Baseball and the Great Depression

Baseball and the Great Depression

The Great Depression, an immense tragedy that placed millions of Americans out of work, was the beginning of government involvement in the economy and in society as a whole. (greatdepression) What caused this tragedy in American History? Most people believe that the Stock Market Crash of 1929 was the main caused for the Great Depression. The question is what caused the market to crash? Here are a few reasons why the market crashed and the Great Depression started.

One of the reasons was due to the farm depression of the 1920’s. Farmers were producing more than the American consumers were consuming. Farmers were losing money at a huge rate. Another one of the main reasons for the Great Depression was overproduction in industry. Factories were producing products while the wage of the workers was so low that they could not afford to buy the products they produced. The surplus could not be sold overseas due to the high tariffs and the lack of money in Europe. In my opinion the main reason for the Great Depression was the uneven distribution of wealth. The top 1% income was increased by 75%, while 99% of the population had an increase of only 9%. What does this mean? It meant that the rich got richer and the poor stayed poor. Products were being produced, but no one but the rich could afford them.

Stock Market Crash of 1929 also was known as Black Tuesday. This is the day that the Great Depression officially started. Billions of dollars were lost. People panicked and took their money out of the banks that were not already closed. Over 9,000 banks closed. Many people lost everything. So what does all of this have to do with the American past time Baseball?

Baseball was no different than any other company in the World. It was affected by the Great Depression just like everything else. During the Great Depression, the effects of unemployment, lower wages, and an overall decrease in the standard of living played a key role in...