The Great Depression lasted from 1929-1945, and was the most prolonged and severe economic depression in American history. As the effects of the Depression spread across the US economy, millions of people lost their jobs. By 1930 there were 4.3 million unemployed; by 1931, 8 million; and in 1932 the number had risen to 12 million. By early 1933, almost 13 million were out of work and the unemployment rate stood at an astonishing 25%. Those who managed to retain their jobs often took pay cuts of a third or more. Unemployed Americans filled long breadlines, begged for food, or sold apples on street corners. A Chicago social worker wrote “We saw Want and Despair walking the streets, and our friends, sensible, thrifty families, reduced to poverty.” More than a third of the nation’s banks failed in the three years following 1929 because they had no cash. Long lines of desperate people outside banks hoping to retrieve their savings were common. Many ordinary citizens lost their life savings when banks failed. Thousands were evicted from their homes and lived on the streets, begging for food and work.Farmers were hit particularly hard by the crisis. Farmland across the Midwest, once seen as part of the American Dream during Westward Expansion, had been over-farmed to produce record numbers of crops. Lacking nutrients, the soil became dry, dusty, and unusable, and too many crops on the market meant prices drastically fell. On top of falling prices for crops, a devastating drought coupled with wind storms in Oklahoma, Texas, and Kansas brought on a series of dust storms known as the Dust Bowl. In the South, sharecroppers—both white and black—endured crushing poverty and almost unimaginable degradation. African Americans suffered significantly higher levels of unemployment than whites due to pervasive racism. Farmers and their families became migrant workers, wandering the country and “riding the rails” (trains) in search of food, housing, and work, with many traveling west to California.The financial crisis was not limited to the United States. Countries in Europe and around the world experienced the depression. Hitler’s rise to power in Germany was fueled in part by the economic slowdown, and throughout the 1930s international tensions increased as the global economy declined.QUESTION 310 pointsDescribe one impact of the Great Depression that was especially interesting to you and explain why.

All of these observations support the "spending hypothesis" explanation of the Great Depression EXCEPT that:the money supply fell by 25 percent from 1929 to 1933, during which time the official unemployment rate rose from 3 percent to 25 percent.the stock market crash of 1929 reduced real wealth.widespread bank failures occurred.investment in housing declined.

The cost of the Great Depression between 1929 and 1942 was a loss of:Question 18Select one:a.more than the United States ultimately spent on World War II.b.over $15 trillion in today's dollars.c.the output that otherwise would have been produced by the 50 percent of the nation's workers who had lost their jobs.d.both B and C are true.

The Great Depression: Striving for Prosperity in America     The Stock Market Crash of 1929 marked an era of turmoil and instability for America known as the Great Depression. Millions of people who lost their life savings and their jobs eventually became homeless, only to find that their president, Herbert Hoover, felt the government should not intervene. However, New York governor Franklin Delano Roosevelt said, "I pledge myself to a New Deal for the American people." And when he was elected to office in 1932, he made good on that pledge. Through a series of programs, he stimulated the economy, got people back to work, and protected the American people through the Great Depression.     In 1935, for example, Roosevelt created the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The WPA created much-needed jobs for the unemployed, at the same time improving the country as a whole. WPS workers erected buildings like schools and post offices. They also worked on bridges, highways, and other infrastructure projects. In addition, the WPA found work for people with artistic capabilities, such as writers, musicians, and theater directors. In fact, WPA murals still exist. You may have seen them in places like zoos, courthouses, and hospitals. The WPA, which existed until 1943, provided work and a paycheck to almost 9 million Americans.     Later that year, Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act of 1935. At a time when people had lost much—if not all—of the money for which they had worked, the Social Security Act guaranteed pensions to millions of Americans. It also established unemployment insurance so people who had lost their jobs could receive money until they found work. Thanks to Roosevelt's initiative, these policies are still with us today and continue to protect many Americans when they need help the most.     In many ways, Roosevelt saved the United States. He believed the government should become the active force in driving the country toward prosperity and held to that idea regardless of any opposition. In 1941, the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor ignited World War II, and the war effort helped to accelerate the production of goods and services in the United States. Ultimately, this ended the Great Depression and put the country back on the road to prosperity. However, it was Roosevelt's programs that held the United States together for so many years by providing work, income, and hope in a time of unprecedented economic terror.2Select the correct answer from the drop-down menu.How does the second paragraph develop the author’s thesis?The second paragraph .Reset Next

The Great Depression is often blamed on the October 1929 Stock Market Crash, but the economy of the 1920s featured all of the following weaknesses EXCEPTGroup of answer choicesSaturated markets for automobiles and home construction towards the end of the decadeRelatively low “purchasing power” because one-half of American families lived on the edge of subsistenceA decline in the number of movie-goers that led to hard times for the film industryHighly-competitive “sick” sectors such as coal, textiles, and agriculture

The underlying cause of the Great Depression wasQuestion 17Answera.closures of banksb.immigrationc.high unemployment ratesd.excessive spending on credit