Causes of the Great Depression

Many factors played a role in bringing about the depression. The main cause for the Great Depression was the combination of the many unequal distribution of wealth throughout the 1920's, and the stock market speculation that took place during the later part of that decade. Stock market speculation in my own words is people who decide if a certain stock will raise in the future and than buy it if they think it will. Then they sell it later for a higher price than they sold it for. Money was distributed unequally between the rich and the middle-class, between industry and agriculture within the United States, and between the U.S. and Europe. This imbalance of wealth created an unstable economy. The overabundant speculation in the late 1920's kept the stock market artificially high, but eventually lead to large market crashes. These market crashes, combined with the horrible distribution of wealth, caused the American economy to capsize.