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Setting the Scene
📖 Setting the Scene
On October 29, 1929 — "Black Tuesday" — the American dream turned into a nightmare. Share prices on Wall Street collapsed. Fortunes were wiped out in hours. But here's the crucial point examiners want you to understand: the Crash was the TRIGGER, not the CAUSE. The American economy was already sick — built on debt, overproduction, and extreme inequality. The Crash just exposed these weaknesses. Within three years, 25% of Americans were unemployed, banks had failed, and families were living in cardboard shacks called "Hoovervilles."
Deep Understanding: CAUSES vs TRIGGER
This is one of the most important distinctions in this course:
Earn the mark scheme marks
🧠 Memory Aid: OSIAS — The 5 Causes of the Depression
Remember the underlying causes with OSIAS:
- O — Overproduction (factories made more than people could buy)
- S — Speculation (millions borrowed to buy shares on the stock market)
- I — Inequality (60% below poverty line; most couldn't sustain consumer demand)
- A — Agriculture in crisis (farmers struggling since early 1920s; 6 million left land)
- S — Spending on credit (60% of cars, 80% of radios bought on hire purchase)
Then add the TRIGGER: Wall Street Crash — Black Thursday (24 Oct 1929) and Black Tuesday (29 Oct 1929) — $30 billion lost.
Key numbers to know:
- 25% — unemployment by 1933 (1 in 4 workers)
- 5,000 — banks that failed by 1932
- $30 billion — share value wiped out in Crash
- 60% — proportion of American families below poverty line
- 60% — proportion of cars bought on credit
Now try it yourself
Quiz · Question 1 of 12
On which date did 'Black Tuesday' occur, marking the worst day of the Wall Street Crash?
Tap an answer to check it
This topic in real past papers
Every real exam question we've found on causes of the depression, with a full worked answer.