Causes of Great Depression/FDR New Deal
Explain the causes of the Great Depression and describe how the New Deal programs helped or hurt
economic recovery for the country and individual Americans. Provide 4 specific examples of the causes for the
Great Depression and 4 specific New Deal programs that sought to solve these causes. You can use programs
from either the first or second New Deal in your essay.
Sample Solution
Causes of Great Depression/FDR New Deal
The Great Depression was the worst economic downturn in the history of the industrialized world, lasting from the stock market crash of 1929 to 1939. It sent Wall Street into panic and wiped out millions of investors. But what caused the Great Depression? The stock market, centered at the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street in New York City, was the scene of reckless speculation, where everyone from millionaire tycoons to cooks and janitors poured their savings into stock. As a result, the stock market underwent rapid expansion, reaching its peak in august 1929. By then, production had already declined and unemployment had risen, leaving stock prices much higher than their actual value. However, President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal aimed at promoting economic recovery and putting Americans back to work through Federal activism. New federal agencies attempted to control agricultural production, stabilize wages and prices, and create a vast public works program for the unemployed.
