The Great Depression was the deepest and longest-lasting economic downturn in history that affected countries in North America, Western Europe and other industrialized areas of the world. That began in the United States, on the New York Stock Exchange, soon after the stock market crash of October 1929, which sent Wall Street into a panic and wiped out millions of investors. ( History.com Staff. "The Great Depression." History.com. A&E Television Networks, 2009. Web. 06 Oct. 2016. <http://www.history.com/topics/great-depression>. ) According to the Independence Hall Association in Philadelphia, founded 1942, the Great Depression was caused by the nine thousand banks failed during the months following the stock market crash of 1929. It is far too simplistic to view the stock market crash as the single cause of the Great Depression. A healthy economy can recover from such a contraction. ( "The Great Depression." Ushistory.org. Independence Hall Association, n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2016. <http://www.ushistory.org/us/48.asp>.) It caused tremendous economic hardship on labor and business in America. The Great Depression affected people in many ways. Placing great economics, social, and psychological strains and demands upon people and their families. People of various class, ethnic, racial, and regional backgrounds have responded in different manners to the stresses and demands placed upon them. (By the Time of Franklin Roosevelt's Inauguration. "The Great Depression."The Great Depression. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Oct. 2016. <http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/snprelief1.htm>).