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    The Great Depression: A Short History
    The Great Depression: A Short History
    The Great Depression: A Short History
    Ebook55 pages41 minutes

    The Great Depression: A Short History

    By Doug West

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    About this ebook

    There are many theories about what caused the Great Depression, and the truth is that there is no simple answer. Rather, a perfect storm of events came together and changed the lives of millions of people. One of the first signs of this dark period was the stock market crash in October 1929. In the aftermath, the country fell into the Great Depression, the longest and most significant economic depression since the Civil War.
    Through most of the 1920s, the United States economy was growing, and the stock market had reached new highs. People were making money in the stock market and having a grand time, so much so that few noticed the dark clouds forming on the horizon. By the end of the decade, industrial production had begun to decline, while unemployment was steadily rising.
    Stock market prices were plummeting from their peak in September 1929, and sales reached a crescendo in late October. On October 29, over sixteen million shares were traded in just one day. Billions of dollars were lost, with thousands of investors wiped out, and stock tickers were running hours behind because they were simply unequipped to manage this unprecedented amount of trading. The crash was not the only cause of the Great Depression, but it was certainly a symptom of a larger set of problems.
    Earlier in 1929, Herbert Hoover won the presidency under a wealth and prosperity platform. He made several unsuccessful attempts to prevent the economy from weakening during his administration. Despite his best efforts, banks continued to fail, and more Americans entered the ranks of unemployment. No one understood the extent of this economic downturn.
    But the election of 1932 brought Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt into the White House by a landslide. Roosevelt wasted no time, proposing extensive legislation called the New Deal to create new jobs, revitalize the banks, and give hope to the American people. Some of the New Deal programs were successful, while other fell short; but by the end of the 1930s, things had finally begun to improve. However, it would take the massive spending required during World War II for the economy to return to where it was a decade before.
    Read about this tumultuous period in American history by purchasing the book The Great Depression – A Short History.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDoug West
    Release dateFeb 16, 2016
    ISBN9781311135582
    The Great Depression: A Short History
    Author

    Doug West

    Doug West is a retired engineer, small business owner, and an experienced non-fiction writer with several books to his credit. His writing interests are general, with expertise in science, history, biographies, numismatics, and “How to” topics. Doug has a B.S. in Physics from the Missouri School of Science and Technology and a Ph.D. in General Engineering from Oklahoma State University. He lives with his wife and little dog “Millie” near Kansas City, Missouri.

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    • 5/5
      Loved the easy, but informative read, Doug! Thanks a bunch!

    Book preview

    The Great Depression - Doug West

    The Great Depression – A Short History

    By Doug West, Ph.D.

    The Great Depression – A Short History

    Copyright © 2016 Doug West

    All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the author. Reviewers may quote brief passages in reviews.

    Smashwords Edition, License Notes

    This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

    Table of Contents

    Preface

    Introduction

    Chapter 1 – The Roaring Twenties

    Chapter 2 – The 1929 Stock Market Crash

    Chapter 3 – The Hoover Administration’s Response

    Chapter 4 – Bonus Army March on Washington, D.C.

    Chapter 5 – President Roosevelt and the New Deal

    Chapter 6 – International Effects of the Great Depression

    Chapter 7 – The Great Depression’s Impact on America

    Chronology

    Acknowledgements

    Further Reading

    About the Author

    Additional Books by Doug West

    Preface

    Welcome to the book The Great Depression – A Short History. This book is part of the 30 Minute Book Series and, as the name of the series implies, if you are an average reader this book will take around 30 minutes to read. Since this book is not meant to be an all-encompassing story of The Great Depression, you may want to know more about this terrible time in America and the world. To help you with this, there are several good references at the end of this book. Thank you for purchasing this book and I hope you enjoy your time reading about this tumultuous period in history.

    Doug West

    February 2016

    Introduction

    The Great Depression, like most other periods of severe unemployment, was produced by government mismanagement rather than by any inherent instability of the private economy. - Milton Friedman

    There are many theories as to why the United States and then much of the world entered into a long period of price deflation, high unemployment, and an overall significant economic downturn, which we now call the Great Depression. People always wonder why this horrendous event occurred and there is no simple answer to this question. It was a perfect storm of events that came together and brought about an inevitable plummet in the lives of millions. Perhaps the opening shot

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