What was the american depression?

I think you're referring to the Great Depression which people usually cite as lasting from 1929-1941. It was a period of 25% unemployment, breadlines, people loosing their homes, etc. It resulted in part from the overspending of the American public and financial institutions during the 1920's. The stock market crashed in 1929, but people didn't really begin to feel the bad effects of it until 1931-32 with 1933 being the worst year of all. Out of the Great Depression and FDR's New Deal came some still ongoing programs such as unemployment compensation, social security, welfare. People say the Great Depression ended as a result of America getting involved in defense manufacturing in order to fight World War II, but although the "end" of the Great Depression is usually given as being 1941-42, the American middle class appeared to be back on its feet a couple of years earlier than that.

do you mean the Great Depression, or the recent depression???

Well.. If you don't know what the Great Depression is, you must be living under a rock.

It was after the roaring 20s (1920s) when everyone was buying bonds and stocks and merchandise that they couldn't afford because of things like new loans and credit (kind of like credit cards). In 1928 the stock market crashed, it dropped by a huge margin, so everyone was trying sell their stocks before companies went out of business, which caused companies to go out of business even faster. Banks were closed because everyone came flooding to the banks to get their money (and again, when other people saw others flooding to the bank, they went to because they were afraid the banks would close before they could get their money, but that only made the problem worse). Banks and many companies were shut down, people were losing jobs like crazy, there was a high suicide rate, and poverty was extremely high. It wasn't until around World War II that the government started to move to a wartime economy and people started getting jobs to help build things for the army and take soldiers' jobs while they were fighting overseas.

The collapse of the economy through greed and love of money.

First of all, you shouldn't have to come to y!a to ask that.

Don't be lazy and research.

Pathetic.