In 1929, A Yale University Economist Irving Fisher stated. " The nation is marching along a permanently high plateau of prosperity".(5) 5 days later the stock market crashed and the worst economic downturn in American history called the "Great Depression" began. The Depression started in 1929 and would last for a decade until we entered War World II.  The Great Depression affected every part of economy and no job was safe. In 1929 unemployment was at 1.5 million and by 1933  unemployment reached over 13 million which meant 1 out of 4 were out of work (3). Some who were successful businessmen before the stock market crash and now selling pencils or apples on the street corners after the crash .Many business closed their doors, factories shut down and banks failed causing homelessness, poverty and general despair on many Americans. Huge numbers of Americans had their lives upset by the Depression. Tens of thousands of migrant farm workers traveled the nation looking for employment. Farming income fell some 50 percent and people went hungry because so much food was produced that production became unprofitable.  Many Americans watched  their homes and life savings be lost because of the stock market.  Confidence in the market was lost and without that confidence investors pulled out and the market collapsed.(4)
         America's unevenly distributed wealth played a role in the stock market crash and slowed the recovery. During the "Roaring Twenties" our country prospered tremendously, but our middle and lower class prospered little compared to the upper class. The upper class profits sky rocked and the distance between the classes grew o ...