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.

Causes & Early Effects of the Great Depression

1. What happened on "Black Tuesday"?
the stock market crashed
2. How did the economic trends of the 1920s in industry, agriculture, and with consumers help cause the Great Depression? (Make sure you include significant details about each area in your answer. It should be at least a paragraph)
INdustry: Many industries that had been highly succesful for most of the twenties were biginning to decline such as coal which was losing a lot of bussiness to other forms of energy such as gas and hydro-electric power. Other intustries that had done very well during the war years and shortly afterward were also not doing so well for instence steel and lumber. The lumber industry was also declining because of a decline in the number of new houses that were being built, also referred to as a fall in the housing starts. This industries decline brought about many others and a huge shortage in jobs.
AGRICULTURE: Many farmers had done very well during the war and the demand for products such as wheat and corn had been high but when the war ended so did the high demandds and many of the farmers who had taken out loans in order to pay for large crops lost money. Many crops sufferred as much as a 40 percent decline in value and some even more.
CONSUMERS: Because of the loss of jobs and the increase in prices consumers were buying less. Another contribution to the consumers effect on the great depretion was that many americans had been living on credit which means that they had made an arangement with a store/s and would "get it now and pay later" the problem with this was that americans often bought too much or were unable to pay off the interest rates.

3. According to your reading, what are the major causes of the Great Depression?
I believe that the Great Depretion was caused by several aspects of american life during the twenties. It was kind of like a snow ball effect once it got started it got bigger and bigger very fast. First it was the deline in many major industries (some of which were caused by a housing start shortage) and by the misforchune of the agricultural industy and then by consumers who over spent and realized it too late.

4. What was Hoover’s philosophy of government?
He believed that periods of economic success were often followed by periods of depresion. First HOover reasured americans that america was doing fine and told them to go about their lives normaly. He believed that the government should play a limitted role in helping to solve the economic crisis. He called for meatings with bussiness leaders and asked them not to lower wages or lay off people then he ask labourers not to demand higher wages and not to go on strike.

5. What was Hoover’s initial reaction to the stock market crash of 1929?
He wanted every one to be optomistic.
6. What was the nation’s economic situation in 1930?
The econemy was in a terible state and unemployment was on the rise.
7. How did voters in 1930 respond to this situation?
When the economy storted gettting really bad people started to dislike Hoover and the republicans and in the 1930 election Franklin Delenor Roosevelt, a democrat was elected president.
8. What did Hoover do about the economic situation?
He built the Boulder Dam (now known as the Hoover Dam) on the Colorado.
9. How did the economy respond to his efforts?
The government loaned out money to big bussinesses but it was to late and it did little to help the economy. It was too little too late.