The Development of the USA - Page 6 Flashcards
What did USA experience after the First World War?
After the First World War (1914-18), the USA experienced an economic boom and people thought that the country would prosper for many years.
What helped to further the economic boom that America had after WW1?
The policies of successive Republican presidents as well as the advanced techniques of production used by the car industry helped to further the boom.
What did Americans do during the 1920s?
During the 1920s, more and more Americans began to invest in shares and prices kept rising.
What happened to the shares in 1928?
In 1928, shares did not rise as much as in previous years.
This led to less confidence in the market and a drop in share prices.
What happened in the autumn of 1929?
When, in the autumn of 1929, some experts
started to sell their shares before their value fell even further, small investors panicked and rushed to sell their own shares.
What happened on 19 October 1929?
The real panic selling began on 19 October 1929.
Nearly 3.5 million shares were bought and sold and prices began to fall quickly.
What did Thursday, 24 October become known as and why?
Thursday, 24 October, became known as ‘Black Thursday’ as nearly 13 million shares were traded and share prices collapsed.
Thousands of investors lost millions of dollars and were ruined.
This event became known as the Wall Street Crash - named after the street where the US stock market was based.
Describe the impact of the Wall Street Crash.
By the end of 1929, there were about 2.5 million unemployed in the USA.
This figure increased dramatically during the years 1929-32 due to the collapse of the US economy and a fall in world trade.
Many businesses closed due to the fall in demand for American consumer goods both at home and abroad.
Draw a bar chart for the growth of unemployment, 1929-32
