The Great Depression
David French
Summary
1. The Great Depression was an economic slump in North America, Europe, and other industrialized areas of the world that began in 1929 and lasted until about 1939. It was the longest and most severe depression ever experienced by the industrialized Western world.
2. The stock-market crash in October 1929 is often seen as the cause of the Depression. But the roots of the crisis lay in underlying problems in the economy.
3. Some of the problems resulted from the high costs of World War I (1914–18). Europe had never fully recovered from the effects of the war. Germany, which had lost the war, was burdened with debt. Other countries owed war debt as well.
4. The Great Depression spread around the world. The international banking system was shaky. In the United States, many banks failed. And Europe experienced the same expansion of mass production and consumer debt as the United States.
5. The Great Depression created public support to expand the federal government. President Roosevelt developed programs to regulate the economy, provide jobs, and offer citizens some economic protection. The government refinanced mortgages. It hired workers. Public employees planted forests, constructed highways, and built buildings. Perhaps the greatest legacy of the Depression is Social Security, passed in 1935. It provided unemployment insurance and old-age pensions to American workers. Organized labor grew enormously as workers joined unions in record numbers.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt
1. He was born on January 30, 1882, Hyde Park, NY
2. FDR was our 32nd president
3. FDR made the "New Deal"
4. He was elected four times
5. He Died April 12, 1945, Warm Springs, GA
Event List
1929- The Great Depression began.
1929- The Stock market crashed.
1933- The National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) set up the New Deal's fundamental strategy of centralized planning as a means of combating the Depression.
Works Cited
"Great Depression (economy)." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 12 Jan. 2014.
"Depression, Great." The New Book of Knowledge. Grolier Online, 2014. Web. 15 Jan. 2014.
"The Great Depression and New Deal, 1929-1939." The Great Depression and New Deal, 1929-1939. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Jan. 2014.