Description
Students write an analytical essay that answers one of the assigned discussion questions from the first four modules in greater detail (100 points each).
They should include: a title that gives readers insight into the essay’s main point (2 points) a clear and specific thesis/main argument that appears in the introduction (10 points) an introduction, that briefly outlines the main issues under consideration and explains what the essay intends to accomplish (10 points) evidence in support of the thesis using primary sources (20 points) evidence in support of the thesis from assigned readings in Digital History (10 points) a conclusion that sums up the main argument and discusses its broader implications (10 points)
How the American Jazz Age led to the Great Depression in the 1930s
Thesis
The 1920s saw a rapid expansion of the American economy, and the “Roaring Twenties,” or the years between 1920 and 1929, were unquestionably the height of the country’s fortunes.
Introduction
The industrialized world has never had a financial crisis as ridiculously awful as the “Great Depression”, which lasted from 1929 to 1939. It began with the protection trading crisis in October 1929, which caused pandemonium on Wall Street and led many people to leave without receiving payment from financial backers (Bodden, 2020). Throughout the concurrent, prolonged period, consumer spending and expectations declined, significantly lowering present outcomes and employment as a flood of associations laid off subject-matter experts. Around 15 million Americans were unemployed at the height of the “Great Depression” in 1933, and nearly half of the country’s banks had failed.
The intent of the essay
The primary reasons and contributing factors of the “Great Depression” of the 1930s will be covered in great detail in this article. Throughout the 1920s, some important occurrences and occasions had an impact on the nation’s social, political, and psychological circumstances. The focus of the research for the essay will be a summary of all the significant incidents that contributed to the “Great Depression”.
What Caused the “Great Depression”?
Everyone from big cheese bosses to cooks and janitors turned their cash holdings into stocks there, making the “New York Stock Exchange” on “Wall Street in New York City” the center of the stock market. As a result, the stock market expanded swiftly and rose to its peak in August 1929.
Because of the active reduction in output and the rise in unemployment at that moment, stock expenses were practically more than their actual value (Kahan, 2020). Additionally, the dry season and declining food prices were hurting the agriculture sector of the economy, wages were low at the time, consumer responsibility was low, and banks had too many huge advances that couldn’t be repaid.
Fall in America’s economy
In the months before the summer of 1929, the American economy saw a substantial slowdown as consumer spending decreased and inventories of unsold goods increased, postponing the construction of new offices. By year’s end, stock prices had reached unusually high levels even though they had not climbed at a rate that corresponded to the anticipated advantages.
Stock Market Crash of 1929
The stock market drop that some had predicted occurred on October 24, 1929, as dubious financial backers started to dump distorted shares. A record 12.9 million offers were submitted and accepted on “Black Thursday.”
After five days and one more wide-open cleared Wall Street mingling, 16 million offers were traded on October 29, often known as “Black Tuesday.” Investors who had “hesitantly” purchased equities (with borrowed funds) were completely blocked off from many offers that turned out to be meaningless.
Decrease in consumer demand.
After the stock market crisis, which decreased customer confidence, manufacturing facilities, and other firms were forced to restrict production and begin terminating personnel (Kahan, 2020). Even those who had the good fortune to keep their jobs observed a decline in their income and spending power.
Because many Americans who were required to pay with credit cards did not do so, the number of foreclosures and repossessions kept rising. Money-related concerns emerged from all of us around the world, but particularly in Europe, as a result of the biggest level’s widespread acceptance, which united countries from one side of the world to the next in fixed monetary exchange.
Bank Runs and the Hoover Administration
The issue lingered for the following three years despite assurances made by President Herbert Hoover and other notable figures. There were 4 million unemployed Americans in 1930 and 6 million in 1931.
Fall in the country’s industrial production
During that time, the nation’s industrial production had significantly declined. Two new trends are starting to show up in American cities and urban areas: a lack of necessities and an increase in the number of homeless persons. Farmers expected that their harvests would perish in the fields while other people suffered without food because they could not bear to combine their harvests. Dust storms and strong winds decimated people, animals, and crops in the 1930s as a result of the Southern Plains’ extreme aridity from Texas to Nebraska (Bodden, 2020). The “Dust Bowl” caused a lot of people to relocate from rural to urban regions in search of employment.
Fall in the country’s banking production
The first of the financial crisis’ four waves started in the fall of 1930 when many business partners started hunting for real cash inventory after losing faith in the ability of their banks to survive. This forced banks to trade advances to convert their unfunded cash into a manageable arrangement on hand.
In the spring, fall, or winter of 1931 or 1932, there were no additional bank runs in the US, and by the middle of 1933, a handful of institutions had secured their exits.
Despite adopting this absurd position, Hoover’s link promoted flooding banks and other organizations with government funding. The idea was that after the banks had aligned themselves, they would have the option of re-enrolling their delegates.
Conclusion
The development of a vicious cycle hastened the beginning of the great slump. Public backing for the private endeavors that the “Great Depression”‘s aftermath made possible decreased. These free-enterprise, financial goals were backed by Herbert Hoover, but they ultimately failed (Bodden, 2020). During the “Great Depression”, 33 percent of the country’s banks failed. By 1933, 4,000 banks had failed. The Allies suffered a $140 billion loss as a result. Countries implemented exchange restrictions to safeguard domestic businesses after their economies collapsed. Smoot-Hawley tariffs were enacted by Congress in 1930 to safeguard American workers. Due to investment for World War II and the New Deal, a pure, unhindered economy gave way to a mixed economy.
References
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/era.cfm?eraID=13&smtid=2
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/era.cfm?eraID=14&smtid=2
Bodden, M. H. (2020). Southeast Asia. Tales of Southeast Asia’s Jazz Age: Filipinos, Indonesians and Popular Culture 1920–1936 By Peter Keppy Singapore: NUS Press, 2019. Pp. 288. Plates, Bibliography, Index. Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, 51(4), 630-631.
Kahan, J. A. (2020). Roar and Crash: Romance Novels of the Jazz Age and Depression Era.
