New Deal

History after 1865. Mostly pertaining to the Great Depression and the New Deal.

The American Economy

Lyndsay Wagoner

HIS204

Instructor Stefanie Koomruian

4 November, 2013

The United States has overcome many hardships in order to survive since it first came to being

and has shown the world why it is one of the most amazing, diverse countries to live in. What makes

our country so great and what sort of trials have we overcome to get to where we are? First let's start in

the 1930's with the Great Depression. But before we do that, let's take a glance at what we like to refer

to as the Roaring Twenties. In the decade proceeding the Great Depression, the country was recovering

from World War I, people were becoming prosperous and feeling more financially secure. They were

able to do more in more convenient ways than they had before. Women were allowed to work and

things were improving. Then things all came crashing down – literally.

In 1929, the country experienced initially went into an economic recession and thought that

maybe they were on the upswing when on October 27, 1929, the stock market crashed and left the

country suddenly unsure of the future. While most figured it would be short-lived, as was the economic

downturn after World War I, this was not the case. The Great Depression lasted for 10 long years. At

the lowest point, there was roughly 25% of all workers and 37% of all non farm workers that were

completely out of work. The level of those without homes was at an all time high and many people

abandoned the homes they had built to find a new life somewhere else, most of which went to

California. The US did begin recovering around the end of 1933 but that recovery seemed to come to a

screeching halt during 1934 and 1935. The country seemed to be recovering nicely up until 1937 when

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