During the 1920s, America experienced an unprecedented increase. With the Model T car, the assembly line, business boomed. Thus, America's involvement in World War II did not begin with the attack on Pearl Harbor. Beginning in October 1929, during the Great Depression, the stock market collapsed. This impressed a country accustomed to the excesses of the 1920s. These were the events which led to the accident. Plus, an account of the Depression: “It was always cold in the house; the only heat was a wood stove in the corner. We used to sit and listen to Gracie and Burn. on the 7 p.m. show. Dinner consisted of a thinned onion stew with a slice of bread. "We worked in the fields, maybe 9, 10 hours a day, maybe more. The pay was two dollars a week. We were lucky. We had a roof over our heads and food in my belly, even if it was onion stew, most of the time “It’s now 1974 and I’m asking my granddaughter for a soft drink at the lumber yard. "50 cents for a 16 ounce bottle of popular. What's wrong with the prices these days? "I still remember that. Things started to change on a Thursday. "Three or four days before the Great Depression, on Thursday, October 24, 1929, 12.9 million shares were traded, or more than 7.9 million shares. The system could handle 4 million, but not 12.9 million, so people were afraid of losing their money People panicked and started selling The tickers were behind the market by 9%. rebounded a bit, just enough for people to feel a sense of security, until at the end of the day, high trading volumes also put too much pressure on the market, leading to another downward spiral. decline. 13% Black Tuesday, October ...... middle of document ......gd/gdoverview.htmlKennedy, D. (1999) The American People in Depression and War 1929-1945 Oxford History. . of the United States: Oxford University PressDavidson, J.W., Delay, B., et al. (2005) Nation of nations: a narrative history of the American Republic (6th ed., Vol. 2). Boston: McGraw Hill. Stock market crash of 1929 (2011). retrieved 05/13/2011 from http://www.money-zine.com/Investing/Stocks/Stock-Market-Crash-of-1929/1.Langer, WL and Gleason, SE (1953). The Undeclared War, 1940-1941 (1st ed.). New York: Harper & Brothers Publishers. Retrieved May 16, 2011 from the Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=79659782. Kimball, WF (2004). Franklin D. Roosevelt and World War II. Presidential Studies Quarterly, 34(1), 83+. Retrieved May 16, 2011 from the Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5006516105