Mr. SandlerName:______

US III

Unit: The Great Depression

LT 2: Causes of the GD

The Crash of 1929

Directions: Use the PBS video “The Crash of 1929” to answer the following questions.

  1. Describe life for most Americans in the 1920s.
  1. What are some new inventions in the 1920s?
  1. What was “one of the most wondrous inventions” of the 1920s? What did it allow people to do?
  1. Who dominated Wall Street, the symbol of the stock markets?
  1. What did Evangeline Adams do?
  1. What percent of your own money did you need in a stock when margin buying?
  1. In the ’20s and ’30s, what was one of the big features of the stock market?
  1. What are pools?

What is “painting the tape”? What did the wealthy investors [buyers] do afterward?

  1. “Politicians came and went, but in the 1920s the ______was king.”
  1. How did the Federal Reserve Board, a group in charge of all U.S. banks, feel about the boom in the stock market? Why?
  1. Why does the Federal Reserve Board not limit the borrowing in the stock market?
  1. Does the Federal Reserve Board ask for gov’t regulation, or control, of the market? How do the American people respond to the silence?
  2. How did margin calls become a cycle after people started selling their stocks?
  1. Describe the American economy in the spring of 1929.
  1. Did the stock markets reflect the economic slowdown? ______

Did the markets have anything to do with company profits or the economy at this point? ______

  1. What happened on Thursday, October 24, 1929?
  1. What happened on Tuesday, October 29, 1929? What effect did it have on most people in the market?

After the video – Who is most to blame for the crash?

In a Word document, number 1-5 and rank the groups below from most to least to blame for the stock market crash of 1929 (1 is most to blame, 5 is least). EXPLAIN your rankings in 1-2 pages, typed and double-spaced.

  • You must use specifics from the video to support your response
  • Make sure you fully explain your reasoning for each ranking

Grading:

4 – Clearly explains reasoning for the rankings by using information from the video, and displays clear understanding of the role each group played in the stock market crash

3 – Somewhat explains reasoning for the rankings using information for the video and displays clear understanding of the role each group played in the stock market crash

Due date: ______

The groups

  • The gov’t
  • Federal Reserve Board
  • Wealthy people/businessmen
  • The banks that gave loans
  • The average American

Your rankings

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.