The United States enjoyed a sustained economic growth and period of stability directly after the end of World War I until October 29th 1929 "Black Tuesday" when the stock market crashed and officially started what we know now as the Great Depression. Within a very short time period, actually a matter of weeks investors lost more then thirty billion dollars (this was almost the same amount that the United States had spent on World War I). Prices continued to drop and this would lead to an incline in the unemployment rate because this loss of investment would lead to many lost jobs and by 1933 there were over 12 million people unemployed.
Unemployment skyrocketed with nearly a quarter of the American workforce losing their jobs by 1933 and many of those without work becoming homeless.
Banks failed, mortgages were foreclosed and farm families were evicted from their land. Mines and factories ground to a halt. Many people were forced to live in shantytowns that became known as Hoovervilles (blaming President Hoover for the economic collapse) .
President Herbert Hoover attempted to handle the crisis but he was unable to improve the American economy. In the presidential election of 1932 Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected president and he promised Americans a "New Deal" to lead America into a more prosperous future.
Within Roosevelt’s first 100 days in office he and Congress would pass massive legislation focused on economic recovery and financial stability. This included The Works Progress Administration (WPA) which offered work relief for thousands of people building or rebuilding the infrastructure of the United States transportation systems. Another huge legislation passed by Roosevelt in 1935 was implementation of Social Security which provided a guaranteed income for Americans when they reached retirement age.
The majority of historians agree that the end to the Great Depression at least in the United States came when they entered World War II after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, HI by the Japanese on December 7th, 1941.
The Great Depression triggered a world wide depression that had a huge impact on Europe especially causing world trade to dwindle and as the unemployed in Europe grew so did radical political parties grow and begin to flourish taking advantage of the hopelessness and despair of those who could not find work . These radical groups promised that their political viewpoints could solve their economic problems. The world wide depression would provide a platform for both Benito Mussolini of Italy and Adolph Hitler of Germany to rise to power promising a return to economic stability.
The following short film will give you some appreciation of how the stock market works and why the crash in 1929 took the majority of Americans by surprise.
Unemployment skyrocketed with nearly a quarter of the American workforce losing their jobs by 1933 and many of those without work becoming homeless.
Banks failed, mortgages were foreclosed and farm families were evicted from their land. Mines and factories ground to a halt. Many people were forced to live in shantytowns that became known as Hoovervilles (blaming President Hoover for the economic collapse) .
President Herbert Hoover attempted to handle the crisis but he was unable to improve the American economy. In the presidential election of 1932 Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected president and he promised Americans a "New Deal" to lead America into a more prosperous future.
Within Roosevelt’s first 100 days in office he and Congress would pass massive legislation focused on economic recovery and financial stability. This included The Works Progress Administration (WPA) which offered work relief for thousands of people building or rebuilding the infrastructure of the United States transportation systems. Another huge legislation passed by Roosevelt in 1935 was implementation of Social Security which provided a guaranteed income for Americans when they reached retirement age.
The majority of historians agree that the end to the Great Depression at least in the United States came when they entered World War II after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, HI by the Japanese on December 7th, 1941.
The Great Depression triggered a world wide depression that had a huge impact on Europe especially causing world trade to dwindle and as the unemployed in Europe grew so did radical political parties grow and begin to flourish taking advantage of the hopelessness and despair of those who could not find work . These radical groups promised that their political viewpoints could solve their economic problems. The world wide depression would provide a platform for both Benito Mussolini of Italy and Adolph Hitler of Germany to rise to power promising a return to economic stability.
The following short film will give you some appreciation of how the stock market works and why the crash in 1929 took the majority of Americans by surprise.
Below is a timeline showing important events that are associated with the Great Depression.