| The Great Depression by definition is the severe economic slump that followed the collapse of the U.S. stock market in 1929. This Depression touched everyone. There was no one who wasn't effected. By 1932 the factory production had been cut in half. The banks closed and businesses failed. Somewhere around 9 million people people had lost the money in their savings accounts since the banks had no money to pay them. Farmers lost their lands when they could not make mortgage payments. One fourth of all American workers had no jobs by 1933. The Great Depression was a Global Depression. The American economy collapsed and sent shock waves around the world. There were many worried American bankers and they demanded repayment of their overseas loans. American investors withdrew their money from Europe. What wasn't fair is that the government was trying to force Americans to buy American goods. Roosevelt tried to come through for everyone. He came up with a program that he began called the New Deal. This was where large public works projects helped provide jobs for the unemployed. Now new government agencies gave financial help to businesses and farms. This new deal did many things. It did a great deal. It finally came through and reformed the American economic system. Roosevelt did a good thing and he preserved the country's faith in its democratic political system. This also established him as a leader of democracy in a world threatened by ruthless dictators. The Great Depression was a horrible thing but the U.S. managed to pull through and break away from this terrible thing. |