Category: Unit 2

Jean Caldwell & Timothy G. O’Driscoll, ‘’What Caused The Great Depression’’ Social Education 71(2), pp 70–74 ©2007 National Council for the Social Studies

Jean Caldwell and Timothy G. O’Driscoll, ‘’What Caused The Great Depression’’, provides insightful and informative details about the causes of the Great Depression. The authors delineate depression, also known as ‘’recession’’,  occurs when there is not enough demand for goods or services that companies produce. During this time, consumers mitigate purchasing goods from businesses. In consequence, a lot of goods will be unsold and companies will start to cut production, laying off people. As a result people lose their jobs, businesses will have fewer customers, decrease in consumer spending, and many people’s income will decrease. Other causes mentioned by the authors is Feds increasing interest rates in 1930-1931. When interest rates increase, people will be charged a higher interest when they borrow money from banks, mortgage rates will increase, businesses will run out of business due to consumers not spending their money. It is also very vital to consider the Federal Reserve System’s role during the Great Depression. Jean Caldwell and Timothy G. O’Driscoll analysis highlights a critical view of this historical event, stating that, ‘’The Great Depression may have originated in a fall in total demand, but its length and severity resulted primarily from the unwillingness of the federal reserve system and to maintain a large enough money supply’’ The authors is revealing to us that the Great Depression went on for a longer duration time than expected due to the federal reserve’s failure to supply money, which could have shorten the Great Depression as well as recover from it faster.

Cohen, Lizabeth.’’The lessons of the Great Depression’’https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/05/how-rebuild-nation/611704/, 17, May 2020

The article ‘’The Lessons Of The Great Depression’’, the author talks about the struggles  people went through during The Great Depression. The article further talks about the failure of President Hoover which contributed to Roosevelt’s election victory. President Hoover was unable to set up effective strategies to cure The Great Depression and because of his failure Roosevelt was elected as president in 1933. President Roosevelt helped the federal government get involved to help cure The Great Depression.  In response to this disaster, the federal government funded reliefs, created more jobs, and infrastructure for Americans to operate. This was the ‘’New Deal’’ President Roosevelt enacted. Lizabeth Cohen emphasized the hardships Americans went through during The Great Depression and how President Roosvelt responded to this event when she said ‘’ American did not merely endure the Great Depression; its response transformed it into a richer and more equitable society’’ In short,  Lizabeth Cohen believes that the American people did not just survive the Great Depression, but the actions that President Roosevelt  took by establishing the ‘’New Deal’’ helped those who went through hardships as well as making the country wealthier and more equitable for Americans. I strongly agree with Lizabeth Cohen’s statement because president Roosevelt did indeed promise Americans a ‘’New Deal’’ which was able to pull America away from an economic and political disaster.

The Great Depression is an important history that people should learn about because it teaches us an important role: money, banks, and the stock market play a role in our economy. Additionally, it teaches people to always plan ahead because anything can happen. In my research, I found multiple causes of the Great Depression, before research, I thought there was only one cause which was the crash of the stock market.

My research on the causes, the responses from our president, and the consequences of the Great Depression has given me a better understanding of what happened during a crucial period in American history. What surprised me was the complicated nature of the Great Depression, with both economic and political factors that played an important role during this crisis. The research I did cleared up my confusions about the causes and the remarks our presidents gave. During the 1920s, the stock market was showing strength, as stock prices rose, people started buying shares, but the most absurd thing people did is pour their entire life savings on it, some even borrowed money from banks to buy stocks which is commonly known as buying stocks on margin. As the stock market started to decline and eventually crash in 1929, investors lost their money and those who were foolish enough to borrow money from banks, had to not only suffer from their initial investment, but ended up in debt because they needed to pay banks back with interest. The crash affected many businesses, consumers started spending less of their money because most people were in debt, the demand for goods decreased, leading to layoffs and reduced industrial production, which caused further reduced spending. Additionally, the unwillingness of the federal reserve system to supply people with more money also prolonged the Great Depression more than it should have. This all happened when President Hoover was still in office, he did so little to help out struggling Americans, although he did try to implement some steps to address the Great Depression, these were useless and ineffective. He believed that this type of event was bound to happen, therefore he made every American endure difficult times like this without caring for them. Hoover’s failure ultimately caused him to lose the election in 1932, President Roosevelt winning the election. Unlike Hoover, President Roosevelt initiated a program called ‘’New Deal’’, which created more jobs, provided reliefs to those affected, and improved infrastructure. The New Deal positively impacted the US economy and eventually brought America out of the Great Depression. It is very important for me to understand the causes and the consequences of the Great Depression because this topic will remain relevant forever. An economic decline does not just affect one country, it affects countries around the world, it also teaches me to not do risky investments. I strongly believe that the government, economists, and investors should know about the Great Depression. The government could use old strategies from the past to restore a declining economy in case something similar to the Great depression happens again in the future. To avoid another failing economy, economists should enhance their understanding on this topic in order to keep today’s economy healthy. Investors can practice risk management and make smart investment choices by studying old data because who knows, the stock market can crash again.

The Great Depression is an important history that people should learn about because it teaches us an important role: money, banks, and the stock market play a role in our economy. Additionally, it teaches people to always plan ahead because anything can happen. In my research, I found multiple causes of the Great Depression, before research, I thought there was only one cause which was the crash of the stock market. My research on the causes, the responses from our president, and the consequences of the Great Depression has given me a better understanding of what happened during a crucial period in American history. What surprised me was the complicated nature of the Great Depression, with both economic and political factors that played an important role during this crisis. The research I did cleared up my confusions about the causes and the remarks our presidents gave. During the 1920s, the stock market was showing strength, as stock prices rose, people started buying shares, but the most absurd thing people did is pour their entire life savings on it, some even borrowed money from banks to buy stocks which is commonly known as buying stocks on margin. As the stock market started to decline and eventually crash in 1929, investors lost their money and those who were foolish enough to borrow money from banks, had to not only suffer from their initial investment, but ended up in debt because they needed to pay banks back with interest. The crash affected many businesses, consumers started spending less of their money because most people were in debt, the demand for goods decreased, leading to layoffs and reduced industrial production, which caused further reduced spending. Additionally, the unwillingness of the federal reserve system to supply people with more money also prolonged the Great Depression more than it should have. This all happened when President Hoover was still in office, he did so little to help out struggling Americans, although he did try to implement some steps to address the Great Depression, these were useless and ineffective. He believed that this type of event was bound to happen, therefore he made every American endure difficult times like this without caring for them. Hoover’s failure ultimately caused him to lose the election in 1932, President Roosevelt winning the election. Unlike Hoover, President Roosevelt initiated a program called ‘’New Deal’’, which created more jobs, provided reliefs to those affected, and improved infrastructure. The New Deal positively impacted the US economy and eventually brought America out of the Great Depression. It is very important for me to understand the causes and the consequences of the Great Depression because this topic will remain relevant forever. An economic decline does not just affect one country, it affects countries around the world, it also teaches me to not do risky investments. I strongly believe that the government, economists, and investors should know about the Great Depression. The government could use old strategies from the past to restore a declining economy in case something similar to the Great depression happens again in the future. To avoid another failing economy, economists should enhance their understanding on this topic in order to keep today’s economy healthy. Investors can practice risk management and make smart investment choices by studying old data because who knows, the stock market can crash again.

Research Question: Why does the United States intervene themselves so much in foreign countries? 

From the start of the Russian and Ukrainian war and now with Pakistan and Israel at war, America has helped those in need of support. In this case it was Ukraine and now it’s the people of Pakistan. But what about helping the own people in their country?  Biden may not see it because he’s living lavishly in the White House in Washington but in New York or other parts of the world people are struggling. It mostly has to do with inflation, the rise of homelessness, pollution, discrimination, people not getting paid enough and the rise of housing. I understand that America has one of the strongest military, weapon and trading systems but it doesn’t mean they have to join wars that they’re not a part of, and for what more alliances? Every day I walk the streets of New York and notice everything wrong that could be better. But I usually mainly see homeless people and I honestly feel bad for them. There are many homeless shelters in the United States but it’s either overcrowded or unsustainable for them to live. I know especially in times like this in the cold weather they would love a warm and safe place to sleep but the places that are provided are either one of those or neither.  Additionally, the cost of housing in New York could be lowered especially after dealing with the crisis of COVID. Even after the Black Lives Matter Movement African Americans are still treated poorly. All the problems that I’ve stated don’t have a final solution, maybe test trials on finding the right one but will there ever be just the right one? All around world Americans even have realized within the country nothings ever going to change about it. We will always have to help other countries. I guess the plus side of helping others is that you gain alliances but also, I think it’s better to focus on your own problems before others.

Qin, Li and Liu Xiaroui ” Why a U.S obsession with meddling in other countries seriously jeopardizes world peace.” News.Cn, Xinhua, 11 Aug. 2022. 

Meng Jin is an American novelist.  She graduated with a BA from Harvard University in 2011, and from= Hunters College MFA program in 2015. While at Hunter, she was a Hertog Fellow. Continuing to teach literature and creative writing at Hunter, Jin also guest lectures at Harvard.  In a YouTube video provided by English. news.cn titled” Why a U.S obsession with meddling in other countries seriously jeopardize world peace?’ along with other video reporters and editors Yu Fuqing, Yang Yiran, Yao Bing, Wu Chengwei, Wang Feng; video editors: Liu Xiaorui, Li Qin we hear the thought of 4 spokespersons from around the world on how they see the problem America is causing by interfering with other countries. One of the Spokesperson speaking in the video “Vladimir Zharikin” who is a Deputy Director Commonwealth of Independent States Institute, Russia he speaks during the times from 0:37-1:09 expresses that” Believes that the US wants to change the countries focus for some problems that the US creates for them. And in this way they are trying to maintain their hegemony, to maintain their, as they believe, leadership of the world.” According to Vladimir he believes the United States intentionally creates problems in other countries to divert their attention away from their own issues. In doing this brings upon the thought that the  U.S. stays in charge as well as the leader of the world, making sure no other country becomes more powerful than it.  Following Zharikin another spokesperson by the name “Joseph Matthews” who is Senior Professor BELTEI International University in Phnom Phen elaborates in what tactics America uses to gain control: The most various tactics the U.S government uses are through intimidation, political, and economic pressure, embargoes, black mailing through human rights issues, freedom of speech, democracy, and other related matters. The USA’s hegemonic and bullying policy globally will not take the USA too far, as the ramifications of these actions will be imminent and severe.” According to Matthews the U.S. government uses different strategies like scaring other countries, using politics and money to get its way, and even restricting trade to make other nations do what it wants. It also mentions using black-maili

ng through human rights issue, freedom of speech and democracy which i find is very crucial. How can you be a country who sees everyone is equal and deserves the same and then treat other countries like garbage just so they won’t get the thought to ever think about overpowering you?  But I can agree with Matthews when he says doing all of this America will not get far in long run. They should change their ways before it is too late.

Haines, Julia “ Countries That Receive the Most Foreign Aid From the U.S.” usnews.com, 13 Oct. 2023 Global Map of places America has helped and in which ways 

Julia Haines,” Countries that receive the most foreign Aid from The U.S. ”, was a report published in the U.S. News & World Report. Julia Haines is a Data Editor with U.S. News & World Report where she makes data analysis charts covering topics she writes about.  This article goes in on The Countries that receive the most foreign aid from the U.S and how much is given to each country and the purpose of it.  It shows a chart of 175 countries that receive foreign aid from the U.S.  Additionally, the article unfolds how public surveys were taken on how a majority of Americans believe too much of the federal budget is spent on foreign aid.  Based on the charts not very many people agreed with what the U.S is doing, seeing it unfavorable at times and favorable at others but at the looks of it from 2022-2023 it seems mere close rather than expected.  As Haines reported” In 2021 the U.S. gave more than $3.3 billion to Israel, 11% of the year’s entire distribution to specific countries. That year, Israel received more than twice the amount seen by any other country, and nearly all of it was designated as military aid.”  There is no doubt that Israel received the help they needed against Palestine. For the U.S they would be getting a close ally in the Middle East and helping them against Palestine and promote stability in the region.  This is the U.S government plan on getting more power over other countries now in the Middle East with the help of Israel.  In Haines bringing up the amount of money the U.S gave Israel in their needs of survival showing how powerful and a necessity the U.S can be for countries.  This then goes back to my research question proposal on” Why does America feel the need to intervene with other countries?” In doing so America is giving Israel and giving them support with their own military they’re gaining a person in the inside of the Middle East. Furthermore, Haines reports “In 2021 alone – the most recent year for which data is complete – the U.S. gave foreign countries about $52.4 billion.  I really question where America gains all this money from. And why can’t their own country get a little of all these billions of dollars?  A change has to be made.

In conclusion,

The reason for me choosing this question is because I see it frequently in the news of the United States giving all this money away, so I was curious on why America feels the need to do so.  During my research for the first source entry, I wrote about what other leaders or rulers in foreign countries had to say about America intervening in their countries. In my second source entry I researched the foreign countries that America was giving money to and also reviewed the statistics of which countries were receiving the most. And seeing the results were very shocking and made me have even more questions. For example, it had stated in the second source entry I was reading” Countries that receive the most foreign Aid from the U.S” that “In 2021 alone – the most recent year for which data is complete – the U.S. gave foreign countries about $52.4 billion”. As much as college students that are in debt and America just giving this amount of money away makes me question the type of country this is. Additionally, by America providing money to Israel during their time of need against Palestine America is gaining an ally in the Middle East having a power over their as well. I learned that America would pay for other countries’ materials along with help with any problems that country is facing with another. At the end they will have gained an ally and have the ability to hold power over that country. And for us to think as Americans from America would ever get help with our needs or even get a share of these billions of dollars that’s being sent everywhere well you would have to find a different way to get what you need.  The audience of my research would be the American government because they’re in charge of any being sent along with President Biden would have to even approve it being sent to the country and the purpose being behind it. There is some information I still would like to include in my research for instance the problems America is facing at the moment for example inflation, food stamps etc. In doing so I would be able to possibly have an estimate how much money America would need for their own problems, but the leader does not seem to see it.