Depression Outline

I Intro:
The Great Depression is known as a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade before World War II. It began in the 1930's and lasted until the middle of the 1940's. It was the longest and most widespread depression of the 20th century. There are multiple causes for why the Great Depression began, the effects were far reaching and devastating, and many solutions were created in attempt to solve the problems that the Depression created. 

II Causes (The causes of the great depression were stock market crash, bank failures, overproduction etc.)

A overspeculation (Define, how important): Over speculation occurs when an investor purchases stock on the future earnings of the stock he already owns. It lead to risky financial transactions and the Wall Street Crash. 

B Govt Policy: The Government policies during the Great Depression were very uneven and confusing. Because of this it made it more unclear for the Government when they tried to fix the problems they were faced with. 

C Unstable Econ: Millions of Americans invested heavily in the stock market because they expected the economic boom to continue. It did not and the unstable economy lead to the stock market crash and the Great Depression. 

1 uneven prosperity: The 1920's were a time when America was overdependent on production and there was a significant gap between the rich and poor. There was an uneven distribution of wealth which contributed to the Great Depression. 

2 overproduction: After the WWI farmers were producing more than American people could use and the price of farm goods dropped so low that many farmers couldn't make enough money to pay off their huge amount of debts. This ended up affecting the farmers because they lost their farms due to the fact that they couldn't pay the banks and tax collectors. 

3 worker issues / farm issues: Major issues in the working and farming industries led to thousands being unemployed who faced starvation. This crisis is extremely significant because it affected all other aspects of the Great Depression. 

III Effects

A Poverty: People lost jobs leading to 25% unemployment and poverty. 

B Society: Crime rate rose because many people had to resort to theft to get the food they needed. Alcoholism increased and health care in general wasn't a priority 

C World: Mass migrations continued throughout the 1930's, classic films like Frankenstein debuted, birth rates fell sharply and marriages were delayed and higher education remained out of reach for most Americans. 

IV Solutions

A Hoover: Elected in 1928, Hoover held a strong belief in American individualism and free enterprise fused with public service. 

1 Volunteerism: Hoover called on individuals, local charity organizations, churches, and local governments to work together to stop the suffering and create relief for the.

2 Public Works: Created thousands of jobs by authorizing the building of roads, bridges, and dams.

3 Hawley Smoot: Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act was created to provide revenue, to regulate commerce with foreign countries, to encourage the industries of the US and to protect American labor.  

4 RFC: Reconstruction Finance Corporation; Put in place to aid state and local governments. Made loans to banks, railroads and other businesses.  

B Roosevelt

1 new deal: Roosevelt created the new deal to create a fresh start for American after the Great Depression. It included banking reform laws, emergency relief programs, work relief programs and agricultural programs.

a alphabet soup

            example: SEC - Securities and Exchange Commission was created to serve as a watchdog on the stock market. 

            example: FHA - Federal Housing Authority was created to provide low interest loans for new home construction. 

            example: HOLC - Home Owners Loan Corporation allowed homeowners to refinance mortgages to prevent foreclosure or to make home improvements.

            example: USHA - United States Housing Authority initiated the idea of government-owned low-income housing projects.

b Criticism?: Critics blamed Roosevelt's new deal and alphabet soup as the cause of the huge costs and rising national debt. 

2 2nd new deal

Some important programs that came from the 2nd new deal include...

a Social Security 

b National Labor Relations Act 

c Banking Act 

V Criticism 

B Political Criticism (ex. Came from both the far left and far right)

A Conservatives: Many conservatives believed the policy and programs were taking a dangerous step towards socialism and the destruction of the American capitalist system. 

B Liberals (ex: criticised the new deal also. They....) 

Ex: Many socialist activists thought the 2nd new deal was too conservative and that it didn't provide enough relief and assistance. 

ex Many also argue that the Great Depression wouldn't have been so devastating for so long if Roosevelt had handed out more money to a greater number of Americans. 

VI Effectiveness

A Changes in US: The US changed in many ways because of the Great Depression. Some of these changes include: Political innovation, cultural change, new ideas etc. 

B Unions: There were too many unions to count during the Great Depression...successful strikes, massive organizing drives, social idealism and political campaigns. 

C Culture: Many Americans became increasingly interested in traditional and folk culture - a sort of longing for the past. But, it was also a time of modernist experimentation. 

VII Conclusion:
Although some economies began to recover from the Great Depression by the mid-1930's, the negative effects lasted until the end of World War II for many countries. The Great Depression shows how far the world's economy can decline and how many different cities can be affected by something this devastating.