The Great Depression In America In The 1920's

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The Great Depression represents one of the darkest periods in American economic history. Most people think the Great Depression started in October of 1929, with the famous Black Tuesday stock market crash, but many economists and historians point to an economic decline which took place in the early period of 1929. Americans were give a false sense of prosperity because of the lack of regulations of the government and the booming business of the “ Roaring Twenties”. For much of the 1920’s the United States seemed prosperous. The period between 1920 and 1929 was known as the “Roaring Twenties”. American soldiers had just fought and won World War I and many people were employed. The period saw major innovations in business organization and manufacturing…show more content…
The Republican leadership of 3 presidents; Warren G. Harding from 1921-1923, Calvin Coolidge from 1923-1929 and Herbert Hoover from 1929-1933 followed what’s known as a hands-off approach to government. A hands-off approach in leadership refers to a knowing absence of government regulations. None of these presidents attempted to regulate the buying or selling of stocks and bonds nor did they exercise control over banking, manufacturing or agricultural production. Americans were able to do what they believed was needed to get rich quick and secure their future. Most Americans believed that they deserved success. For example; a nice house, a good job, plenty to eat, and many consumer goods. The act of 'consuming' was seen as very American, and this belief that spending and consuming was 'American', had a huge impact on powering economic growth. With all of this seemingly flowing wealth there was a serious undercurrent of unhealthy, practices running through the American economy which would later appear and contribute some of the causes for the Great…show more content…
Between 1923 and 1929 worker output of manufactured goods increased by thirty-two percent. By 1929 stores and warehouses were seriously overstocked with goods. Assembly lines and new machinery boosted production. American manufacturing companies believed that the more goods produced and sold, the more profit there was to be made. Most Americans had little money left over after paying for their bare necessities such as housing and food, but they found a way to buy new products, it was called credit. People were allowed to make a small down payment or installment for the product, then the rest of the money owed was paid over a period of time. This worked well as long as the buyer had a job. Factory productions increased about fifty percent but the wages of industrial workers grew much slower, therefore causing an imbalance. Too few workers could afford to buy the factory output. Buying slowed down, and by 1929 the stores had built up huge inventories of goods and stopped ordering from factories. Manufactures had overproduced and unfortunately the surplus products could not be sold overseas due to high taxes and lack of money in Europe. Factories began cutting back by laying off considerable numbers of workers. The growing number of unemployed people purchased only the bare necessities. Products sat on shelves in warehouses and stores. Manufacturing came to a complete

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