Black Tuesday and The Great Crash are two common names for the United States’ most crushing stock market crash.
The 1920s were a time of great optimism. World War I was over, and industry was booming. Cities grew with industry, and many believed America’s prosperity would never end, despite the agricultural overproduction putting many farmers in poverty.
The general consensus was that the stock market would rise forever. But, it couldn’t be. One major factor was the surplus of crops. Another was the debt of American consumers. When investors got spooked and traded millions of shares in just one day, the banks were unable to pay out. Billions of dollars were lost. Investors were drained.
This event was cited as the beginning of the Great Depression. Faith in banks was lost and wages and employment rates fell dramatically.
The rest, as they say, is history.