The Great Depression and John Steinbecks The Grapes of Wrath :: John Steinbeck The Grapes of Wrath

The Great Depression and John Steinbecks The Grapes of Wrath Though most Americans are aware of the Great Depression of 1929, which may well be the most serious problem facing our free enterprise economic system, few know of the many Americans who disjointed their homes, life savings and jobs. This make-up briefly states the understandings of the depression and summarizes the vast problems Americans faced during the eleven years of its span. This paper primarily focuses on what life was like for farmers during the time of the Depression, as portrayed in John Steinbecks The Grapes of Wrath, and tells what the government did to end the Depression. In the 1920s, after World War 1, danger signals were apparent that a great Depression was coming. A major cause of the Depression was that the pay of workers did not increase at all. Because of this, they couldnt afford manufactured goods. While the factories were still manufacturing goods, Americans werent able to afford them and th e factories made no money (Drewry and Oconnor 559). some other major cause related to farmers. Farmers werent doing to well because they were producing more crops and farm products than could be sold at high prices. Therefore, they made a very small profit. This inadequate profit wouldnt allow the farmers to purchase new machinery and because of this they couldnt produce goods quick enough (Drewry and Oconnor 559). A new plan was created called the installment plan. This plan was established because many Americans didnt lose enough money to buy goods and services that were needed or wanted. The installment plan stated that people could buy products on credit and make periodic payments. The one major problem with this idea was that people soon found out that they couldnt afford to make the monthly payment(Drewry and Oconnor 559).In 1929 the stock market crashed. many an(prenominal) Americans purchased stocks because they were certain of the economy. People started selling their stocks at a fast pace over sixteen million stocks were sold Numerous stock prices dropped to fraction of their value. Banks lost money from the stock market and from Americans who couldnt pay back loans. Many factories lost money and went out of business because of