Boylston Street

“Money cannot buy happiness” is a common aphorism that is used quite often in everyday lives. Materialism confoundedly corrupts people's lives and dreams, which most certainly applies to the period of time leading up to the Great Depression in the early 1920’s. The reckless pursuit of greed and pleasure often leads to decadent parties- epitomized in The Great Gatsby by the grand parties that Gatsby throws every Saturday night- resulting in the corruption of the American Dream, as the desire for…

“An entire nation, it seemed, was standing in one long breadline, desperate for even the barest essentials. It was a crisis of monumental proportions. It was known as the Great Depression” (Great Depression Quotes). Males were the ones that were relied on to get these life essentials. They were meant to be the breadwinners for American families. They had the best jobs and were portrayed as the “leader” of the household. They were treated the best compared to minorities including women and…

The Farm Crisis of the 1980’s affected many farmers across the country, including my mother and her family. Interest prices had escalated, and crop prices had fallen, so my grandparents could no longer afford the loan payments on their land. Therefore, my mom was twelve years old, living in Eastern Kansas, when her parents declared bankruptcy and their house was foreclosed on by the bank. In search of work, the family moved across the state to Scott City, where both my grandfather and…

Like the case with the Roman Empire, the U.S. is in danger of decline due to economic problems. According to the history textbook Ancient Civilizations, by Jackson J. Spielvogel,* Rome had economic problems, which led to “people buying fewer goods,” (476). Also, according to the text, “Artisans produced less, and shopkeepers lost money. Many businesses closed, and the number of workers dropped sharply,” (476). These economic problems, like the decrease in income for shopkeepers and rapid…

Black Tuesday- was the most catastrophic stock market crash in the history of United States. The price of stocks completely crashed and eliminated many American jobs. Speculation- investment in stocks involving risk but offering the chance of gains such as profit from changes in the market price. "Buying on Margin"- People buy stocks with borrowed money and pay back the borrowed money with the profit earned from the stock. This caused problems because if the stock decreased in value then the…

Economic and Social Effects of the War falls under the AP Theme Culture and Society. The majority of the economy of the South was destroyed by the war because of the separation between the two halves of the country. The agricultural production was slowed because Northern and international markets were closed off from the South’s products. Traditional male roles were abandoned for the fight in the war and so women and slaves had to fill the roles by themselves leading to an increase in the…

The section that happened to catch my attention is titled “The Great Depression,” which is found in chapter eleven. Although I have heard of this point in history many times before, I cannot claim to have a large breadth of knowledge on what the specific events the Great Depression entailed. In general, I predict that this section will describe the specific causes and effects of the Great Depression. In my understanding, the Great Depression occurred not too long after the Roaring Twenties. To…

The following report is on the book Think And Grow Rich written by Napoleon Hill during the Great Depression of the 1930s. The Great Depression was, without a doubt, one of the hardest times in America's history. In 1929 the stock market crashed, jobs and fortunes were lost and the thrills of the “roaring 20s” were replaced by bread-lines, poverty, drought and despair. As the hard-times dragged on, people began to lose hope. Many were lost and directionless. Napoleon Hill lived through…

Throughout the entirety of the United States of America’s existence, no economic crisis had, and to present day has, ever negatively affected so many lives for such a long period of time as the Great Depression did. From 1929 to 1932 over 85,000 businesses failed; more than 5,000 banks suspended operations; stock values on the New York Exchange fell from $87 billion to $19 billion; unemployment rose to 12 million, with nearly one-fourth of the population having no means of sustaining themselves;…

Securities Act of 1933 Prior to the Securities Act of 1933, there were no true regulatory guidelines on the issuance of securities. Securities were under different state jurisdictions, which proved to be not successful. These regulatory actions led to fraud being conducted and investors being deceived into making poor investment choices. Prior to this Act, companies were not forced to disclose financial information to the public, so investors were investing their money without knowing the facts…