Question

Based on this excerpt and your knowledge of American history, why did the stock market crash make Americans lose confidence in business?
Following the mob without asking questions can potentially lead to financial or emotional devastation.
People worked diligently to participate in the building of the American dream with the understanding they would profit.
The promise of peace and glory compelled many people to work for the wealthy and make them richer.
Instead of plowing the fields and going to war, American should have gone to college.

Answer 1

The crash destroyed people’s savings and exposed risky, dishonest, and unstable business practices, so ordinary Americans stopped trusting business leaders and banks. Key reasons:

- Many ordinary people had put their life savings into stocks (often bought “on margin” — with borrowed money). When prices collapsed they lost everything, so they felt betrayed by the financial system that had promised steady profits.
- The crash revealed rampant speculation, excessive leverage, weak banking regulation, and in some cases fraud. Bank failures and company bankruptcies wiped out jobs and pensions, making it appear that business and finance were unreliable or corrupt.
- Massive unemployment and the spread of the Depression made it clear that market failures harmed everyone; government’s early hands‑off response deepened the sense that business couldn’t be trusted to protect the public good.

Relating this to the excerpt lines: “People worked diligently…with the understanding they would profit” and “Following the mob without asking questions” capture why confidence fell (people invested expecting profit and followed speculative manias). The other lines (about “peace and glory” or “should have gone to college”) don’t explain the loss of confidence after the crash.