In 1929 it looked as though the sun would never set on the American economy. For eight years in a row, the U. S. economy had been expanding rapidly. During the Roaring Twenties the typical American family drove its first car, bought its first radio, and went to the movies for the first time. With factories running at capacity, virtually anyone who wanted to work readily found a job.
Under these circumstances everyone was optimistic. In his acceptance address of November 1928, President-elect Herbert Hoover echoed this optimism by declaring: "We in America today are nearer to the final triumph over poverty than ever before in the history of any land... We shall soon with the help of God be in sight of the day when poverty will be banished from this nation. "
The booming stock market seemed to confirm this optimistic outlook. Between 1921 and 1927, the stock market’s value more than doubled, adding billions of dollars to the wealth of American households and businesses.
The party ended abruptly on October 24, 1929. On what came to be known as Black Thurs day, the stock market crashed. In a few hours, the market value of U. S. corporations fell abruptly, in the most frenzied selling ever seen. The next day President Hoover tried to assure America’s stockholders that the economy was "on a sound and prosperous basis. " But despite his assurances and the efforts of leading bankers to stem the decline, the stock market continued to plummet. The following Tuesday ( October 29) the pace of selling quickened. By the end of the year, over $ 40 billion of wealth had vanished in the Great Crash. Rich men became paupers overnight; ordinary families lost their savings, their homes, and even their lives.
The devastation was not confined to Wall Street. The financial flames engulfed the farms, the banks, and industry. Between 1930 and 1935, millions of rural families lost their farms. Auto mobile production fell from 4.5 million cars in 1929 to only 1.1 million in 1932. So many banks were forced to close that newly elected President Roosevelt had to declare a "bank holiday" in March 1933 to stem the outflow of cash to anxious depositors.
Throughout these years, the ranks of the unemployed continued to swell. In October 1929, only 3 percent of the workforce was unemployed. A year later over 9 percent of the workforce was unemployed. Still, things got worse. By 1933 over one-fourth of the labor force was unable to find work. People slept in the streets, scavenged for food, and sold apples on Wall Street. The Great Depression seemed to last forever. In 1933 President Roosevelt lamented that one-third of the nation was ill-clothed, ill-housed, and ill-fed. Thousands of unemployed workers marched to the Capitol to demand jobs and aid.
Which of the following is not the description of "Roaring Twenties"
