Causes of the Great Depression (SSUSH17a)

decreasing incomes in the Dust Bowl region

the collapse of the European economy after World War I

overproduction immediately before the stock market crash of 1929

widening income disparities between the richest and poorest Americans

The widespread adoption of agricultural innovations and the subsequent increase in farm profit.

Conservative banking practices that limited access to credit.

Overproduction in industries and underconsumption by consumers.

Speculative investments that inflated stock market prices.

The effects of tariffs on the stability of the economy during the Great Depression

Unemployment increased very quickly after the crash, but it took many years to go back down.

Unemployment slowly decreased after the crash and then quickly returned to normal.

Unemployment only began to decrease when the United States entered World War II in 1941.

Unemployment rose slowly over ten years as the Great Depression gradually became worse.