The Great Depression of the 1930’s is one of the most notable depressions of American History and it lasted through much of the 1930’s. The unemployment rate reached 25% of all workers and 37% of all nonfarm workers during the peak of the depression. (Smiley) The unemployment rate during the depression never fell below 14.3% until 1941. (EyeWitness to History) The depression impacted every country whose economy was built on a capitalist system. The Soviet Union was one of the only major world powers during this time that did not feel the effects of the failing capitalist system, because they were a communist society. (Jones 514) The Great Depression changed the political environment of America, the culture of Americans, and the extent to which the government controlled and participated in social works policies. The federal government increased its role in the economy as an effort to speed up the recovery of a stable and upwardly mobile American economy. Two historical and lasting contributions of The Great Depression are the Social Security benefits for the elderly and the Unemployment Compensations for Americans who are involuntarily unemployed. These two contributions were an attempt by the government to add money to the household income of Americans, which as a result would lead to an increase in consumer spending and an increase in business profits. At the beginning of The Great Depression Herbert Clark Hoover was president, and he served as president from 1929 to 1933. However, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected president in the 1932 presidential election and served as president during the remainder of The Great Depression.
Works Cited
EyeWitness to History. 2000. 16 02 2011 <http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/snprelief1.htm>.
Smiley, Gene. Library of Economics and Liberty. 2008. 16 02 2011 <http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/GreatDepression.html>.
Jones, Wood, Borstelmann, Tyler May, Ruiz. Created Equal A History of The United States . Upper Saddle River : Prentice Hall , 2011.
No comments:
Post a Comment