The Great Depression In The 1930's

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The Great Depression was the worst crash in the history of American stock. Throughout the 1930s, neither the free market or the federal government was able to get the country happy again. The American people faced the worst pain ever. Americans flirted with a number of radical alternate. Some of those radical alternatives faded into memory, while others were incorporated where a few remain with us even today.
The early warning signs first came in the agricultural sector. Farmers continued to produce more and more food due to technological advances like the tractor. As production grew farm prices dropped. It was simply a matter of supply and demand. Framers reacted in the traditional manner and boosted production even further. Prices plummeted. Farmers began to default on their loans and the banks foreclosed. To make matters worse the central part of the nation was hit with a terrible drought. Farmers were devastated. The drought turned that portion of America into what was
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Businesses were left alone and for sometime things appeared to fine. American businesses reported record profits, production was at an all time high. The problem was that while earnings rose and the rich got richer, the working class received a disproportionately lower percentage of the wealth. This uneven distribution of wealth got so bad that 5% of America earned 33% of the income. What this meant was that there was less and less real spending. Despite the fact that the working class had less money to spend businesses continued to increase product in levels.
Purchasing dropped internationally as well. Since Europe was in a depression people there weren't buying as much as businesses had estimated. Then the Fordney McCumber Tariff and the Hawley Smoot Tariff raised tariff levels to as much as 40%. Europe which was already angered at US foreign actions responded with high tariffs of their own. International trade was at a