Great Depression

By: Colby Wyatt, Carlton Igwe, Reece Andonov,

Anthony Gallegos and Makinsie Budzik

Prior Years
In the prior years
leading up to the
plummet of the stock
market, there was a
concentration on
income.
The same can be said
in the years leading up
to the Recession as
well.

The Start of the Great Depression

Black Tuesday, as it
has now been
called, was October
29, 1929, when the
Dow Jones fell
almost 23 percent.
This was the
beginning of the
struggle called the
Great Depression.

Farmland
Farmers were greatly
affected by the Great
Depression, more than most
citizens.
In 1930, there was over 6.5
million farms in America,
with over 12 million farmers
working them.
The Depression hit them
hard and soon after they
began to lose their farms.

Farms Today
During the Depression, more than 44%
of Americans lived in rural areas, while
only 23% do now.
The effect on farms by the Recession was
far less than that of the Depression, as
today only 1/3 of the farms still exist.

Banks
In the years following the
Depression, more than
9000 banks failed as well
as all of their customers.
The bank failures were the
prime source of the Great
Depression, as without
working banks, money
was vulnerable and
scandalous.

"The bank is something more than

men, I tell you. It's the monster. Men
made it, but they can't control it." John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath,
Ch. 5
Steinbeck's description is the perfect
example of banks during the
Depression. No matter how much they
tried, they had no control of the banks,
which forced many of them to close.
The Recession was much better in the
sense of banks, as less than 1% of
banks failed compared to 50% of
banks failing in the Depression

Unemployment
As a result of the Depression,
more than anywhere between
10 and 25 percent of the
country was unemployed.
Because of unemployment,
many families had to survive
through other means besides
work, mainly being self reliant.

Depression vs Recession Unemployment

The unemployment
rates between the
two were drastically
different, thus
disproving theories
that the Recession
was just as bad as the
Depression in terms
of unemployment.

Unemployment by Area
Between the Depression
and Recession,
unemployment was similar
in some parts of the
country, such as the
Midwest and Northwest.
As evident in both graphs,
California and Michigan
took the declines the worst.

End of a Depression
The end of World War II
brought the end of the
depression
With the soldiers
returning and
companies shifting from
military supplies to their
usual manufacturing,
there was a big boost in
production and profit,
and the market
skyrocketed.

Similarities
Both the Depression and Recession threw
the country into turmoil and caused
problems in the government all the way
down to the streets.
The years preceding and following the
events were also similar.

Differences
There were a lot more
differences than similarities
between the two as the
Depression was worse in
many ways and caused lots
more problems.
However, at one point the
Recession had a bigger free
fall than there had ever
been during the
Depression.

Works Cited
Arron, Kat. "Now & Then: Is the Great Recession so Different from the Great
Depression?" Home. Public Insight Network from American Public Media, 24 Dec.
2011. Web. 14 Aug. 2014
Boesler, Matthew. "Comparing The Great Depression To The Great Recession
[Infographic]." Business Insider. Business Insider, Inc, 24 July 2012. Web. 14 Aug.
2014
Geewax, Marilyn. "Did The Great Recession Bring Back The 1930s?" NPR. NPR, 11
July 2012. Web. 14 Aug. 2014.
Jacobson, Louis. "Comparing the Great Recession and the Great Depression."
PolitiFact. PolitiFact, 19 Sept. 2013. Web. 14 Aug. 2014.
Perry, Mark. "CARPE DIEM." CARPE DIEM. 9 Sept. 2010. Web. 14 Aug. 2014.
Taylor, Nick. "The Great Depression." Great Depression (1930's) News. Nytimes.
Web. 14 Aug. 2014.