The Great Depression: History Of The Western Industrialized World

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“The Great Depression (1929-39) was the deepest and longest-lasting economic downturn in the history of the Western industrialized world.” (The Great Depression). The Great Depression was easily one of the most detrimental things to happen to the United States of America. Not only did It cause temporary turmoil amongst Americans, but it even led to many horrible events such as World War II- “…there was a great disparity between rich and poor. More than 60% of the population was living below poverty levels, while a mere 5% of the wealthiest people in America accounted for 33% of the income, and the richest 1% owned 40% of the nation’s wealth.”( Causes of The Great Depression). Most people automatically attribute the stock market crash as the leading factor to the demise of Americas …show more content…
The stock market crash happened on October 29,1929, it didn’t initially have an immense impact but over the next two months people that held stock had lost well over $40 billion dollars, and the loss continued well into 1930, when the Great Depression had finally began (Kelly).
The stock market crash didn’t only affect stockholders but it completely destroyed the flow of income and revenue. Wall Street didn’t know how to rectify the situation and the rise of unemployment was a quick reminder of how things had changed. Many companies were forced to lay people off as they could no longer afford to stay in business, and “by 1933, when the Great Depression reached its nadir, some 13 to 15 million Americans were unemployed and nearly half of the country’s banks had failed.” (The Great Depression). Bank Failures was also an important issue regarding the structure of The United States failing economy. Banks didn’t not insure their customers money, and when the stocks crashed people were desperate too pull