The Great Depression

1. What was the great depression about?

The Great Depression in the United States was a long-term unpleasant recollection in the history of the American economy. The Great Depression was the most terrible and longest economical collapse of the industrial world, continuing from the end of 1929 until early 1939. Numerous banks and industries were shut down, products were unable to be sold and thousands of people lost their jobs and had to live by begging and resorting to charity.

The depression began in late 1929 and lasted for about a decade. 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 misdistribution of wealth throughout the 1920's, and the extensive stock market speculation that took place during the latter part that same decade. The mistake of distributing wealth in the 1920's existed on many levels. Money was distributed disparately between the rich and the middle-class, between industry and agriculture within the United States, and between the U.S. and Europe. This imbalance of wealth created an unstable economy. The excessive speculation in the late 1920's kept the stock market artificially high, but eventually lead to large market crashes. These market crashes, combined with the misdistribution of wealth, caused the American economy to capsize.

2. How did the new deals help during the great depression?

The "First" New Deal (1933-35) aimed at restoring the economy from the top down

The Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA), passed in 1933, accepted the long-held premise that low farm prices resulted from overproduction. Thus, the government sought to stimulate increased farm prices by paying farmers to produce less. While the original AAA was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, a new act correcting for the Court's concerns was passed in 1935. Critics pointed ...