Stock Market Crash Of 1929: Time In American History

Olivia Ansley

Professor Akins

History 1302.703

13 March 2017

Stock Market Crash of 1929

Up to this time in American history, the nation had not seen such an economic uproar as one that the Stock Market Crash of 1929 would cause. People became so involved in the stock market in recent years that it became more of a social pastime rather than weighty economic investments. Everyone from big business investors to housemaids had joined in the interest that was investing. “Those who didn't have the cash to invest could borrow from their stockbroker "on margin." That meant they only had to put 10-20 percent down,” so they could participate without giving away their life savings (Amadeo). As the nation became more involved, and the ability to join

In March 1929, the Dow (Dow Jones Industrial Average) dropped a significant amount which made investors skeptical to sell their stocks, but bankers encouraged them to stay and wait for it to bounce back. Investors listened and kept in on their investments. Discount rates began to rise from the the Federal Reserve Bank, so the Bank of England became intimidated and raised their rate to protect their worth. It became a battle of a country’s worth. Many cases of deceit, fraud, and vigilance occurred in this time due to the imbalance of the nation’s economic progress and caused tension in the trust of investors. For example, “on September 29, newspapers reported how Clarence Hatry's use of fraudulent collateral to buy United Steel. His company collapsed, and investors lost billions. That hammered the British stock market, making U.S. investors even more jittery” (Amadeo). In September of 1929, the stock market reached its peak setting the Dow in at 381.17. This was a plus for the stock investors, but the joy would come to an end when record number losses began. The rise of interest in stocks combined with the hefty weight of numerous new investors had caused a break in the banks, in effect causing a nationwide crash in the stock

Banks had failed, people lost their jobs, no one had any money to pay for necessities, and it was a hard time for Americans to make a living. It took ten long years for the United States to regain their worth and come out of the time of gloom, “and prosperity [was] restored, by the sharp reductions in spending, taxes and regulation at the end of World War II (). All together, the nation had to become regulated after the Stock Market Crash because there was no other way that economic balance would restore itself. Learning from the mistakes of their past, American’s have paved a way into a bright future by making logical decisions that helped the nation grow rather than