The Great Depression Explained (20th Century Explained #2)
Last updated: Wednesday April 21st, 2021
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The 20th Century
In this series, I explore events that happened during the 20th century. I will be exploring topics ranging from the World Wars to the Cold War, from the Great Depression to the Fall of communism. This is the second of this series. This is about the Great Depression.
The Great Depression
When most people think of the Great Depression, they usually think of the stock market crash. And to be honest, I used to think that too, before I researched this project. But like most events in history, the Great Depression didn’t happen overnight. It was the result of many, many mistakes.
The first mistake was impatience by the people. During WWI, the United States had manufactured weapons for the allies. After the war ended, the factories that manufactured the weapons for WWI switched to the recent inventions of the automobile, the radio, and telephones. People went to spend their money on these new appliances. However, people eventually weren’t able to buy those appliances. That was when the stock market crashed.
The second problem was by the people and the banks. The banks had been giving risky loans that weren’t often paid back. After people were unable to pay them back, banks shut down, causing millions to lose their life savings. But before a bank would shut down, many people would rush to the bank, hoping that they could withdraw as much money as they could. When the number of customers overwhelmed by the US government.
The third problem was by the US government. Actually, they made two large mistakes, both making the depression even worse. Herbert Hoover, the US president, decided that raising taxes would help the government balance its budget. That made even fewer people want to spend their money. The second was related to the so-called Dust Bowl. The Americans not only shipped weapons to Europe but also shipped food. This made farming profitable. Suddenly, farmers across the great plains were encouraged to farm as much land as possible. For the short term, yes, this did help both the farmers and the economy. But for the long term, it was a horrible decision. At any given time, the soil would have limited nutrients that plants depend on to grow. So, the plants quickly used up the nutrients, meaning that future plants wouldn’t have any nutrients to use. Over time, the soil got all dry. When several dust storms came through in the 1930s, all the crops that somehow were able to grow were devastated. One key mistake that the US government made can be still seen today. Kudzu is a type of plant native to China, Korea, and Japan. The United States saw it as an opportunity for them. They saw this as a wonderful plant that could be used for food for livestock. It could be made into tea, and it could be woven into baskets. One problem: Kudzu grows fast. It grew and grew and grew. Nothing could stop it from growing -- I’m talking fire, poison, cutting, nothing worked. When Kudzu grew, nothing else was able to reach sunlight. Suddenly, there were huge patches of Kudzu all over the United States, Canada, Australia, and other countries. The only hope was frost. However, frosts don’t happen every day, and some areas, like Florida and Australia, don’t have frosts that often. Plus, with global warming, who knows when there will be no more frosts. The government had spent money that had turned against itself and spent even more money to get rid of it.
Pictures
Helpful Youtube Channels
These are some of my favorite Youtube Channels that talk about Geography, History, Geo-Politics, and other interesting topics.
American Museum of Natural History
Special thanks to PakistanPunk for his recommendation of British Pathé!
Also, check out Brainpop!
Thanks For Reading!