Revisiting The 1930s (2024)

FAQs

What was the Great Depression answers? ›

The Depression was the longest and deepest downturn in the history of the United States and the modern industrial economy. The Great Depression began in August 1929, when the economic expansion of the Roaring Twenties came to an end. A series of financial crises punctuated the contraction.

In all, 9,000 banks failed--taking with them $7 billion in depositors' assets. And in the 1930s there was no such thing as deposit insurance--this was a New Deal reform. When a bank failed the depositors were simply left without a penny. The life savings of millions of Americans were wiped out by the bank failures.

The depression threatened people's jobs, savings, and even their homes and farms. At the depths of the depression, over one-quarter of the American workforce was out of work. For many Americans, these were hard times.

The thirties brought tremendous change starting with the Great Depression. By the end of the decade, the world was at war. Read on to learn more about moments that defined the '30s. October 29, 1929: The Wall Street Crash of 1929 triggers the Great Depression — the worst economic crisis in U.S. history.

Even with tumultuous events last year, such as the failure of three U.S. banks, the nation has not tipped into recession — and certainly not a depression, either. A depression is an extended economic breakdown, and we have not seen signs of that kind of pain. (See recession vs. depression.)

ITR Economics is projecting that the next Great Depression will begin in 2030 and last well into 2036. However, we do not expect a simple, completely downward trend throughout those years. There will be signs of slight growth that pop up during this period.

Not everyone, however, lost money during the worst economic downturn in American history. Business titans such as William Boeing and Walter Chrysler actually grew their fortunes during the Great Depression.

The problems of the Great Depression affected virtually every group of Americans. No group was harder hit than African Americans, however. By 1932, approximately half of African Americans were out of work.

By the summer of 1932, the Great Depression had begun to show signs of improvement, but many people in the United States still blamed President Hoover.

Ironically, it was World War II, which had arisen in part out of the Great Depression, that finally pulled the United States out of its decade-long economic crisis.

What was it like to be poor in the 1930s? ›

It was very hard then, during the Depression. There was no food, and there were people walking around, asking each other, did they have food, or could it be shared. People had no money to buy seeds or plants or anything like that to plant.

The Dust Bowl in the United States (which led to the nickname the "Dirty Thirties") exacerbated the scarcity of wealth. U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who took office in 1933, introduced a program of broad-scale social reforms and stimulus plans called the New Deal in response to the crisis.

Simply put, it's the idea that the U.S. is currently suffering from an extended period of slow economic growth that no one is talking about. TikToks referencing the trend often compare the cost of common goods and services — housing, vehicles, etc. — in 2024 to that of the 1930s.

With the Great Depression, children and their families were greatly impacted—millions lived in poverty and had very little to eat, let alone money to spare for entertainment. Read more to compare and contrast how Annie may have lived in the 1930s, versus how you live today.

Among the suggested causes of the Great Depression are: the stock market crash of 1929; the collapse of world trade due to the Smoot-Hawley Tariff; government policies; bank failures and panics; and the collapse of the money supply.

Great Depression. The economic crisis and period of low business activity in the U.S. and other countries, roughly beginning with the stock-market crash in October, 1929, and continuing through most of the 1930s.

The Great Depression was the worst economic crisis in modern history, lasting from 1929 until the beginning of World War II in 1939. The causes of the Great Depression included slowing consumer demand, mounting consumer debt, decreased industrial production and the rapid and reckless expansion of the U.S. stock market.

Great Depression, worldwide economic downturn that began in 1929 and lasted until about 1939. It was the longest and most severe depression ever experienced by the industrialized Western world, sparking fundamental changes in economic institutions, macroeconomic policy, and economic theory.