States from the worst and most devastating depression in the history of the nation. He had become a national hero, and grew to be so popular that he won the election of 1936 by an even greater majority than the previous one. When the United States entered World War II, unemployment nearly disappeared. Industries became busy again trying to keep up with the war material orders and many young people entered the armed forces to fight for freedom.. The damage from the Great Depression that Roosevelt and his "New Deal" could not fix, the war certainly did. Several insights can be learned from the Great Depression. Perhaps the biggest one is that the United States government can positively influence the economy by creating massive programs. Also, that many Americans have the spirit of compassion which is necessary in order to provide for the less fortunate. Perhaps the greatest lesson taught was that no matter how big the problem, there is always hope for a solution, as long as there is determination, devotion, and a commitment to solving that problem.