“Two months after the original crash in October, stockholders had lost more than $40 billion dollars. Margin trading can lead to significant gains in bull markets (or rising markets) since the borrowed funds allow investors to buy more stock than they could otherwise afford by using only cash. Test. When the market crashed in 1929, banks issued margin calls. Despite these obstacles, Roosevelt’s “Black Cabinet,” led by Mary McLeod Bethune, ensured nearly every New Deal agency had a black advisor. We also reference original research from other reputable publishers where appropriate. Unintended Consequences: The Great Depression Answer Key – Page 1 . While no group escaped the economic devastation of the Great Depression, few suffered more than African Americans. 120 seconds . The overproduction, oversupply, and higher prices due to tariffs had devastating consequences for international trade. History.state.gov. Hoover, a Republican who had formerly served as U.S. secretary of commerce, believed that government should not directly intervene in the economy, and that it did not have the responsibility to create jobs or provide economic relief for its citizens. The preceding decade, known as the “Roaring Twenties,” was a time of relative affluence for many middle- and working-class families. International trade fell and unemployment in the United States rose to 25%. Why did many people in the Great Depression live in makeshift towns, or "Hoovervilles," as depicted in the photograph below? Institutions and financiers stepped in with bids above the market price to stem the panic, and the losses on that day were modest, with stocks bouncing back over the next two days. 3  4  It took 25 years for the stock market to recover. Companies were forced to dump their products at a loss, and share prices began to falter. If the funds are not deposited, the broker is forced to liquidate the portfolio. The depression last over ten years and had long-term social, economic, and political effects on American society. By 1930, 4 million Americans looking for work could not find it; that number had risen to 6 million in 1931. Bank runs swept the United States again in the spring and fall of 1931 and the fall of 1932, and by early 1933 thousands of banks had closed their doors. National Standards in Economics n Standard 10: Institutions evolve in market economies to help individuals and groups accom-plish their goals. 4. The Great Depression was the worst economic downturn in the history of the industrialized world, lasting from the stock market crash of 1929 to 1939. The Great Depression. “Great Depression” The trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange in 1929 While the fundamental causes of the Depression took years to lead to financial calamity, many point to a single day when the Depression began: October 29, 1929, when the stock market crashed. In October 1929 the Wall Street Crash on the US stock exchange brought about a global economic depression. The 22 percent decline in marriage rates between 1929 and 1939 also created an increase in single women in search of employment. The stock market, centered at the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street in New York City, was the scene of reckless speculation, where everyone from millionaire tycoons to cooks and janitors poured their savings into stocks. Over the next several years, consumer spending and investment dropped, causing steep declines in industrial output and employment as failing companies laid off workers. In 1935, Congress passed the Social Security Act, which for the first time provided Americans with unemployment, disability and pensions for old age. Five days later, on October 29 or “Black Tuesday,” some 16 million shares were traded after another wave of panic swept Wall Street. 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