Ironic & Interesting Facts of the Great Depression

The Great Depression Facts

On 29th October 1929, the market at the Wall Street crashed and $ 14 billion were lost. The United States lost a total $ 30 Billion in that week which was a huge amount of money in those days. It was ten times the amount which was considered as the annual budget of the United States of America. This period of depression was quite long as it lasted for many years and ended with World War II. Meantime President Hoover lost the presidential election to F. D. Roosevelt as he was considered as incapable of handling the economic crisis which was crippling the country.

Though the United States of America is a world power and a leading nation which is an example of development and progress, it went through a period which no one can forget and still managed to come out of it shining and stronger than ever. That period was the Great Depression which started in 1929 and was over with World War II. There are great depression facts which are not known to everyone. It is very important that we should be aware of the facts and reasons for the great depression so that we do not repeat the same mistakes again. History is important because it helps us to learn from the mistakes of others and teaches us to find ways to avoid them in the present era. Officially the great depression started on a Tuesday which is called as ‘Black Tuesday’ for the obvious reasons.

Some of the great depression facts are a bit funny because they are the instances where the average American person was trying to survive this huge problem but still his sense of humor was intact. The shanty towns, which were built by the common people after they lost everything they owned, were called as Hoover towns because they wanted to protest against president Hoover. Though this fact is quite an interesting fact, others are not so funny.

10 interesting facts about the great depression

1. Between 1929 and 1933, the stock market lost nearly 90% of its value.
2. During the Great Depression, about 11,000 banks failed and many were left without savings. There was about 3% unemployment in 1929. It was 25% in 1933 and 1 person out of 4 had a job.
3. During the Great Depression, average family income fell by 40%.
4. Because of bank closures, more than $1 billion was lost in bank deposits.
5. Around 100 new government offices and 40 new agencies were established by the New Deal.
6. 1932 and 1933 were the worst years of the Great Depression.
7. Roughly 300,000 firms have gone out.
8. Hundreds of thousands of families were unable to pay their mortgages and expelled.
9. Millions of people have migrated from the Midwest Dust Bowl area. About 200,000 migrants were transferred to California.
10. In his “First Hundred Days” office, President Roosevelt passed 15 major laws.

This depression hit hard every industry in the country leaving a lot of people jobless and homeless. Construction, production industries were hit first but even the agriculture industry was not spared. More than 750,000 farms were lost due to a drop in the crop prices which resulted in the bankruptcy of the farmers. The unemployment rate was all-time high at 25% and more than 50 % of children suffered from lack of food and medicines. Many of these children left school in search of jobs so that they could survive and many schools were closed because of the result of this economic crisis. President Roosevelt played an important part in taking the country out of the clutches of this crisis. His social security program was the basis for the modern social security program.

When Was The Great Depression

“When was the Great Depression?” is a common question when it comes to the darkest period in America’s history.

The Great Depression started on October 29th, 1929, otherwise known as Black Friday, the day when the Stock Market crashed. It lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s as WWII was starting because the increased production for the war seemed to pull the United States out of its an industrial slump.

The Great Depression wasn’t just one a few months or a year, but rather almost a decade while unemployment went up 607% and virtually everything became worthless. It was the darkest time in America’s history and nothing like it has ever happened before or since.

Women In The Great Depression

The Great Depression was a tough time for anyone living in America, but it was even more tough for women of that time. Women didn’t have all the same rights as men and were treated as such, suffering even higher numbers of unemployment because men were the first pick. To be a woman in the Great Depression was a much tougher life than just being a man. They had to overcome the depressed economy and the depressed social status of sexual profiling at the time. It wasn’t easy, but women of the time had to survive just like everyone else.

Jobs were scarce during the Great Depression and this made it even more difficult for women to join the workforce. Why hire a woman, when you could hire a man who could do everything and more than a woman could. Working in factories and manual labor was just more attuned to a man and so the women of the time took to other jobs that solidified their role as a housekeeper or stay at home mom. They would stay home and take care of the kids, clean the house, and cook meals with whatever food their family could afford. It wasn’t a glorious job and it didn’t pay at all, but it was the only jobs women could find at the time.

The status of black women of the time was even worse because they had to overcome sexual discrimination as well as racial discrimination. It was nearly impossible for black women to get a job with over 40% unemployed during the Great Depression. Many black women took to street corners and sold themselves as “slaves” just to make some kind of income. If you thought slavery was over in the 1800s, it regenerated it’s ugly face during the Great Depression just so these black women could have some kind of work.

The women of the Great Depression took an even harder hit than men, but they managed to survive and prosper. It wasn’t easy, but they had no choice. With high unemployment rates and sexual discrimination, women still managed to make it through housekeeping, survival entrepreneurship, and the odd jobs here and there.

Black Tuesday: The 1929 Stock Market Crash

If you’re looking for details and insight into exactly what happened on that fateful day in American history known as Black Tuesday, then keep reading to fully understand and comprehend the events that occurred that day. The Stock Market had it’s a most significant drop in history at the time and caused widespread panic throughout the United States. Everyone wanted to sell their stock, which only made the stock prices drop even more causing panic with the American people and their financial institutions.

It’s not easy to describe the 1929 Stock Market crash without realizing what type of state the U.S. was in beforehand. Everyone had good lives and things were cheap and living was easy, but people became too comfortable in their luscious lifestyles. Most hadn’t been saving for bad days and others simply worked day by day just because there could and life was simpler that way. Either way, when the bad news came in October people weren’t prepared and didn’t know what to do. It was all out panic.

The 1929 Stock Market crash was simply caused by over-confidence in the market. People were investing more and more into empty companies and new companies that couldn’t back their financial obligations. Money was starting to be taken for granted in regards to investments and people literally just threw their money at anything that looked remotely promising. It was a rude awakening for the American people, but it was much needed to prevent further financial damage.

When the Stock Market actually crashed on Black Tuesday in October, people started to panic and quickly. It only took a few days for the bank runs to happen and that literally cleared out all of the money the banks had on hand. There weren’t enough gold reserves to account for all the paper money in circulation, which caused massive inflation. People were literally burning barrels of money just to keep warm; paper money meant nothing during the Great Depression.

If you didn’t know about the 1929 Stock Market crash before reading this article, you should have a pretty good idea of the causes and effects after reading this article. It was caused by over-confidence in the market and lack of intelligent investment decisions by the American people.

Great Depression Timeline

The Great Depression timeline lasted for 12 years, 1929 to 1941, and had devastating effects on the livelihood of all Americans. Here are a few of the key dates and events of the Great Depression:

• On October 29, 1929, the Stock market place crashed marking the start of the Great Depression timeline. This day was called Black Tuesday
• In 1930 a drought brought the Dust Bowl and conditions began to ruin American farmland. This drought lasted until 1935.
• In 1931 riots broke out over food, hard-working Americans marched on Detroit, and foreigners were deported to make way for American jobs.
• In January 1932 the U.S. Congress created the Reconstruction Finance Corporation that proceeded to lend $2 billion to banks, insurance companies, and farming organizations.
• Also in 1932 stocks reached their lowest point in American history.
• In November of 1932, Franklin D. Roosevelt beat Herbert Hoover in a landslide presidential election.
• In 1933 almost half of the nation’s 25,000 banks had gone bankrupt and closed.
• Also in 1933, President Roosevelt announced a three-day “bank holiday” that closed down all American banks to avoid a banking catastrophe via bank runs.
• 1933: American jobs unemployment reached its highest point in American history at 25%.
• 1933: The Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC) was created to give jobs to young Americans to work in federal and state parks.
• 1933: The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) was established to ensure bank deposits and manage the American banking system.
• 1933: The Civil Work Administration (CWA) was also created to employ as many as 4 million people on public works projects.
• 1935: The Work Projects Administration (WPA) was formed to employ as many as 8.5 million individuals on public function projects across America.
• 1935: The Social Security Act was another American financial project created to ensure Americans can retire at the age of 65.
• In November of 1936, President Roosevelt was elected to a second term as president due to his dedication and control of the Great Depression.
• In April of 1938, President Roosevelt asked Congress for another $3.75 billion to stimulate the diminishing economy.
• In November of 1940, President Roosevelt was elected to a third term as president. The first and only time in American history.
• In 1941 preparations for World War II stimulated the American economy and brought an end to the American. Great Depression.