Great Depression Essays (Examples)

Great Depression

Angela Thomas

The Great Depression was a pivotal time in the history of the United States and as a result, American business, banking, agriculture and society were drastically altered. It is commonly believed that the crash of the New York stock market at the end of October 1929 caused the Great Depression, but in reality this turbulent period of American history was brought on by a number of factors. And as the causes of the Great Depression are still being debated, so to are the effectiveness of President Franklin Delano oosevelt's "New Deal" solutions. What is agreed upon is that the Great Depression and oosevelt's New Deal changed America forever.

While there is still much debate as to the exact causes of the Great Depression, there is no doubt that it began with a decline in industrial production in early 1929. However, this decline did not necessarily mean…

There was little support for an Equal ights Amendment, largely due to the belief that there were other problems to solve first, but the mindset of women was well set for what would be their need in the workforce during World War II. However, while large numbers of women worked during the Depression, scholars often see their status slightly decreasing because the American Federation of Labor, for one, did not allow women to join unions and pushed employeers to hire men (Moran)

Minorities -- Most of America's minorities did not benefit from oosevelt's New Deal Programs. They were considered the "last hired, first fired" regardless of their tenure with the company, and because so many White Males were out of work, had a tougher time finding employment. A shortage of jobs in the American Southwest, however, led to the illegal deportation of 400,000 Mexican-Americans just so Whites could take those…

Great Depression

Dorothea Lange's iconic picture of the Great Depression in America is titled simply, "Migrant Mother." The title depersonalizes the image of Florence Thompson, who Jennifer Keene claims is "angry and bitter" that the photographer never asked her name, nor used the photograph to help the poor. According to Keene, Thompson believes that Lange profited from the photo without fulfilling the original promise to inspire government aide for the poor. On the other hand, Thompson's two youngest children are also depicted in the photograph taken in 1936. One of those daughters claims that it is only via self-reliance that economic independence is possible, suggesting that government aide is not necessarily the best or only way to help the poor. Indeed, the best way to help the poor at any time is to provide a diverse range of programs and resources. The "poor" should never be lumped together as a…

In fact, from 1923-1929 corporate profits rose 62% and dividends rose 65%." (McElvaine R.S. p. 39) This is further evidence not only of the inequality of general wealth distribution, but also of the severe imbalance that was to create havoc in the economy.

This dilemma was also further exacerbated by the fact that the Federal Government encouraged this situation. For example, President Coolidge signed the Revenue Act of 1926, which in effect reduced tax for the wealthy. "... he was able to lower federal taxes such that a man with a million-dollar annual income had his federal taxes reduced from $600,000 to $200,000.. Even the Supreme Court played a role in expanding the gap between the socioeconomic classes. " (Gusmorino P.A. 1996)

This situation was further worsened by another imbalance, namely the disparity between supply and demand. This was to have far-reaching and damaging effect on the economy and was…

Thus, when stricter regulations should have been implemented, they were not, and the avoidable became utterly unavoidable. The president Hoover's initial reaction was to allow the market to fix itself, thus going alongside his lassiez-faire beliefs. Yet, he was forced by Congress to act, but did so minimally (Wilkison 1). Thus, it was not long before the nation was in demand of a more hands on president who was willing to implement new social and economic programs to get the United States back on track to economic prosperity.

When Franklin D, oosevelt took over the Oval Office, he inherited a multitude of problems still reeling from the onslaught of the Great Depression. In his formulation of a plan, oosevelt created the New Deal, which "sought to save capitalism and the fundamental institutions of American society from the disaster of the Great Depression," (Wilkison 1). Thus, oosevelt created a multi-faceted approach…

Depression

The Great Depression

Pre-Depression Economy Summary

• rite a journal entry describing a weakness in your chosen character's sector of the economy that would later contribute to the Great Depression.

• rite a summary of the weaknesses in the American economy that contributed to the Great Depression.

The Great Depression was one events of the twentieth century that defined the entire century. It was the longest lasting and most widespread financial crisis in the history of the country. However, it also spread globally and many economies were all involved in varying amounts depending on their trade arrangements with the U.S. The atmosphere in the U.S. was filled with desperation and pretty much any political leaders who had a seemingly reasonable idea gained popularity quickly as people demanded action.

In the United States the economy went from virtually booming to bust in a relatively short time frame. Although the unemployment…

Great Depression was the single most significant economic catastrophe of the 20th century, brought on by a lack of the ability to control monetary pricing as well as a period of sustained high unemployment. Unlike modern economies, pre-Great Depression governments did not have many tools to sway the economy one way or the other, there was a long standing belief in "laissez faire" capitalism, with the premise that all markets are to be left alone, with the belief that the market can always correct itself if given enough time. Sensing that the world economy could take years to recover on its own, economists such as John Maynard Keynes of Britain advocated the creation of government backing for bank deposits, which gave citizens the peace of mind of knowing their money would be backed by the government in case of another banking disaster like we saw in the 1930s. (B News…

Depression V ecession

The Great ecession of 2009, which in economic terms lasted two quarters but for many people stretched out quite a bit longer, was billed as the worst economic event since the Great Depression. This provides us with an opportunity to examine the two events, their respective time periods, and what sort of similarities and differences we can determined between them.

The 1920s were known as the roaring twenties, and were considered a boom time. The period after the First World War saw significant shifts in American life, in terms of standard of living and how people lived. The 20s saw a significant shift towards urbanization, fueled by job opportunities that were emerging in white collar sectors. The term urban is juxtaposed against rural -- in many cases these areas were what we would consider small country towns. But the shift away from the farm was a profound…

The middle one, Stevie, he's usually hiding in his room but every now and then, he'd hug me like he knew I needed it. Times aren't the greatest for my friends either. They all have family and are looking for jobs, too. Remember our neighbors, the Moribitos? They've got six kids and Domenic, the husband, is out of work, too while his wife is running after their wee little ones. I think despite all the problems, the neighborhood here in New York City seems cohesive like we're all one big family facing the same dilemma. In the end, all we need is love right, and as long as our families got each other; money doesn't make the world go round! It's what I tell Eileen and myself but I don't think she's buying much of it anymore. We have nothing to our name but these ragged clothes on our backs…

Weak governmental intervention and stubborn responses by overzealous investors led to the stock market crash in October of 1929. Non-existent money artificially inflated the prices of stocks traded on the market and caused firms to produce more than they could sell. When reality hit, it was too late to prevent the market from crashing.

President Hoover reacted by stimulating construction and public works projects. Urging firms to keep wages steady and relatively high, he cut taxes and increased allocations for public spending. Hoover was initially praised for his approach and for his awareness of ancillary factors causing the recession including his blaming rampant stock speculation. His reputation fell when he passed the Smoot-Hawley Tariff. Moreover, his pro-development policies did not help circulate the surplus goods. Oversupply and under-demand were still core problems that needed to be addressed. Worker wages remained too low to stimulate consumer spending. In the absence of…

These two factors would cause the economy to experience a sudden erosion of economic stability. At which point, a new Administration would begin: massive spending and enacting various regulations to address the causes of the Great Depression. This would help to provide stability to: the economy and it created a foundation for placing some kind of support in the different economic structures (i.e. banks / the stock market). What all of this shows, is that the lack of taking any kind of action from the federal government would make the situation worse. As it would cause the depression to begin and have devastating effects. Then, when they finally decided to do something about it, the policies would essentially negate each other. What put an end to the Great Depression was: the massive amounts of government spending on social programs and new regulations to address the underlying causes.

Causes of the…

The excessive use of margin had encouraged speculation. Poor governance on the part of banks and brokerages allowed for a market failure where investors were not making rational decisions, resulting in a bubble.

A variety of new taxes were created to offset Roosevelt's social programs. The American psyche had been scarred by the abject poverty of such a wide proportion of the population. There was palpable fear and desperation. This resulted in the creation of a social safety net and massive infrastructure investment. To pay for this, payroll taxes were developed and this was followed by more taxes to pay down. ithholding taxes and broader income taxes also came out of this era.

The gold standard was abandoned as a result of the Great Depression. The rigidity of the standard was considered to be an impediment to recovery. The coming of orld ar Two resulted in the postponement of monetary…

Great Depression was an immense tragedy for Americans. It was the beginning of involvement of government in the economy. After a decade of prosperity and optimism, the United States of America was thrown in despair on October 1929. The whole stock market got crashed and the Great Depression began officially. That day is known as Black Tuesday. There was no hope of the recovery of stock prices. Masses of Americans tried to sell all the stock but there was no buyer. At that time, the stock market became the path of bankruptcy. After the crash of stock market, the banks had to close forcefully as they had invested the savings of their clients in the stock market. This caused a lot of panic and people rushed to the opened banks for withdrawing their money.

The Great Depression caused the unemployment to reach 25% and the wages of employed people fell…

Great Depression New Deal Voices Protest

In this essay, the author will discuss the importance of Huey Long and Father Coughlin in shaping the course of the New Deal. Since rinkley also mentions Charles Townsend's social security ideas, it will also be necessary to consider them as well. It is the author's position that Alan rinkley is largely correct that these individuals forced the president Franklin Delano Roosevelt to move left in 1935. Evidence will be presented to support this position. The urbane, pragmatic president looked with fear upon the above extremist figures and found it necessary to craft a third way between the extremes and a leftward drift was necessary to achieve this.

While this essay comprises principally a comparison of rinkley and Rauchway, it is necessary to consider Long's writings themselves and the impact that they had upon the American political landscape. In 1934 Huey Long created "Share…

Question 1
In essence, there was rapid expansion of the United States stock market in the 1920s. This expansion was founded on credit. In late 1920s, wild speculation reached its peak, and the price of stocks went too far from their intrinsic value. This led to the 1929 Stock Market Crash. The 1930s ushered a period of the stock market contraction as a consequence of the Great Depression.
Question 2
The United States did not have its factories destroyed during WW1, unlike was the case in some European countries. It is important to note that through necessity, there was significant increase in production as well as manufacturing during the war. For this reason, and several others, the United States emerged from the WW1 stronger, with a booming economy and as an industrial leader.
Question 3
With most people having zero experience in the purchase of securities, Liberty Bonds, “Investing Culture”,…

Great Depression has had a significant effect on society as a whole and it has also provided inspiration for creative minds who acknowledged the suffering that it generated. Many American writers saw the events accompanying the economic crisis from a firsthand perspective and their artistic personalities thus came to shape their perception of these respective happenings. Literature actually provided a way out for individuals who suffered financial deficit, as they could escape society's problems into the pages of a book that could provide them with a whole new point-of-view regarding the depression and concerning their personal identity.

One of the principal negative consequences triggered by the Great Depression was the fact that the American Dream was no longer attainable in an environment dominated by poverty. American writers got actively engaged in writing in regard to the crisis and did not hesitate to paint a true portrayal of conditions in the…

Second, margin accounts are now regulated. There are margin call limits nowadays which prevent individuals and institutions from assuming too much risk in the stock market. Banks also limit margin borrowing. A person has to fill out a special application in order to open a margin account and demonstrate knowledge of stock trading before such an account is opened. Thirdly, banks that are big are not permitted to go out of business like they were in the Great Depression. During the Great Depression, when financial institutions failed they had a ripple effect on all facets of the economy from farming to automobile production. During the current recession, federal government action saved most of the biggest banks from collapse by supporting them up with emergency financing. Lastly, the stock market is not allowed to plummet too much in a given period of time. Trading halts or breaks are imposed in times…

Great Depression -- Randall E. Parker

Albert Hart: Albert Hart's interview in this book opens with a description of his influence on the American economic machinery (72): his highly influential book, Debts and Recovery 1929 to 1937 " ... painstakingly documented and analyzed changes in the structure of the internal debts" of every detail of the U.S. economy, according to the book's author, Randall Parker. The interview also began with some humor. Hart, who died a month after the interview took place in 1997, related a story about his father, who was born in 1851, and thought he had earned a $400 fellowship from Dearborn Theological Seminary, which was supposedly going to pay all his school costs and living expenses. The catch to the money, Hart related, was that after his father was told he would get it, his father still had to "swear that he believed unbaptized infants were…

Great Depression and the New Deal

Brinkley, lan the Unfinished Nation: Concise History of the merican People. 4th Edition. New York: McGraw-Hill 2004.

FDR Question

There is almost something comical about the level of the outrage expressed by contemporary Democrats regarding the appointment of John Roberts, President Bush's nominee to the Supreme Court to replace Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. While not to mitigate the importance of the Supreme Court as enforcing the law of the land, the fact that John Roberts might -- gasp -- interpret the constitution with a more strict constructionalist viewpoint than his moderate predecessor seems far less hubristic in comparison to President Roosevelt's efforts to stuff the U.S. Supreme Court with new numbers of justices. Roosevelt openly wished to increase the number of justices specified in the Constitution for the highest court of the land to make it easier for him to enforce his…

Many Americans became jobless and homeless, even setting up shantytowns.

) the Hoover administration did little in response to the growing crisis. The administration remained committed to balancing the budget, and refused to run a deficit in order to stimulate the economy. He felt the use of volunteerism was the path to success. He did try a couple of things, with the Agricultural Marketing Act and the Emergency Relief and Construction Act. The Federal Reserve did not act to loosen the money supply.

4) I believe there could be another Great Depression. Many of the root causes have been seen at different points in the past several years. In the earlier part of this decade we saw the dot-com bubble, and we also saw a decline in confidence in the markets following scandals like Enron. The present oil crisis is raising prices and pressuring the economy to a degree that…

Prices would fall and farmers lose money when their techniques are more efficient because in that scenario there would be a surplus of agricultural products on the market that automatically causes a drop of prices. Where crops are rare, there is under surplus and prices will eventually rise. Where there is a fall of agricultural prices and a slump in industrial orders, industrialized nations and those supplying primary products (food and raw materials) are all affected in one way or another (About the Great Depression 2). Great Britain (Economic Handout Point 8b): Britain fortunes improved after leaving the gold standard. Under the Gold Standard, which linked currencies to the value of gold, governments were committed to maintaining fixed exchange rates. The British economy stopped declining soon after Britain's abandonment of the gold standard in September 1931, though genuine recovery did not begin until the end of 1932 (omer 2). Great…

Great Depression of the 1930s and the current status of the United States.

Great depression of the 1930's and current economic status of the U.S.

The research paper compares and contrasts the great depression of the 1930's and the current economic status of the United State of America.

It first of all makes a general overview of each of these two different periods and then focuses on certain specific aspects during these different times which include the causes to the economic recessions witnessed, impacts of the economic recessions and the solutions that were introduced so as to bring the economy to a recovery level or phase and lastly the research paper will conclude the topic.

Great Depression of 1930's

When talking about any topic regarding the American history it would be hard not to mention the 1930's great depression, this is evident by the fact that various authors in those…

Industrial workers were probably less affected by the depression than African-Americans or the elderly (Temin, 27). They often did not have much extra money with which they could invest in the stock market, so most of them didn't have much to lose when it crashed (Temin, 31). They might have lost a little bit when it crashed, but they still had jobs to go to. Industry had to go on, regardless of what the rest of the country was doing (Temin, 35). These workers were building things that the country had to have, so their jobs were fairly safe (Temin, 36).

Even though such a large segment of society was affected by the Great Depression, many history texts and other literature make it sound as though everyone suffered greatly. This is not entirely true as there were many people, such as the industrial workers mentioned previously, that did not have…

Introduction
The Great Depression is said by economists to be the worst economic downturn to ever occur in the Western World. It started in 1929 and lasted for 10 straight years. The economic depression was triggered by a stock market crash in the October of 1929. The stock market crash sent shockwaves through Wall Street resulting in investors losing millions of dollars. After the stock market crash, investment and consumer spending naturally dropped in the following months and years. This had a negative effect on manufacturing and employment resulting in millions of Americans being laid off. At its lowest point, the economic depression had forced approximately 15 million to lose their jobs. Moreover, nearly 50 percent of the America’s banks collapsed during the Great Depression. This paper discusses the great depression, its causes, the negative effects it had, and the recovery.
What caused the Great Depression?
From the turn of…

Lessons From the Great Depression

he great depression in the U.S.A. was occasioned by the crash in the stock market in October 1929 and led to great panic at the wall street, wiping out millions of investors, the consumer spending drastically dropped and hence drop in investments hence by 1933 around 15 million Americans were rendered jobless and close to half the banks in the nation closed. More citizens withdrew their money from the banks with fears that the banks could go under despite the repeated assurance by President Roosevelt that it was safe to keep their money in the banks than to keep it under the mattress. It is a period that left people with no options to satisfy their basic needs, yet on the flip side, it presented people with positive lessons and skills to adopt in order to survive through the tough economic times (Browder, Laura

,…

Great Depression and the New Deal

The Great Depression

The Great Depression was caused by the stock market crash of 1929. The 1920s had been a roaring good time for Americans: credit was easy and investments were going up. In the 1920s, it was known as the Installment Plan -- and "enjoy while you pay" was a popular expression used to lure buyers into the market who could not otherwise afford to be consumers. Credit was used for everything -- including stock. However, when credit expands in the form of shoddy loans, a credit bubble is created. The bubble, in this case, popped in 1929 when the market realized no more credit was going to be pumped in as a result of too many loans to undeserving customers were being made (i.e., customers who could not pay them back). With the market correction came the margin calls and accounts had…

lacks and the Great Depression

The Great Depression, which had significant impacts across America, had a lesser impact on lack America. The greater is the loss, the greater the impact. Vice versa, the lesser is the loss, the lesser the impact. Historically, lack Americans had relatively less to lose in a Great Depression. Consequently, lacks, already disenfranchised from American society, were less affected in the Great Depression than White Americans.

Understanding the Great Depression means, in part, that its effects on Americans cannot be painted with one brush stroke because the Great Depression had different effects on different groups of people. Certainly, the Great Depression had devastating effects on many Americans. As excerpts from two of the more than fifteen million letters written directly to President and Mrs. Roosevelt show, some Americans desperately needed coats[footnoteRef:1], rent, transportation, food and utilities[footnoteRef:2] but were unable to obtain financial relief from government programs.[footnoteRef:3]…

Great Depression or hat Reagan Doesn't Know about the 1920s" analyzes the economic and social conditions of the 1920s from a "Marxist underconsumptionist" stance and criticizes the foundations of a capitalist, free market economy. The prevailing view of the causes of the Great Depression centers on monetarism and thus oversimplifies the actual and complex causes of the Depression Monetarism focuses on the role of government fiscal controls such as the Federal Reserve and posits that the presence of key masterminds could have helped avert the crisis. However, Stricker finds that monetarism fails to address the entire gamut of social and economic conditions that led to the Depression.

Rather, a number of interrelated social, economic, and political issues, all of which hinge on a capitalist state, directly impacted the Great Depression. Moreover, the causes of the Great Depression cannot be viewed without considering the general economic conditions of the 1920s. The…

Economics

The Great Depression

The Great Depression started in 1929 and lasted until the end of the Second World War, it was the most severe depression seen in the western world. The depression had far reaching economic, social, and political consequences. To understand the depression it is necessary to look at the event itself, underlying causes, the impacts and the way in which recovery took place.

The Great Depression may be argued as starting in August of 1929, when the countries GDP started to decline; but it is the cash of October 1929 that marks the official beginning of the crisis (obbins & Weidenbaum, 2009). The stock market crash of 1929 was a surprise for many; the previous decade had been one of growth and prosperity. On Black Tuesday 29th of October the bottom dropped out of the stock market, which resulted in panic selling loosing 40% of the paper…

The downward spiral of deflation, the collapse of countless banks and other financial institutions, and the unprecedented levels of unemployment all demanded that something be done.

The programs that constituted President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal were not entirely unknown in the pre-Depression world. Various European countries already possessed social welfare schemes to some extent, but in the United States this was largely new thinking. The changes wrought by the New Deal reflected as much the uniqueness of conditions during the Great Depression as they did the undercurrent of new attitudes and ideas that had gradually been taking hold among America's intellectuals.

FDR's planners acted in the context of changing values, an evolving set of institutions, shifting political and economic circumstances, and the ebb and flow of planning opportunities to create a distinctly national, American form of planning.... They were part of a wide-ranging national debate over how to create…

With a decreasing demand, the economy could no longer produce to the same levels, pressured by price deflation as well, so the spiral continued to tail the economy downwards.

The New Deal measures produced the exact reverse effects. In this sense, stimulating the economy with new governmental programs and increased governmental spending meant that new jobs were created and that the economy gradually resumed its growth.

ibliography

1. Causes of the Great Depression. 2001-2006. On the Internet at http://www.learninghaven.com/articles/causes_of_the_great_depression.html.Last retrieved on October 13, 2006

2. en S. ernanke. August 1994. The Macroeconomics of the Great Depression: a Comparative Approach. Working Paper No. 4814. National ureau of Economic Research. Page 23.

3. Rothbard, Murray N. 1969. Economic Depressions: Their Cause and Cure. The Austrian Theory of the Trade Cycle compiled by Richard M. Ebeling. On the Internet at http://www.mises.org/tradcycl/econdepr.asp.Last retrieved on October 13, 2006

4. Keynesian Model. 2000-2006. On the Internet…

Similarly, FD initiated the Securities and Exchange Commission. FD served four terms and would be the last president to serve more than two terms in office.

The New Deal was built upon oosevelt's belief in the power of the federal government to alleviate the financial woes of the nation. Although unpopular to some, many of the New Deal programs proved to be promising in both the short- and the long-term. Opponents of the New Deal generally disagree with the theory of big government; the New Deal epitomizes big government but in the wake of the Depression only such broad programs could have taken root and alleviated the suffering of so many Americans. The New Deal definitely contributed to the American economy's revival but the Second World War would help, too.

One of the reasons for the Great Depression, according to oosevelt and his supporters, was the proliferation of big business,…

Lessons from the Great Depression, William Watson is comparing the current recession with the time frame between 1939 and 1940. This is when ritain and France had declared war on Germany after its invasion of Poland. However, no real hostilities took place between the two until Germany invaded France in May 1940. The time when there was little conflict that was occurring, fooled many people into thinking that the war and the subsequent events would not be as bad as feared. Once this occurred, it caused the public to have a sense of complacency about these events and the impact that they would have on the lives of ordinary people. (Watson, 2009, pp. 41 -- 44)

According to Watson, a similar situation is occurring with the recent financial crisis that has taken place. This was sparked initially by doomsday predictions that many in news media were making about: the bailouts…

Great Depression

Although there are few Americans alive today who actually lived through the Great Depression, the event exacted an enormous toll on the country's and ultimately the world's economy in unprecedented ways, and some contemporaries questioned whether recovery was ever possible. To determine the facts, this paper reviews the literature concerning the Great Depression to identify is causes, including the financial, ecological and speculative reasons for the crash of the American economy. Finally, a discussion concerning the gradual recovery that spelled the end of the Great Depression is followed by a summary of the research and important findings concerning this seminal event in American history in the conclusion.

eview and Discussion

Although precise figures remain elusive, historians estimates that at least one-quarter and perhaps even more of the American workforce was unemployed during the period following the stock market crash in October 1929 through 1932, and 9,000 banks failed…

World War I and the Great Depression

World War I

The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand on 28 June 1914 sparked the occurrence of the First World War. A Serbian nationalist called Gavrilo Princip murdered him as the heir apparent to the throne of Austria. However, other underlying factors that contributed to the rivalry between the Great Powers include the system of alliances, nationalism, domestic political factors, militarism, the Eastern question (The Balkans), and the crises before 1914. The main powers of Europe before 1914 were: (i) the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy (1882) and (ii) the Triple Entente of Britain, ussia and France (1907). In nature, the alliances were defensive, and this implied that major political disputes inevitably would lead to large and not small conflicts. Nationalism looked at eager people across the world who wanted to let the rest of the world know how strong and…

New Deal and Programs to Cure the Great Depression

Back in the 1930s, the Americans experienced the worst financial crisis that has ever occurred in the United States' history. In attempts to get back from this particular disaster, the New Deal- a chain of laws and programs, meant to provide assistance to the Americans- was established by Franklin D. Roosevelt. However, an argument has always existed regarding the usefulness of the policies of the New Deal. Robert haples published his results to the prolonged Great Depression in his article "here Is the Consensus among American Economic Historians?" back in 1995. The findings of a research on Forty Propositions states: it is quite exciting to view where the division falls in this argument, given that the difference in reactions clearly exists amidst historians and economists.

In his article, "An Overview of the Great Depression," he offers an introduction to the circumstances…

Causes
One of the primary proximate causes of the Great Depression was the stock market crash of 1929, but even the market crash was the culmination of years of speculative banking and investments leading to the economic downturn. For example, also during this time, American banks—as well as some foreign ones—actually capitulated, causing many people to lose their savings and many businesses to lose their access to financing as well. Responding to initial fears of a financial crisis, several policy initiatives exacerbated the situation. For example, when banks reduced or curtained entirely the number and value of loans offered to Americans, there was less of an opportunity to re-invest in business or housing infrastructure.
Europe
Another policy problem was protectionist tariffs on foreign goods, which stifled foreign trade, which also contributed to the Great Depression. For instance in 1930, the American government passed the Smoot-Hawley Tariff, which was intended to…

orld ar I upon the Great Depression on the federal role of American government

After the advent of the Great Depression and the presidency of Franklin Roosevelt, America shifted in its national emphasis from being an economically decentralized nation, with a capitalistic and 'hands off' attitude to the development of industry, to a more truly modern nation that took an active role in the lives and well being of its citizens. The American federal government also began to seek to exercise its moral influence upon the rest of the world. However, this shift from American isolationism towards those in need within America, as well as the needs of individuals abroad, did not come with some national soul-searching. The historian illiam E. Leuchtenburg writes in his text The Perils of Prosperity: 1914-32 that the economic advancement of the post orld ar I era, and America's less economically damaging late involvement in…

Article Review:
Religion for the Blues: Evangelicalism, Poor Whites, and the Great Depression
White evangelical religion is often conceptualized as a solely conservative force inhibiting social change. The purpose of the article “Religion for the Blues: Evangelicalism, Poor Whites, and the Great Depression” by Wayne Flynt is to contextualize the type of religious faith that sustained many poor whites during difficult economic circumstances in the early half of the 20th century in America. Rather than a source of repression, Flynt argues the religion provided a sense of purpose and a way of making sense of senseless circumstances.
Flynt is interested in giving voice to his subjects on an individual basis to humanize them and present their unique perspectives. He begins his article not with a theoretical overview but with a description of May Jordan, a congregant at the Buck Hill Baptist Church, the daughter of a faith doctor. Jordan left…

Herbert Hoover and the Great Depression

In recent years, a debate has arisen regarding the extent of Herbert Hoover's progressive and Keynesian leanings, with conservative historians suggesting that Hoover may have been less of an advocate for laissez -faire capitalism than was commonly believed during his lifetime. Ideologues such as Amity Shlaes and Murray Rothbard have suggested that Hoover was a closet statist and New Dealer, and that ranklin Roosevelt simply continued many of these policies in a natural progression. On the other hand, liberal and mainstream historians have generally accepted the idea that Hoover was perhaps a more activist president than his earlier reputation may have indicated, but disagree with conservative historians as to the extent of Hoover's progressive inclinations. They argue that Hoover's retreat from laissez-faire policies was too little, too late, and ultimately inadequate to deal with the severity of the economic crisis, a position in direct…

The people. The faces

At the doors. Then my own face at the door.

No work, man. The pavement beneath my feet.

I can feel the cardboard in my shoes and once Only the finest of leather would do. From living

It up putting on the Ritz in the Big Apple

To selling Apples and eating Ritz crumbled

In charity stews. FDR says

Big government will provide big jobs

And once again I will spend, and America

Will spend, and all will be well again.

But it's hard to believe,

What you read,

On paper, in the papers

After losing your money, your shirt, and everything

You are and own on paper -- paper lies, paper money

Paper words, are cruel.

So sir, that's how my Great Depression began.

That's why I learned not to spend. To save string.

To hoard, like a rat, what I earn, burning with anger…

The vey cux of the agument comes to the cental point of censoship -- who must be potected and why must they be potected? Ideas, political, social, o othewise, may be the most dangeous fom of liteatue eve. Fo instance, in 19th centuy autocatic egimes, the ideas of Kal Max, even Voltaie, Locke, and Jeffeson wee seen to be subvesive because they challenged the ode of things, the idea that the monachy should ule by divine ight, and that cetain people had, by manifest destiny, the ight to be moe equal than othes. So, too, do images and vebiage change ove time egading public acceptance. At the tun of the centuy bathing suits coveed almost 90% of the human body, and a day at the beach would've been fa diffeent had some of today's skimpy G-stings o bikinis shown up. Similaly, sexual activity was hinted at fom the ealy days…

Great ar

The United States after the Great ar

orld ar I, also known as the Great ar, officially came to an end in 1918 and reshaped the country in a variety of ways. One of the most immediate changes was the way the world perceived the United States. Before the war, most of the country and its leaders preferred an isolationist stance to any international conflict. In 1914 the U.S. had only a small army and a pitiful navy, yet as the war progressed many Americans began to disapprove of the German's use of submarines to sink neutral ships such as the infamous sinking of the Lusitania (Hickman). However, it is interesting to note that the German's were actually correct in their assertion that the Lusitania was being used to carry military ammunition, as divers have recently uncovered from the wreckage, which did actually make the ship a legitimate…

Third, economic depressions spread from one nation to others whereas economic recessions remain substantially isolated where they first occur and they are eased partially by the strength of national economies elsewhere. Finally, contemporary analyses of economic downturns suggest that distortions to industrial labor markets that keep wages above market-clearing levels are more significant than even bank failures (Ohanian, 2010).

Recommendations and Conclusion

It is recommended that public statements on the matter highlight the failure of the opposition to recognize or understand the fundamental nature of economic depressions and the dangers associated with ignoring the important similarities between the 2008 economic crisis and the Great Depression. The current economic crisis shares all of the conceptual hallmarks of an economic depression, including the potential to persist over a longer term and spread globally more than it has already. In that regard, the key to overcoming the current economic crisis is in supporting…

Mercosur is the fourth largest integrated market and is the second largest in the Americas (Paolera & Taylor, 1999). NAFTA is first. In May of 2008 Argentina was also elected to the Human Rights Council.

There have also been UN peacekeeping operations in places like Cyprus, Haiti, Kosovo, and the Middle East that have used Argentine troops (Paolera & Taylor, 1999). In 1990, diplomatic relations with Argentina were restored and many countries invest in Argentina (Paolera & Taylor, 1999). The U.S. is one of them, and is the sixth largest investor (Paolera & Taylor, 1999). In the pharmaceuticals sector, the UK is one of the biggest investors (Paolera & Taylor, 1999). It is easy to see that Argentina has been through a lot but it has emerged stronger and is capable of doing a great deal for other countries as well.

ibliography

Caldwell, J. & O'Driscoll, T.G. (2007). What caused…

John Kenneth Galbraith's The Great Crash: 1929

John Kenneth Galbraith's book The Great Crash: 1929 claims that the depression of 1929 was a direct result of the miscalculations of the financial analysts and the other brokers which caused the crash of the stocks. He states that these actors of the economic field had a direct involvement in the stock market and had become too greedy to actually see what was happening to the market around them-too greedy to actually fear the recuperation's of what was easily predictable as the downfall.

The Great Crash of 1929 was one which shook the very foundations of the economic theories that were prevalent in the past and forced the society to realize that there was something fundamentally wrong when our basic concepts were proven so drastically wrong. John Kenneth Galbraith like many other economists remains fascinated with the Crash of 1929. As an economist…

Depression, Disease, And Aging

Aging brings many changes in health, social relationships, work situation, and other dimensions of life, and old age has been examined as one aspect of life development, showing how earlier stages contribute to the coping mechanisms older people have and how they apply these to new situations. A number of the changes accompanying old age can create stress and depression, and in turn these psychological states can contribute to the onset of disease or to the course disease takes. Studies have also shown that untreated depression can contribute to a higher suicide rate for the elderly.

How the elderly person is affected may depend on his or her closest relationship. The aging process for many includes physical or mental deterioration which can place considerable strain on the life partner, who now has to contend not only with his or her own diminished function because of aging…

So, although the reverse of these characteristic is not indicative of depression, their expression within the context of grief suggests the lack of clinical depression.

ith the fundamentals of depression outlined, it is reasonable to wonder why such symptoms and behaviors manifest themselves in certain people and why they do not in others. Many different researchers coming from many different scientific backgrounds -- from psychology to biochemistry -- have investigated the fundamentals of depression, and each have constructed models as to what its underlying causes are. Each of these investigations has attempted to explain the causes and symptoms of depression and has offered treatment possibilities.

The psychological models of depression have focused their attention on failed early attachment, inability to obtain desired rewards, impaired social relations, and distorted thinking." This approach to depression has yielded some valuable information regarding the disorder; yet, much of the results make it unclear as…

Depression in Young and Older Women

Recent research reveals that about one percent of the general population suffers from manic-depression and five percent suffers from major depression during their lives (Simonds, 2001, p. 86). However, the incidence for depression in women is twice as high or more; as many as one in five American women has a history of depression during her lifetime.

Due to the various social and medical problems presented by increasing numbers of women who suffer from depression, this topic is of utmost importance in today's society.

This paper will examine the causes and effects of depression in both young and older women; examine existing medical research for both groups; identify major differences in depression for young and older women; and present a conclusive analysis of observations.

To determine what the causes of depression are in young and older women, and to differentiate between the two groups,…

Depression in Adolescents

Roughly nine percent of the population - an estimated 18.8 million Americans -- suffers from depressive disorders, illnesses that affect the body as well as the mind.

The effects of depression are magnified in children, who are experiencing depression in greater numbers. An estimated 8.3% of teenagers in the United States are suffering from depression, a significant leap from two decades ago. To compound the problem, researchers like Farmer (2002) found that about 70% of adolescents suffering from depression are unfortunately not receiving adequate treatment.

This paper examines the growing problem of depression among adolescents. The first part of this paper is an overview of teen depression, looking at its causes and contrasting teen depression with depression in adults. The next part then looks at the depressive symptoms among teenagers, contrasting these with the symptoms of depression in adults. In the last part, the paper examines the…

Depression continues to be one of most common medical conditions for the elderly.

Percentages of elderly with the illness

Degree of increase in suicidal tendencies of depressed

Wrong assumption that aging necessitates depression.

Difficulty of healthcare providers in recognizing depression.

Increased tendency toward suicidal tendencies in many depressed.

Other individuals immune to depression and suicide despite life problems.

Individuals may not even recognize their own depression

Myths associated with aging including depression

Symptoms may take months to worsen and show up

Aging individuals should be treated similar to younger patients when seen by doctor.

Depression can mask itself in many ways

Up to family and healthcare providers to be vigilant and notice changes.

With care, individuals can be helped.

Depression ranks as one of the most common medical problems in the elderly. The occurrence of this illness among community-dwelling older individuals ranges from 8 to 15% and among institutionalized individuals,…

Depression and Eating Disorders

The eating disorder category in the DSM-IV includes Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, and the Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified categories. Peck and Lightsey (2008) note that while the DSM classification symptom is currently the most used system, there has been some debate in the about how to classify people with eating disordered behavior. A viable alternative to the discrete categories used in the DSM is notion of viewing eating disorders along a continuum from having no such behaviors to the severe eating disordered behaviors. In an effort to combine the two methods the self-report Questionnaire for Eating Disorders Diagnosis (QEDD) was developed. The QEDD distinguishes nonsymptomatic individuals (no symptoms) to symptomatic individuals (those that have some symptoms, but do not qualify for a diagnosis to anyone qualifying for an eating disorder diagnosis). Previous research has provided support for this conceptualization by comparing the QEDD with scores…

Then after Homer disappeared, she gave china painting lessons until a new generation lost interest, and then "The front door closed...remained closed for good" (Faulkner pp). Emily's depression caused her to become a recluse.

All three female protagonists are so dominated by male authority figures that their loneliness leads to severe depression, which in turn leads to madness, then eventually acts of violence. None of the women have active control of their lives, however, each in their own way makes a desperate attempt to take action, to seek a type of redemption for the misery and humiliation they have endured by the male figures in their lives.

orks Cited

Curry, Renee R. "Gender and authorial limitation in Faulkner's 'A Rose for Emily.'" The Mississippi Quarterly. June 22, 1994. Retrieved July 28, 2005 from HighBeam Research Library eb site.

Faulkner, illiam. "A Rose for Emily." Retrieved July 28, 2005 at http://xroads.virginia.edu/~drbr/wf_rose.html…

era through the great depression_

The economy of the United States was faced with fair share of challenges towards the close of the 19th century that had to be mitigated lets they got out of control. Other than the economic woes, there were also widespread social injustices. There was eminent war between capital and labor. Progressive era was realized in the very last years of the 19th century up to 1917 (Sage, 2010). The progressive era was a dawn of new ideas and progressive reforms. Some of its advantages are enjoyed to date. Some of the major events that characterized the progressive era were the birth of the American oil industry in 1901 and the initiation of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in 1909.

The first American oil was prospected in Texas' Spindletop and this set precedent for evolution of the nation's oil sector. The Texan…

e learn that our way of life can change practically overnight. e learn that suffering on a massive scale can happen from just a few high-level missteps. But perhaps most importantly, we learn that the American spirit has an amazing capacity for resourcefulness and resilience -- a lesson that might comfort us in our own times of worry.

orks Cited

"Always Lending a Helping Hand: Sevier County Remembers the Great Depression." New Deal Network. eb. Retrieved 19 Sept 2011 from http://newdeal.feri.org/sevier/index.htm

Downing, David. The Great Depression. Chicago: Reed Educational Publishing, 2001.

Horowitz, Irving Lewis. "A Child's View of the Great Depression." Antioch Review. Fall 2009, Vol. 67, Issue 4. p 678-681.

McNeese, Tim. The Great Depression, 1929-1938. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2010.

Schultz, Stanley. The Great Depression: A Primary Source History. New York: Gareth Stevens, 2005.

Annotated Bibliography

"Always Lending a Helping Hand: Sevier County Remembers the Great Depression." New…

His painting (social realism) called "Approaching Storm" is a remarkable portrayal of a man walking up a hill with a bucket of water and two donkeys waiting to be told what to do. In the distance is a menacing storm. The website (Twecht.tripod) says that this farm could possibly have been a beautiful place to live at one point in time…but now it is gray and windy…all life in the painting ceases to exist" (www.twecht.tripod.com).

Dorothea Lange

Dorothea Lange is among the best known of all the photographers and artists that contributed to the social realism movement during the Great Depression. Lange's most famous photograph, "Migrant Mother," shows a worried woman with two "tousle-haired children clinging to her, their faces turned away from the camera" (u, 2010, p. 1). A third child is asleep in the woman's arms. That photo -- taken in a migrant camp in California -- is…

Economic Depression of Europe

An economic depression is more severe than a recession due to the fact that a depression involves drastic decline in a national or international economy, characterized by decreasing business activity, falling prices, and high levels of unemployment.

There were economic depressions in Europe that were experienced before and after the 1870 but with a remarkable difference, being that those that were experienced before the 1870s were less costly in terms of life and resources and took relatively lesser period. Indeed it was a commonplace that every part of Europe experienced one sort of economic depression or the other.

One such economic situation before 1870 was the "little ice age" which began in the late 16th century till around 1950s as indicated by Big Site of History (2011). This was a time when a severe cold that could not be withstood by most crops set in most…

Economic Depression in 1929

The Great Depression of the 1930s began with the stock market crash in October 1929. When this occurred, Herbert Hoover was president, and he did not do enough, in many people's opinion, to end the depression. In fact, many of the "shanty" towns where homeless, out of work people lived were called "Hoovervilles." Republican Hoover took a stand back and wait approach, he felt that American business would rebound, and that it was not the business of government to get involved in creating jobs. Hoover understood he needed to make changes, but many of the changes he attempted failed, due to a Democratic Congress and a strained federal budget. The country continued to blame Hoover as the depression worsened, and threw more and more people out of work. He did initiate work programs and economic legislation, but it was not enough to put the country back…

a.

eading 4.6 b.(collecting information, using resources from media centers online, print and other media resources)

Using the media center, the children will find information on the Great

Depression -- what caused it, how it affected the people of the United States and in other places of the world.

b.

Grade level: 4th

a) allow students to learn skills to help them find information about topics that they need to research. This will help them immensely as they go through school.

So much information is found online these days, giving students the tools to answer their own questions is a very important aspect of learning.

Character Principles: Discipline -- "And that you study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as commanded you" (I Thessalonians 4:11). Work ethic -- "But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he…

Galbraith's Great Crash

The Great Crash of 1929 and the ensuing Great Depression is an event that many comparisons are drawn against. Certainly in a time of global economic recession, bank bailouts, and political meanderings about the future of social safety nets like Social Security and Medicare, the topics in Galbraith's book represent interesting anecdotes and lessons we can learn from the event. Galbraith uses both his sharp wit and his background in finance and economics to pinpoint the causes of the crash and make some assertions as to the true roots of the Great Depression. Interestingly enough, Galbraith does not attribute the crash to an abundance of credit, as was the case in 2000's, and which caused some of the panic and financial markets damage in 2008. This is a point of contention with some economists, and I believe that Galbraith's assessment of the situation in 1929 is correct…