Introduction to the Stock Market Crash of 1929 and the Start of the Great Depression
INTRODUCTION Before reading this essay, I strongly recommend you see the PBS video on YouTube. Type in Stock Market Crash 1929. Look for US – The Crash of 1929 (PBS), ALLHISTORIES – PLAYLIST. Documentary broken into 6 parts to show commercials. Great documentary with wonderful photos, videos, and scenes from movies of the 1920s and the crash. Shows what a crazy time this was. I also recommend you read Frederick Lewis Allen, Only Yesterday; An Informal History of the 1920’s . This a wonderful popular history on the 1920s and the crash. It shows how the economic, social, and psychological changes in the 1920s contributed to the speculative frenzy in the stock market. Author lived through it all. You can skip some of the chapters the first time through; for example, skip Chapters III, VI, IX, And X. DEFINITIONS The Stock Market . In the 1920s, this meant the New York Stock Exchange. This is where stocks (shares of part ownership of companies...