In 1929, the United States Stock Market crashed. However, this “most disastrous day” that sparked the Great Depression did not occur out of the blue. There were many contributing factors to the Great Depression of the 1930s, the most influential being stock speculation and installment buying of goods, maldistribution of income, and the overproduction of goods. These three topics led up to the Bull Market Boom and the Great Depression. The main cause of the Great Depression was stock market speculation and installment buying. According to A History of the American People from 1952, “investors put their money into securities (stocks) in the hope of making a quick profit on a speculative rise in stocks.” This shows that because the stocks were …show more content…
A section from Frederick Lewis Allen’s, The Big Change, 60 percent of American families were living below the poverty line. This means that 60 of every 100 families were on $2,000 a year, “the minimum necessary for meeting the basic needs of the average US family.” The other 40 families were living with more than what they needed. In fact, while 21% of families were living with under $1,000 a year, 8% were living with $5,000 or more. This maldistribution of income only made the rich stay rich and the poor get poorer. One family was living on 46 cents a day and were still not the poorest of people. Gladys Caldwell, a mill-worker interviewed by Paul Blanchard, supported her three children, only spending 46 cents a day. Her husband worked as a stripper and when workers got laid off and he was doing more work than he should have been, he was getting the same amount of money than when he was doing just his job. This illustrates how the income of US families was maldistributed. While people like Gladys were just getting by, others were still spending a lot of money on “Garwood Boats.” These rich people were still getting offered to buy boats for as much as $12,950! This extreme maldistribution of income was a leading cause of the Great
The majority of individuals trust that the stock exchange crash that happened on October 29, 1929 is the main source of the Great Depression. The stock market accident was not the sole reason for the Great Depression, but rather it acted to quicken the worldwide economic breakdown of which it was additionally a symptom. Numerous components prompted the Depression. One of which being bank failures, another the global downturn, and dry season conditions.
Historians argue what caused the Great Depression, some say it was due to the stock market, others say it may be the war debt or overproduction. To believe the Great Depression was caused by only one event is naive. It was caused by a multitude of problems that the government failed to fix.
The first main cause of the Great Depression was The Stock Market Crash of 1929. On October 29, 1929 the New York Stock Exchange experienced a huge downfall that was detrimental to the US economy. For example, in Document 3 the title of the newspaper article is, “Stock prices Slump $14,000,000,000 In Nationwide Stampede To Unload Bankers To Support The Market Today.” These losses that occurred because of this crash were probably the most devastating ever experienced in the stock market. Because of
This contrast between the majority of the population in poverty versus the small percent of the extremely wealthy was a clear sign of income maldistribution. Those who were in need of money and support were denied while those who didn’t need money were swimming in riches. But this issue didn’t only affect the people who were either struggling or floating above the rest, it also became a very big issue for companies as well. Only the very rich were able to buy most luxury items in this time period because of how expensive they were. One example would be boats which were between $10,000- $35,000.
The causes of the Great Depression in the early 20th century is a matter of active debate between economists. Although the popular belief is that the main cause was the crashing Stock Market in 1929 caused the Great Depression, There were other major economic events that contributed just as much as the crash, such as American’s overextension of credit, an unequal distribution of wealth, over production of goods, and a severe drop in business revenue. As these events transpired the state of economic crisis in the US began to skyrocket.
The Great Depression was a time of great economic tragedy during the 1930’s. October 24, 1929 was the day of the stock market crash, causing economical shortage everywhere, even globally, and this scared everyone, including the rich. This day was/ is known as “Black Thursday”, where over 2.9 million shares were traded. On “Black Tuesday”, five days later, more than 16 million more shares were traded in another wave of panic. Many investors then lost confidence in their banks and demanded deposits in cash which forced the banks to liquidate loans in order to supplement their on hand cash reserves. By 1933, around 15 million Americans were unemployed and nearly half of the country’s banks had failed. This stopped Americans from purchasing which then led to less production of goods and decreased the amount of needed human labor. In the end, millions of shares ended up worthless, and those investors who had bought stocks with borrowed money were wiped out completely.
Prior to the Great Depression, America’s economy was prospering. After World War I, the United States’ economy expanded due to factors that include more railroads being developed, automobiles being developed and more international trade happening. The stock market was on the rise greatly improving the wealth of Americans all over. A lot of Americans had put their money into to the stock market as a way to gain money. Much of the money that Americans invested were borrowed money. Because a lot of the money that Americans invested was borrowed money and banks were putting their money in stocks, when the stock market crashed on October 29th, 1929, millions of Americans lost their money. These were some of the factors that led to the time period known as the Great Depression. In response to the Great Depression, Franklin D. Roosevelt created a series of programs and
This paper will present a brief summary and discussion of the causes of the Great Depression based on Frank Stricker 's paper, "Causes of the Great Depression: or What Reagan doesn 't know about the 1920s." Stricker presents an argument as to what he believes to be the root causes of the Great Depression as they relate to the decade preceding the stock market crash of 1929. This review is intended for undergraduate and graduate students of U.S. American History. Stricker present 's several essential points in his paper. The capitalist form of economy, by its nature, has an insatiable appetite for ever-increasing profits. During the 1920 's profits were high, yet income distribution was unequal (95). The only real benefactors were
The economic expansion of the 1920’s, with its increased production of goods and high profits, culminated in immense consumer speculation that collapsed with disastrous results in 1929 causing America’s Great Depression. There were a number or contributing factors to the depression, with the largest and most important one being a general loss of confidence in the American economy. The reason it escalated was a general misunderstanding of recessions by American policymakers of the time.
There were several factors that played a major role in the Great Depression. The main explanation was overproduction of both farm and factory and the unequal distribution of wealth throughout the 1920s. The excessive speculation in the 1920s kept the stock market at a deceitful high, and came crashing down in 1929. Over extended credit at
Uneven distribution of wealth serves as another cause of the Great Depression. America was wealthy in the 1920s, but this wealth did not extend to all segment of the society. The gains made by wealthy Americans in the 1920s far outstripped gained made by the working class. By the time of the stock market crash, the upper one percent of the population controlled over sixty percent of the nation’s savings. On the other hand, over three quarters of American families made less than $3000 a year. Problems that could develop from this situation were obvious. The bottom-line three-quarters of families were too poor to purchase much to help the economics to flourish. Underconsumption, in the long run, was a vicious circle to the economy. People had no money to spend. The income of many firms dwindled. More people were laid off or cut hours and thus further cut their spending. The economics became stagnant.
Many people think that the Great Depression was caused solely by the stock market crash. Anybody who tells you this probably didn’t pass U.S. History in high school. The fact is, the Great Depression was caused many different factors. Four of which were overproduction, uneven distribution of wealth, protective tariffs, and the four “sick industries” of the 1920’s.
Many people speculate that the stock market crash of 1929 was the main cause of The Great Depression. In fact, The Great Depression was caused by a series of factors, and the effects of the depression were felt for many years after the stock market crash of 1929. By looking at the stock market crash of 1929, bank failures, reduction of purchasing, American economic policy with Europe, and drought conditions, it becomes apparent that The Great Depression was caused by more than just the stock market crash. The effects were detrimental beyond the financial crisis experienced during this time period.
The Great Depression was caused by a few factors but the major reason behind it was the financial markets then was not based on realities of the economy. The model used did not show any implications of correlation of company health to the price of stock.
America’s Great Depression is believed as having begun in 1929 with the Stock Market crash, and ending in 1941 with America’s entry into World War II. In order to fully comprehend the repercussions and devastating effects of the Crash of 1929, it is important to examine the factors that contributed to the catastrophic event which led to The Great Depression. The Great Depression was the worst economic slump in U.S. history, and it spread to most of the industrialized world. Many factors played a role in bringing about the depression; however, the main cause for the Great Depression was the combination of the greatly unequal distribution of wealth throughout the 1920s, and the