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The Great Depression

The Great Depression was a period of US economic devastation that started with the stock market crash of October 29, 1929 and continued pretty much through the beginning stages of World War II in 1939.

The causes of the Great Depression were many and myriad…so much so, that even to this day, there is heated debate as to the exact cause and/or series of events that actually triggered America’s economic downfall.

While ‘Black Friday’ is generally considered the singular date that denotes the onset of the Great Depression, The Great Depression was not a sudden total collapse. The stock market turned upward in early 1930, returning to pre-Black Friday levels by April, though still almost 30 percent below the peak of September 1929. All tolled, government and business actually spent more in the first half of 1930 than in the corresponding period of the previous year.

In early 1930, credit was ample and available at low rates, but people were reluctant to add new debt by borrowing. By May 1930, auto sales had declined to below the levels of 1928. Prices in general began to decline, but wages held steady in 1930, then began to drop in 1931.

Once the Great Depression took hold, there appeared to be no way to break the economy free. Eventually, the country would experience record levels of unemployment; rampant deflation; the weakening of the lower and working classes at the hands of big business; a general loss of faith in the concept of capitalism in America, in not a loss of faith in America itself.

The Depression had brought the American economy to its lowest point ever by the time Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected president in 1932. Roosevelt’s immediate concern upon taking office was to stem the country’s economic decline and forge a path towards helping Americans to weather the economic storm until the correct mechanisms could be put in place to right America’s financial course.

Roosevelt’s overarching plan to conquer the Great Depression was...