Hello, welcome again to American History 102. Over the next few weeks we will begin including short video clips into the lectures. These clips will be approximately one or two minutes in length and will require the quicktime plug-in for viewing. If you don't have quicktime installed on your system, then visit the Apple site for a free version to download. If you are connected to this site from a dial-up connection (56kbps or less) please contact William P. Tishler (class of 91) at wpt@uwalumni.com to report the time it took to download the movie clip and report any problems you had when viewing the clip. We hope that viewing this short movie clip will not crash your computer systems. Now let's begin today's lecture: Crashing Hopes: The Great Depression.

 

Professor Schultz

In the Fall of 1929, Yale University economist Irving Fisher, one of the most highly regarded experts in the nation, stated confidently: "The nation is marching along a permanently high plateau of prosperity." Five days later, the bottom dropped out of the stock market, ushering in the Great Depression, the worst economic downturn in America's history. On October 29, 1929 orders to sell stocks at any price overwhelmed orders to purchase stocks. Millions of dollars suddenly vanished from the American economy in a matter of hours. Large corporations, small family businesses, and individual investors alike all found themselves in the same position—teetering on the edge of bankruptcy or already there. Although the Great Crash is viewed as the starting point of the Great Depression, it wasn't the sole cause. This lecture examines the roots of the Great Crash and the effects of the Great Depression on the American public.

1. Optimism and the Great Crash
2. Six Reasons for Rising Stock Market
3. "Black Thursday"—and Its Aftermath
4. Social Problems During the Depression
5. Stereotypes of the Great Depression
6. "One Third of a Nation"

Copyright 2004 University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents