The great depression

The end of the roaring 20’s came on October 29, 1929. Known as the Stock Market crash or Wall street crash, it began a new age, the great depression. Millions of stocks became worthless and wiped out millions of investors. The Great depression was the worst economic downturn in the history of the industrialized world and it lasted from 1929 to 1939. 

What really urged the depression on was a large drought along the southern plains, known as the dust bowl.  Without deep-rooted prairie grasses to hold the soil in place, the top dry layer of dirt began to blow away. All the loose topsoil led to massive destructive sand storms. 

Herbert Hoover was the president when the stock market crashed. Many people blamed Hoover for the crash. So it comes as no surprise that Franklin D. Roosevelt won an overwhelming election in 1932. When he was elected, he took action immediately, first announcing a four-day “bank holiday” during which all banks would close so that Congress could pass reform legislation and reopen those banks determined to be sound.

Not only did the great depression hurt America as some may think, but it hurt other countries as well and impacted extremist political movements in various European countries. The most noticeable movement being Adolf Hitler’s Nazi regime in Germany.

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 led to America’s entry into World War II. Thus ending the great depression.