causes of the great depression

The Great Depression was the worst economic decline ever in U.S. history. It began in late 1929 and lasted about a decade. Throughout the 1920's, many factors played a role in bringing about the depression; the main causes were the unequal distribution of wealth and extensive stock market speculation. Money was distributed unequally between the rich and the middle-class, between industry and agriculture within the United States, and between the U.S. and Europe. This …

…or tires; without a radio, people had less need for electricity. On the international scene, the rich had practically stopped lending money to foreign countries. To protect the nation's businesses the U.S. imposed higher trade barriers (Hawley-Smoot Tariff of 1930). Foreigners stopped buying American products. More jobs were lost. More stores closed. More banks went under. More factories closed. Unemployment grew to five million in 1930, up to thirteen million in 1932. The Great Depression had begun.