https://padlet.com/dntran113/jnvptik7itl9 Dan Tran & Derrick Zarnesky en-us 2019-10-22 15:21:38 UTC 2025-10-29 16:20:47 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet.net/icons/png/1f4c9.png dntran113 https://padlet.com/dntran113/jnvptik7itl9/wish/400931946 One factor that separated the Great Depression from a normal recession was that Americans were putting too much trust in the stock market. According to author Brian Duignan, “As stock prices rose... investing in the stock market came to be seen as an easy way to make money... people of ordinary means used much of their disposable income or even mortgaged their homes to buy stock.” Compared to a normal recession, Americans were taking unnecessary risks by throwing money into the economy. When banks started failing due to giving out massive loans, investors panicked and sold their stocks at exorbitant prices, which caused stock values to plummet. Most of the population was left penniless when it crashed, so there was no money to restart the economy.

In addition, another factor that separated the Great Depression from a normal recession was the vast majority of banks and businesses failing. More than a fifth of all American banks failed during the depression. As Duignan wrote, "The natural consequence of widespread bank failures was to decrease consumer spending and business investment, because there were fewer banks to lend money." Without bank loans, businesses could not jump-start spending and investment. Factories shut down due to customers having no money to buy products. Workers at these factories lost their jobs, making their families poorer. This caused a snowball effect and made the economy even worse.]]> 2019-10-22 15:25:35 UTC https://padlet.com/dntran113/jnvptik7itl9/wish/400931946 dntran113 https://padlet.com/dntran113/jnvptik7itl9/wish/400932860 Millions of Americans were affected by the Great Depression in negative ways. Families lost their only sources of income as factories shut down and men were out of jobs. Since women stayed at home and took care of their children, there was very little money left. In an interview edited by Annie Winn Stevens, Mrs. Garret of Ashville, North Carolina talked about her husband. “He had worked in the mills... been a clerk in a grocery store at $12 a week... been a truck driver for the city, and for various transfer companies. Before the depression, he had made $20 a week… for the past few years he had worked mainly as an unskilled laborer on the WPA.” (Stevens). This quote showed how terrible the effects of the Great Depression were, as people who held multiple jobs made less than they did before the recession.

Furthermore, families who had homes or apartments lost them due to the fact that they could not afford to pay rent. Many families also fell apart because the man of the house had to leave in order to find a new job. The number of homeless Americans risen in cities and towns due to the difficulties. It was even worse for farmers because since they could not afford to harvest their crops, they just left them there to rot while people starved on the streets. The Dust Bowl made everything worse for farmers and it forced the lot of them to take over city jobs. The high winds and dust killed many people and crops along with it. In a writing that Shafter wrote, he explained his experience. "I'd rather not be on the rolls of relief, Or work on the W. P. A., We'd rather work for the farmer If the farmer could raise the pay; Then the farmer could plant more cotton And he'd get more money for spuds, Instead of wearing patches, We'd dress up in new duds." This quote showed that some people did not want to work in the city and would rather continue to work as a farmer although it came with consequences. They were not treated well and the pay was low. Millions of people suffered the same and they demanded change.]]> 2019-10-22 15:26:52 UTC https://padlet.com/dntran113/jnvptik7itl9/wish/400932860 dzarnesky100 https://padlet.com/dntran113/jnvptik7itl9/wish/400932961 The Great Depression was eventually solved and it came to a close. President Roosevelt was elected when there were fifteen million people without a job which equaled to around twenty  percent of all Americans. The president's main goal was to create jobs, stimulate recovery, and fix different productions. According to an article from History.com, "Roosevelt sought to reform the financial system, creating the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to protect depositors’ accounts and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to regulate the stock market and prevent abuses of the kind that led to the 1929 crash." A new deal was struck to help the recovery and it included the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Works Progress Administration. They build dams to stop flooding and used the hydroelectric power from it to supply people with electricity. The W.P.A., a permanent jobs program, gave around nine million people sustainable jobs. Although there was a hard recession in 1937, America continued to recover afterwards.

The Great Depression ended during the time of World War II. The jobs required for the war took up many American occupants and gave over seventeen million people jobs. "This expanding industrial production, as well as widespread conscription beginning in 1942, reduced the unemployment rate to below its pre-Depression level. The Great Depression had ended at last, and the United States turned its attention to the global conflict of World War II." (History.com 2009) Although, the war left America to be in a massive debt of around two hundred and sixty billion dollars.]]> 2019-10-22 15:27:03 UTC https://padlet.com/dntran113/jnvptik7itl9/wish/400932961 dntran113 https://padlet.com/dntran113/jnvptik7itl9/wish/400933214 2019-10-22 15:27:25 UTC https://padlet.com/dntran113/jnvptik7itl9/wish/400933214