The Wall Street Crash
The two Black days that changed the world
The 1920s were a golden decade for the US, but something went wrong … what?
Listen to the interviews and find out what happened in Americans’ day life
Make your research deeper, reading the following texts reffering to witnesses’ declarations.
Which was the mood in the US in 1929? Download the worksheet and do the assignments
After listening to witnesses’ interviews, make your research deeper reading the following texts.
A. Cecil Roberts, The Bright Twenties, 1938
The stock market hysteria reached its apex in that year [1929] … everyone was playing the market … on my last day in New York, I went down to the barbers. As a removed the sheet he said softly “Buy Standard Gas. I’ve doubled … it’s good for another double”. As I walked upstairs, I reflected that if the hysteria had reached the barber level, something must soon happen.
What’s happened?
Before answering, we need to learn some economic rudiments. Read the text “Background to economic principles”
After playing the quiz below, we are skilled to inquire the financial causes of the crash
Now we are ready to try to understand the events
Was the crash only a financial issue?
In late October 1929 — just a few days before Halloween — investors in New York City began to panic. Stocks that they had bought at high prices began to drop. More and more investors sold their stocks at whatever price they could get. Over two days, the value of companies being traded on the stock exchange fell almost 13 percent on Monday and another 12 percent the next day. That day became known as “Black Tuesday.” Fortunes were wiped out. The stock market had crashed. All across the country — and all around the world — people paid attention to the news closely. Some investors killed themselves. Millions of people from all over the world who owned stocks waited helplessly as stock values crashed.
Download the text about the other causes of the crash and the administration reaction
Final assignment
Let’s make the point
Writing activity
Long term causes and short term causes
“During the 1920s, the stock market based at New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street was very successful. However, in 1929 it suffered a crash as Americans began to sell their shares at whatever price they could get.”
Is this reason satisfactory to explain the crisis told by witnesses? Answer the question in a short essay, where you can sort in short term and long term causes, highlighting the most relevant ones by your motivated point of view