Causes of the Great Depression Essay -- United States History Economic

Causes of the colossal slump Throughout the 1920s, new industries and new methods of production led to prosperity in America. America was able to use its great supply of raw materials to receive steel, chemicals, glass, and machinery that became the foundation of an enormous extend in consumer goods (Samuelson, 2). Many US citizens invested on the stock grocery, speculating to make a quick profit. This great prosperity terminate in October 1929. People began to fear that the boom was going to end, the stock market crashed, the economy collapsed and the United States entered a long depression. The Great Depression of the mid-thirties remains the most important economic event in American history. It caused enormous hardship for tens of millions of people and the failure of a large cypher of the nations banks, businesses, and farms. The stock market crash in October 1929 is believed to be the present(prenominal) cause of the Great Depression, but there were some(prenominal) other(a) factors and long-term causes that developed in the years prior to the depression. The 1920s may have been prosperous for some Americans, but the growing prosperity was very weakening the economy. Many US citizens were never participating in the boom from the start. There were some wealthy individuals, but 60% of people were life story below the poverty line. The coal mining constancy had expanded greatly, creating many jobs, but with the introduction of oil and gas, the production of coal was decreased along with the amount of jobs. The United Mine Workers Unions membership trim from 500,000 in 1920 to 75,000 in 1928 (Temin, 33). The cotton industry experienced similar unemployment problems. In the agricultural industry, an increase in production was met with a decrea... ...n increased 50 %, but workers could not buy goods as fast as the industry produced them because their wages were low. Workers reduced their spending to hold down their debts, the amount of bills in circulation decreased, and business became even worse. The Stock Market Crash was an immediate cause of the Great Depression, but there were many long-term causes that stepwise weakened the economy. Bibliography Matthews, Layth. What Caused the Great Depression of the 1930s? Internet. http//www.shambhala.org. 2002. Samuelson, Robert. J. Great Depression. The Concise encyclopedia of economics. Internet. http//www.econlib.org. 2002. Tanner, Neal. The Easy Life of the 20s Contributed to Great Depression. Overview The Great Depression. Internet. http//www.marist.edu/summerscholars. 2002. Temin, Peter. Lessons from the Great Depression. 1989.