ABSTRACT
The 20 years after the roaring twenties were the time of the Great Depression, World War II, and the immediate aftermath of the war. So far this history of Chicago has made only passing reference to some of the business cycles that took place from 1830 to 1929, but the Great Depression must be discussed in some depth. A great number of economists and historians have weighed in on the Great Depression, of course, and there is no consensus on the main cause of the depression. The military sacrifices of Chicagoans, the superhuman effort in the defense plant, their patriotic willingness to do without, and their realization that fairness and unity were needed. Chicago re-established itself as a great center of manufacturing and transportation after World War II. The second phase of the Great Migration from the South had begun, and the African-American population was growing rapidly.
