wow. ^^the epitome of ignorance. the great depression was a time between 1929 and the late 1930's when the American economy crashed and people were living in poverty with no way of escaping. The stock market plummeted in October of 1929, causing people to lose their life savings, jobs, homes, etc. It was a tragic time and if not for WWII, there is no telling when the depression would have ended. WWII stimulated the economy because of the sudden need for more supplies and food. The southern economy was jumpstarted because they now had someplace to export their surplus of crops and the north could expedite various military equipment and soliders to the war front (creating both jobs and sales). The economy slowly recovered from that point on.