US History
Video Worksheet: The Crash of 1929
1. The song “Blue Skies” epitomized the mood of the era. Why?
Blue skies smiling at me/Nothing but blue skies do I see
Never saw the sun shining so bright/Never saw things going so right
Grey skies, all of them gone/Nothing but blue skies from now on
2. The 1920s was the first time that many ordinary people started to play the stock
market. Why?
3. In the stock market: When demand goes down, prices go up / down. (circle one)
When demand goes up, prices go up / down. (circle one)
4. What were some of the new products of the 1920s?
5. Why was consumer credit one of the most important inventions of the 1920s?
6. Identify:
William Durant:
Jesse Livermore:
Charles Mitchell:
7. What is buying on margin?
8. How was the stock market manipulated by wealthy investors?
9. How were the newspapers involved in driving up stock prices?
10. What did Presidents Coolidge & Harding see as the government’s role in the business
prosperity of the 1920s?
11. What happened to prevent the market from crashing in March 1929?
12. What was the basis for the prosperity in the 1920s according to William Durant?
13. What are the two most important emotions on Wall Street?
14. How did bankers postpone the effects of the Thursday October 24 crash until
after the weekend?
15. What happened to the following Wall Street magnates after the crash?
William Durant:
Jesse Livermore:
Charles Mitchell: