The Stock Market Crash
When World War I was over in
1918, most Americans had jobs. They spent their money on many new products
such as  phonographs
and  automobiles. Americans listened to the
 radio and watched
 movies. Companies
were growing quickly. People wanted to buy items like
 refrigerators and
 washing machines.
These could be purchased on installments. ( Paying a small amount each
month.) |
During the 1920's many people invested
money in the
Stock
Market. The Stock Market is the how companies raise money to grow larger. It
sells shares of stock. A person who buys the share of stock is buying a part of
that 
company. The
person holding shares can make profits if the company makes money or loss money
if the company does not do well.
Many people borrowed money from
loan companies to buy
stocks. In the early 20's the prices of most stocks went up and up. In the late
20's problems began to show:
debts. They could not
pay back the loan companies. Many were forced to sell their homes and farms.
The people who had stock tried to sell it. A panic set it. Soon everyone wanted to sell their stock at the same time. On October 29, 1929 the Stock Market hits its lowest time. This was called Black Tuesday.
banks to take out their money the banks
had no money to give them. 
farmers were also
having trouble selling their crops. Before World War I they had been selling
their crops overseas. Europeans began to plant crops once the war was over.
Many farmers lost
money on their farms because of this.Once people lost their jobs and money they had less to spend. Businesses could no longer sell their goods. Creating an even bigger problem.
Year Number of Unemployed (without jobs) 1929 1,500,000 1930 4,400,000 1933 12,800,000
The Roaring Twenties ||| The Stock Market Crash ||| The Great
Depression ||| The New Deal
Activities for the 1920's |||
Activities for the 1930's ||| Return
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