The Great Depression
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The Great Depression was a time where many Americans faced widespread economic turmoil. Prior to the Depression was an economic boom, and the stock market rose dramatically. Even though some may say depressions in American History were cynical, there were still factor that made the Depression of the 1930s so severe. Overproduction, lack of federal concern, and inequalities in income all led to the Great Crash of the former booming stock market.
In rural areas, many farmers faced an increasing amount of debt. At the same time, the price of their goods was rapidly decreasing. In order to pay off their debts, farmers were forced to overproduce to make up for the missing prices. A huge crop farmers grew was wheat which takes nutrients away from the soil, thus eventually making the soil unable to grow other crops. This also made an increase in wheat production and a decrease in the price of wheat forcing farmers to plant more wheat. This kept them in a cycle of debt, which hurt the economy, and also led to the Dust Bowl.
During this time, initially, President Hoover down played the spiraling stock market. He believed that the Depression was part of a cycle, and would eventually help the economy grow stronger. As time passed, Hoover stated that the government would not interfere with the business and the economy, and that the Americans should rely on themselves to get out the cycle of poverty. The lack of federal guidance led to an increase down fall in the economy, and it was harder to get the economy back to where it was.
Lastly, there was a misdistribution of the wealth in America. The small percent of the rich owned a large part of the stock market, while the poor were left to fend for themselves. Since most people in America had little money, they could not afford to keep up with the market system. As a result, the depression was even harder to overcome.
The Great Depression caused many Americans to have to fend for themselves, and that made the depression long than other depressions in American History. Although cynical, the depression of the 1930s had underlying problems that ultimately increased the severity of it. The Depression was caused because of the overproduction of farm goods, Hoovers refusals to help, and the misdistribution of wealth.