Causes of the Great Depression Outline

Prompt: To what extent was the Wall Street Crash a cause of the Great Depression of 1929? Support your argument with specific examples.


THESIS: The Wall street Crash was not a major cause of the Great Depression which started in 1929. It was a major event and effected many Americans lives however there were many other events that had a much larger contribution to the economic decline of the late '20s. Some of the major causes of the Great Depression were, a crisis in the farming industry, Germany's collapsing economy and a huge increase in consumer debt.


OUTLINE:


1: The farming industry crisis:
Bought too much land during war - because of huge increase of demand for Europe and the soldiers abroad
After war, demand went way down. Farmers had too much supply and not enough demand to support it.
Farmers lost money - because in order to buy the machines and land needed to supply the wartime demands the had borrowed money from the bank which they could not pay back after the war.
-Helped cause the Great Depression; let off workers - added to unemployment


2: Germany's Economy:
After the war Germany was forced to pay reparations. the country had already lost a lot during the war and reparations really hurt its economy.
Rapid (hyper) inflation. By 1923 the exchange rate was over 4 trillion marks for one U.S. dollar. Cost of bread = 3 billion marks. Cost of 1 pound of meat = 36 billion.
Because of Germany's failing economy the U.S. lent money to Germany in order for it to pay off its reparations and in the hopes of boosting its economy .
- Helped cause the Great Depression; Germany was to poor to afford to buy many of the American products that it had been buying prior to the war - lowered demand for American products and produce
America loaned money to Germany went it could not afford to do so, the American economy was better that that of Germany but it was declining
Germany was unable to pay all of its reparations to Britain and France who were, in turn, unable to pay of their debts to the US .


3: CONSUMERS' DEBT:
Consumers bought many products on store credit (store credit allowed customers to obtain products without paying immediately)
Many Americans were unable to pay off their debts to the companies where they had used credit - due to unemployment or lowered wages.
-Helped cause the Great Depression; companies lost a lot of money because people didn't pay off their credit this added to the cycle of unemployment and overall many companies that sold products that weren't inessential.


CONCLUSION:
-Wall Street Crash was an effect of all of these economic problems
-Marks the beginning of the Great Depression... but was not a major cause of it. Only those who had invested a lot of money in the stock exchange lost money. Many Americans had already been unemployed and in poverty for years before the crash on Wall Street.
-The Wall Street Crash revealed the illusion of wealth during the twenties
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Example of the outline structure:



Thesis
I. Main Point 1
a. Evidence 1 that supports Main Point 1
i. further supporting details
b. Evidence 2 that supports Main Point 1
II. Main Point 2.... and so on.