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Year 11
AQA

The Wall Street Crash

I can explain the causes and significance of the Wall Street Crash.

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New
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Year 11
AQA

The Wall Street Crash

I can explain the causes and significance of the Wall Street Crash.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Speculation led to increases in private debt and shares became overvalued.
  2. American goods were overproduced in the US but tariffs made them too expensive for European markets.
  3. Share prices collapsed during the Wall Street Crash, ruining many speculators and shareholders.
  4. 659 banks collapsed in 1929.
  5. Bank failures hurt millions of Americans, including those who had not traded in shares.

Keywords

  • Stock market - a stock market is the place where investors can buy and sell shares in companies

  • Speculation - speculation is when investors purchase shares, often with borrowed money, in the hope of selling them off in future for a profit

  • Tariff - a tariff is a government tax on foreign-produced goods sold in a country

  • Shares - some companies sell shares in order to raise money; people who own shares in a company receive part of the company’s profits

  • Export - an export is a good which a country sells abroad

Common misconception

Only shareholders and speculators lost out from the Wall Street Crash.

Once speculators went bankrupt, they were unable to repay their debts to banks causing them to fail. Bank failures wiped out the savings of millions of Americans.


To help you plan your year 11 history lesson on: The Wall Street Crash, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Encourage students to consider the role of laissez-faire politics in contributing to the collapse. You could ask pupils how the government could have tries to stop speculation. Alternatively, ask students why savers (like those with the Bank of America) might blame the government for their problems.
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This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Write the missing word. A is a government tax on foreign-produced goods sold in a country
Correct Answer: tariff, Tariff
Q2.
What were the Jim Crows laws?
Correct answer: Laws which enforced segregation.
Laws which enforced Prohibition.
Laws which introduced tariffs.
Laws which limited immigration.
Q3.
What was traded on Wall Street?
agricultural products
consumer goods
Correct answer: shares in companies
Q4.
Write the missing word. were attacks by mobs which involved killing a person they considered guilty of committing an offence, even though they hadn't been put on trial.
Correct Answer: lynchings, Lynchings, lynching, Lynching
Q5.
How did average American wages change during the 1920s?
decreased by 20%
decreased by 10%
remained the same
increased by 10%
Correct answer: increased by 20%
Q6.
Which statement is most accurate?
Mass production led to fewer people being employed in manufacturing jobs.
Mass production led to workers becoming less efficient.
Correct answer: Mass production led to production times and costs falling.
Mass production led to poor quality products being manufactured.

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Match each keyword with its correct definition.
Correct Answer:buying on the margin,when investors bought shares but borrowed money to pay 90% of the cost
tick

when investors bought shares but borrowed money to pay 90% of the cost

Correct Answer:speculation,buying shares in the hope their value rises and re-selling them
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buying shares in the hope their value rises and re-selling them

Correct Answer:stock market,the place where investors can buy and sell shares in companies
tick

the place where investors can buy and sell shares in companies

Q2.
Write the missing word. 13 000 00 shares were sold on Wall Street on Thursday.
Correct Answer: Black, black
Q3.
How did the number of Americans playing the stock market change between 1920 and 1929?
It doubled.
Correct answer: It grew five times larger.
It grew seven times smaller.
It halved.
Q4.
Why were bank failures a problem for ordinary Americans?
They couldn't buy anything if banks were closed.
They had to wait to be paid.
Correct answer: They lost all of the savings kept with those banks.
Q5.
Which statement is most accurate?
European countries accepted US tarriffs.
US tariffs encouraged European countries to lower their own tariffs.
Correct answer: European countries retaliated against US tariffs.
Q6.
Starting with the earliest, sort the following events from the Wall Street Crash into chronological order.
1 - US business profits begin to decline
2 - Cautious investors sell-off shares
3 - Black Thursday and Black Tuesday
4 - Shareholders and speculators go bankrupt
5 - Customers unable to repay loans to banks
6 - Banks collapse
7 - Ordinary Americans lose their savings

Additional material

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