Year 11 - History
The Wall Street Crash
America 1920–1973, Opportunity and inequality
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Study Guides
This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.
Unit Summary
In this unit pupils undergo a period study that provides an unfolding narrative which tells a story about a period that shaped the world we live in today. They look at the key events, developments, people and stories that defined the chosen period.
Lesson Summary
You will learn to explain the causes and significance of the Wall Street Crash.
Key Notes
- Speculation led to increases in private debt and shares became overvalued.
- American goods were overproduced in the US but tariffs made them too expensive for European markets.
- Share prices collapsed during the Wall Street Crash, ruining many speculators and shareholders.
- 659 banks collapsed in 1929.
- Bank failures hurt millions of Americans, including those who had not traded in shares.
Vocabulary To Learn
- stock market: a stock market is the place where investors can buy and sell shares in companies
- speculation: speculation is when investors purchase shares, often with borrowed money, in the hope of selling them off in future for a profit
- tariff: a tariff is a government tax on foreign-produced goods sold in a country
- shares: some companies sell shares in order to raise money; people who own shares in a company receive part of the company's profits
- export: an export is a good which a country sells abroad
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- Only shareholders and speculators lost out from the Wall Street Crash.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Summarise this historical learning in two key ideas.
Speculation led to increases in private debt and shares became overvalued. American goods were overproduced in the US but tariffs made them too expensive for European markets.
2. Define this history term and explain why it matters in this topic. 'stock market'
a stock market is the place where investors can buy and sell shares in companies.
3. Correct this common history misconception using evidence language.
Mistake: Only shareholders and speculators lost out from the Wall Street Crash. Correction: Once speculators went bankrupt, they were unable to repay their debts to banks causing them to fail. Bank failures wiped out the savings of millions of Americans.
More Lessons In This Unit
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- American people and the 'boom' in the 1920s Study Guide
- American recovery from the Great Depression Study Guide
- American society in the 1920s Study Guide
- Black Power and the Civil Rights Movement Study Guide
- Causes of the 'boom' Study Guide
- Change in Post-War America Study Guide
- Civil rights legislation in the 1960s Study Guide
- Direct action and the Civil Rights Movement Study Guide
- Effects of the Great Depression on American society Study Guide
- Losers of the 'boom' in 1920s America Study Guide
- Martin Luther King and peaceful protest Study Guide
- McCarthyism and the second Red Scare Study Guide
- Opposition to the New Deal Study Guide
- Post-war American popular culture Study Guide
- President Hoover and the 1932 presidential election Study Guide
- Racial tension in early 20th century America Study Guide
- Roosevelt's New Deal Study Guide
- Segregation in the USA Study Guide
- Social and civil progress in the USA, c.1950-1973 Study Guide
- The American Dream in the 1940s and 1950s Study Guide
- The Great Depression Study Guide
- The New Frontier and Great Society Study Guide
- The Red Scare in 1920s America Study Guide
- The role of Henry Ford in the 'boom' Study Guide
- The US Feminist Movement in the 1960s and 1970s Study Guide
- Women and the 'boom' in 1920s America Study Guide
- World War Two and the US economy Study Guide
- World War Two and US society Study Guide
Browse all guides in the Year 11 History guide library.