Black Tuesday Research Paper

The Great Depression was the harshest and longest economic downfall in U.S. history. It lasted from 1929 until 1939, a total of ten years. It began soon after the stock market crashed in October of 1929. The crashing of the stock market is referred to as “Black Tuesday”. Though “Black Tuesday” is one of the most know causes that led to the depression it is not the only one. There were so may others such as bank failures (due to the stock market crash), the reduction of purchases by consumers in all classes, Americas Economic policy with Europe, and the Dust Bowl. The stock market crash that occurred on “Black Tuesday” was one of the major causes that led to the Great Depression because it signaled a complete loss of confidence in the financial system of the U.S. It is when stock sellers panicked after

Due to fact that bank deposits were uninsured during this time people lost all their savings. The banks that did manage to survive eventually decided to stop giving out loans because they were unsure of what was going on with the economy and were concerned about their own continuance. There was also a great reduction in the number of items produced which led to a reduction in the workforce. Many people lost there jobs and this led to them being unable to keep up with paying for items they had purchased through credit and their items were repossessed. The unemployment rate rose above 25% which meant that people had to spend even less than they were before to help further alleviate the economic tragedy. In 1930 the government created the Smoot Hawley Tariff as a way of protection for American companies after businesses began to fail. This tariff charged a high tax for all imports from foreign countries. There was an unforeseen consequence of the tariff which was that less trade occurred between America and foreign countries. It also led to some countries retaliating against the U.S.