The Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act Of 1930

Imagine this. You wake up one morning in the year 1929, in your luxurious, pricey mansion. You then make your way downstairs to eat that nice big breakfast. Then you kiss your family good bye and head off to your fancy job. You come home that evening and suddenly you’re flat broke. Meaning all your money and life’s savings vanished. Unreal right? Well it was real for hundreds of families on October 29, 1929. The day the stock market crashed and when America’s confidence was challenged greatly.

On October 29, 1929, the stock market crashed. Not only did millions of investors lose their money but banks lost all of the money they had invested that their customers had given to them. To make the problem worse is that the people who had remaining money in the banks tried

The stock market collapse was one of the most important events, in the country economy during 1929, which led the Great Depression. Before October 29, 1929, most Americans believe that stock was the key to success and fortune. John T. Raskob affirms his belief that everyone could be

During the 1920's millions of Americans began investing in stocks for the first time. They heard about how rich people were getting by investing so they all decided to do it. Many new investors entered the stock market using borrowed money. Stock market prices rose steadily as inflated market demand outpaced increases in the capital value of businesses. Investors began to realize that a large imbalance existed between stock prices and the amount of money needed to back them up, and began to sell. On October 29, 1929, great numbers of people tried to sell their stocks all at once. This created chaos in the accounting of stocks and for brokers. The New York Stock Exchange and other exchanges prices dropped so dramatically that this event became known as the crash of 1929. Millions of investors lost their savings in the crash and many were deeply in debt since

During the 1920s Wall Street was representing the decade of expanding economic opportunity for every American. During 1927 some American banks failed due to bad investments and low prices for agricultural products. On Thursday October 1929 American stock market failed and millions of investors are plunged into bankruptcy. Over 12,894,650 shares changed hands, many at fire. About two months after the crash in October, stockholders had lost more than $40 billion dollars. The slump was made worse by the share-buying fever that infected the country in the 1920s. Everyone wanted to make quick fortunes, therefore they bought company shares on margin. Competitive buying of the shares drove share prices high above their actual value. Then, when cautious

Beginning on October 29, 1929, there was a stock market crash in the United States which was a significant turning point because it halted the considerable economic success from the roaring 1920s, leading to a nationwide depression. This event took place during the presidency of Herbert Hoover, and it resulted in a drastic change of the United States’ political, economic, and social structure. This event also spurred the interest of many political figures to try to save the economy including Franklin Delano Roosevelt who issued many reforms for the protection of the people and to restore the vitality of the nation. The Stock Market Crash of 1929 was a major turning point in United States History because it represented the negative impacts of the changes derived from the roaring 20’s, and the events that occurred after this event strongly impacted the structure of society leading up to today.

By the time the NYSE closed, a record of 16,410,030 shares had been traded in one day. The average prices of fifty leading stocks had dropped 40 points a share. This meant that an investor who had bought a stock for $100 a share could only get $60 a share for it. (Feinburg B. Black Tuesday) By 1933, when the Great Depression reached its nadir, some 13 to 15 million Americans were unemployed and nearly half of the country’s banks had failed. Though the relief and reform measures put into place by Roosevelt helped lessen the worst effects of the Great Depression in the 1930s, the economy would not fully turn around until after 1939, when World War II kicked American industry into high gear. The American economy entered an ordinary recession during the summer of 1929, as consumer spending dropped and unsold goods began to pile up, slowing production. At the same time, stock prices continued to rise, and by the fall of that year had reached levels that could not be justified by anticipated future earnings. As consumer confidence vanished in the wake of the stock market crash, the downturn in spending and investment led factories and other businesses to slow down production and construction and begin firing their workers. For those who were lucky enough to remain

October 24, 1929 would soon become a day that would be etched in history as Black Thursday. Although there is no one true cause or event that can take blame for the fall of our nation’s finances, the stock market crashing is indisputably the root of the problem that we now call the Great Depression. Prior to this day, the economy and national profits seemed to be on an endless spiral being pushed to the top. The occurrence and aftermath of World War One contributed to our advancement of a seemingly perfect financial state as a country and as individuals. However, after the crash, businesses began to close, including banks and other financial establishments. This, in turn, left no producers or processors for farmers and ranchers to bargain with,

On October 24, 1929, also known as “Black Thursday”, the rise in stock prices faltered losing half of their value in a single day. When it fell, investors began to sell their stocks. Between 1929 and 1932, the stock market value dropped 75%. Banks and other businesses suffered heavy losses. Layoffs and cutbacks lowered purchasing, so fewer people bought cars and appliances. By 1932, unemployment went up to 25 percent. The reason for the Great Depression is that the U.S. factories produced more than what could be consumed. Too much money went into profits and expansions, and not to the workers (Divine et. al, 2013, p. 844).

In the Roaring Twenties, people were trying to get rich and have fun. A lot of people poured their money in stock markets, but it backfired. The stocks crashed; this began the Great Depression. This was the worst depression we’ve had yet, it affected more people from higher class to lower class. A depression is a time of decline in business activity accompanied by falling prices and high unemployment. The start of the Depression is usually pegged to the stock market crash of “Black Tuesday,” Oct. 29, 1929, when the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell almost 23 percent and the market lost between $8 billion and $9 billion in value. But it was just one in a series of losses during a time of extreme market volatility that exposed those who had bought stocks “on margin” — with borrowed money.

By October twenty-eighth (Black Monday), the stock market began to fail again and went into a free fall (1). The Dow would fall by a combined twenty-five percent between Black Monday and Black Tuesday (2). This sudden large drop prompted panicked investors to sell a total of over sixteen million shares on Black Tuesday (2). To lessen losses, stock brokers called in their loans to American citizens (2). People began scrambling to find enough money to pay their loans (2).

In the 1920s, American economy had a great time. The vast majority of Americans in 1929 foresaw a continuation of the dizzying economic growth that had taken place in most of the decade. However, the prices of stock crested in early September of 1929. The price of stock fell gradually during most of September and early October. On “Black Tuesday” 29 October 1929, the stock market fell by forty points. After that, a historically great and long economic depression started and lasted until the start of the Second World War. The three causes of the Great Depression are installment buying, uneven distribution of wealth and the irrational behavior in the stock market.

According to reports, “prices fell as investors unloaded their stocks..” (Study Guides). This making hard on investors given the vast loss of money. This major event soon transpired into what is known as the Great Depression. The following Tuesday, also known as “Black Tuesday” a more worrisome event took place, “16 million shares were sold… the market then dropped 43 points..” (Study Guides). Finally the people of America’s eyes opened as they noticed the severe drop in the stock market. This caused thousands to panic all throughout wall street. Reports also show, “By the end of October $30 million worth of stock disappeared..” (Study Guides). During the summer of 1929 the American economy began its regular recession, as a consumer during this time spending money dropped. This made goods that were still unsold begin to pile up, slowing production down. The crash of the stock market pronounced the beginning of an awful depression throughout America's

Thesis Statement: On October 29th of 1929, the beginning of an economic fall from grace was upon the United States. This day is often known as Black Tuesday, and is commonly known as the day in which the stock market crashed. On this day investors traded approximately 16 million shares on the New York Stock Exchange in a single day after a wave of mass panic swept the crazed profiteers & consumers of wall street.

It was 1929, and in the United States things could not be better for those smart enough, or for that matter, brave enough, to gamble on the Stock Market. All of the big stocks were paying off handsomely, the little ones too. However, as much as analysis tried to tell the people that this period of great wealth would last, no one could imagine what would come of the United States economy in the next decade. The reasons for this catastrophic event in American 20th century history are numerous, and in his book, The Great Crash, John Kenneth Galbraith covers the period and events which lead up to the downward spiral in the fall of 1929 and the people behind the scenes on Wall Street who helped this fire spread.