Great Depression Dbq Analysis

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During the the 1920s, the United States endured a horrific economic downturn. This would be later known as the Great Depression. Prior to the Great Depression it was known as the Roaring Twenties. During this era the total wealth doubled, this meant that people from coast to coast were buying the same goods. Americans were listening to same music, using the same slang and even dancing the same; but this all changed on October, 29, 1929. Everything that the American knew was gone, their pursuit of happiness, life, and liberty was stripped away from them. The Great Depression was caused by the crash of the stock market, overproduction and unnecessary tariffs.

One of the cause of the Great Depression was the crash of the
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After WW1, investors owed America 3 billion dollars, America was loaning money to other nations to carry the war and postwar reconstruction, thus America became a creditor nation. In order for foreign countermeasures to pay off their debts, the US needed to import more items than it export but the US created acts, increasing tariffs on those who chose to export items to America. This made many countries mad and ultimately led to many foreign countries not paying their debts. (doc. P) The Hawley-Smoot Tariff created tariffs on over 20,000 imported goods and was the highest protective tariff in US history. This act intended purpose was to protect American manufacturers and farmers from foreign competitors. The Hawley-Smoot Tariff reduced the flow of goods into the United States, this prevented foreign countries to obtain American currency to buy American goods. The unemployment worsen and industries weren't able to export goods to Europe because of these tariffs. Many countries retaliated by raising their own tariffs. Within a few years, world trade had fallen more than 40 percent. (doc. O) America created a policy known as the American Economic Policy with Europe. This policy was put into effect when businesses began failing, these tariffs were created to help protect American companies. These tariffs were attached with a high tax, thereby imports began to decrease which led to less trade between America and foreign countries. (other