Vintage Images Of American History

The United States of America is located on the North American continent, it is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, meanwhile, Canada is situated along its northern border, and Mexico is situated along its southern border. The USA has a total land area of 3,796,742 square miles, and it is comprised of 50 states. America is also the third largest nation in the world, and it has the third largest population in the world to date with approximately 339,996,563 million people, meanwhile, Washington, DC, is the capital city of America. Given the nation's wide cultural diversity and ethnicity, the United States has no official spoken language, however, the most spoken language in the USA is American English, and presently there are said to be about 350 to 430 different spoken languages across the nation. Despite its chequered history, the USA is currently the most famous nation in the world, and it produces the largest and most successful economy in the world. This nation is also very well known for its many landmarks and attractions such as Hollywood, Walt Disney, the Empire State Building, the World Trade Tower, the Statue of Liberty, and the Grand Canyon. Many of the giant fast food and drink service industries that is ever popular across the world today was born in the USA, such as McDonald's, Wimpy Bar, KFC, Starbucks, and Coca Cola. Also, the USA is arguably considered to be the principal influential nation in terms of global culture, thanks to its world dominance in sport, music, and the advertising and film industries.

Native Peoples Of America

The history of America began with the arrival of Asian tribes (Clovis peoples) in North America. Archaeologist and historians have concluded that there is no absolute certainty regarding when and how the Asian tribes first began to settle in the Americas, but according to scientific evidence estimates range from between 12,000 to 15,000 years ago. The earliest humans to inhabit the New World (North America) were known as Paleo-Indians or Clovis peoples and they had travelled from the continent of Asia to North America via a crossing known as Beringia (currently this land mass is submerged beneath the sea), however, there is no certainty that the Paleo-Indians had taken this particular route into the land we now know as America. Beringia once was a natural land bridge that connected Siberia to present day Alaska during the last Ice Age which ended between 11,000 to 13,000 years ago. Over many centuries the Clovis peoples traversed across the expansive geographical regions of America as they diversified and formed a vast array of separate societies and cultures.

European Colonization

Leif Eriksson was the famous Viking explorer, who was thought to be the first European to discover North America. According to most historians Leif Eriksson, son of Erik the Red, was born in Iceland around the 970s c, and died between 1018 c to 1025 c in Greenland. Leif Eriksson is best known for a voyage which discovered a place he termed 'Vinland' in around 1000 c, now known as the Canadian province of Newfoundland. Almost 500 years later, the great Italian explorer Christopher Columbus (born 1451- died 1506) had unintentionally discovered the American continents in 1492 whilst voyaging on his famous ship Santa Maria. And this event marked the beginning of the European invasion and subsequent colonization of North and South America. The Spanish were the first nation of explorers to begin the colonization of America, and they had also colonized Puerto Rico in 1508, Jamaica in 1509, and Cuba in 1511. But over the next decades many other European nations rushed to acquisition sections of this rich and expansive land, some of those nations included, Sweden, Holland, Germany, Russia, France, and Portugal, however, imperial Britain was said to be the most successful nation to establish colonies in the New World, ultimately leading to the creation of the United States. Originally this land was termed the 'New World' (Mundus Novus) by the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci in 1503, while documenting his seafaring expeditions across the treacherous seas of the Atlantic Ocean.

The New World

The Italian Explorer Christopher Columbus (born 1451 - died 1506) had discovered a new continent while cruising on board his ship Santa Maria, within the Atlantic Ocean, in 1492, and following that event most Europeans in that era had held the belief that the so-called New World was part of Asia. But in the year 1507, a German cartographer by the name of Martin Waldseemüller (born 1470 - died 1520) was recorded in history as the first person to use the name 'America' to identify the 'New World' on a large map which he had designed based on the travelling accounts of the previous notable explorers of that continent, but particularly, the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci (born 1451 - died 1512). Originally, Vespucci was a native merchant of Florence, in Italy, who eventually became a renowned navigator and explorer. When Vespucci eventually completed his exploration voyages, he had concluded to his contemporaries that the New World was a separate continent to Asia, which at that particular time in history was considered a new concept. Waldseemüller's map was said to be the first one to support Vespucci's novel proposition that the New World was as a separate continent from Asia, and as such, his map was the first to officially represent a new region which had been termed the Western Hemisphere, with a surrounding sea area called the Pacific Ocean. Furthermore, Waldseemüller honoured Vespucci by using the Latin form of his first name 'Amerigo' to rename the New World as America stated on his revolutionary map. Over two centuries later, on 9 September 1776, a body of US delegates who were termed the Second Continental Congress, also known as the Committe of Five (including Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Robert R. Livingston, and Roger Sherman) decreed that the previous term the United Colonies, would be officially changed to the new term, the United States of America.

The First British Colony

Over the ensuing centuries numerous disputes had erupted between several European nations over territorial writes within the New World, which had culminated into conflicts between those competing countries, particularly the most powerful imperialistic nations such as France, Spain and Britain. The very first British colony was established in Jamestown in 1607, which is now the modern-day American state of Virginia, subsequently, the British Empire founded 13 settlements on the Atlantic coast North of the New World (North America) between the 17th and 18th centuries. Originally, those settlements became known as the Thirteen British Colonies, which later changed to the Thirteen American Colonies, and then finally, the United Colonies. The arrival of numerous European settlers and the growth of their colonies across the continent of the New World had marked the rapid decline of the Native Indian population, the contributing factors for their demise were European diseases such as smallpox, measles, and influenza, to which the Native American Indians had very low immunity, but other debilitating factors were wars, ethnic cleansing, and enslavement. Although this topic is widely viewed as highly emotive and controversial, according to most historians, it was the smallpox epidemics that had caused the greatest loss of life for the indigenous peoples of the New World, at that particular time in American history.

The French And Indian War (1754 - 1763)

The French and Indian War in 1754 began because of a territorial dispute between the British and French Empire over the Ohio River Valley, both nations wanted the area in order to expand their settlements into that region and beyond. The French and Indian War was a seven-year war of attrition between the British and the French forces in which each side had been supported by various Native American indigenous tribes. The French and Indian War concluded in 1763 with a British victory, after which the Peace Treaty of Paris was signed in 1763. Within the terms of the new treaty France had agreed to give up all its previously held territories in mainland North America. The new treaty had provided the British crown with greater territories and the freedom to expand into new regions within the New World. However, following their victory the British parliament implemented new frontier policies and levied various new taxes upon the Thirteen Colonies, this was primarily undertaken to compensate for the cost to the British Empire during the French and Indian War.

The Original Thirteen Colonies

The original thirteen British colonies were Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. The Thirteen colonies had each adopted the political and legal systems that were advocated by the then dominant English-speaking protestant Christian people. Following the French and Indian War (between 1754 and 1763) the British parliament decided to impose a series of new laws and increased taxes upon the Thirteen Colonies, this action was taken partly due to the cost of that war to the British treasury, but also, the British Crown considered this decree to be just and lawful, since in their opinion the Thirteen Colonies had benefitted greatly from the protection of British troops during the French and Indian War. However, the Thirteen Colonies had viewed the increased taxes imposed upon them as unconstitutional and unfair, therefore, those colonies had categorically rejected the new laws. As the relationship between the British and the American colonies deteriorated and the political altercations between them escalated over time, in the year 1775, the Thirteen Colonies collectively decided to demand their independence from the British government. However, this request was refused by the British parliament, a repudiation that had partly precipitated the American Revolutionary War that occurred between April 1775 to July 1783 and concluded in a resounding victory for the Thirteen Colonies.

The Boston Tea Party

The Boston Tea Party was a direct-action political group which was formed within the British colonies (1773) that were situated in North America. It is often stated that the Boston Tea Party was one of the major instigators of the American Revolutionary War. The Tea Party consisted of a group of political dissidents from the town of Boston, Massachusetts, who were led by Samuel Adams (he became second president of the United States of America, in 1797). The Boston Tea Party had campaigned vigorously against the Tea Act, legislated on 10 May 1773, and several other taxes and policies which was imposed upon the Thirteen Colonies by the British Parliament. Beginning from around 1765, the Thirteen Colonies had expressed outrage against the British government for imposing laws upon them that they had deemed as, taxation without representation. As a result, the Tea Party, who was also infamously referred to as the Sons of Liberty, launched a violent political protest in Griffin's Wharf, Boston, Massachusetts on 16th December 1773. The Sons of Liberty decided to take direct action by forcefully offloading a large cargo of 342 chests of British tea (estimated value $18,000) into the Boston Harbor and that cargo had been imported into Boston by the British East India Company.

The Intolerable Acts

Due to the rebellious actions of the Boston Tea Party, in 1774, the British parliament responded with a punitive law called the ‘Intolerable Acts’ which revoked Massachusetts of its historic right of self-government, and then placed Massachusetts under British imperial military rule. The Thirteen Colonies responded by expressing extreme outrage to this British legislation, and as a result, that Act and other tax related issues place upon them by the British was debated amongst the 13 Colonies on which they concluded that since they had no political representation within the British Parliament, they had viewed the British as a foreign government, and therefore, such enforcements of taxations and laws upon them, without first going through the 13 Colonies' legislative powers was deemed by the Colonies as unconstitutional. As a result, colonialists protestors began marching around their towns famously uttering the words, no taxations without representations, and they had resolved never to pay the British taxes which had been imposed upon them. This bitter contention between the two nations, had led to escalating tensions that contributed to the American Revolutionary War (1775 - 1783).

The American Revolutionary War (1775 - 1783)

Although the American Revolution actually began in 1765, the American Revolutionary War was started by a historical event on 19 April 1775, and years later, this incident evoked the famous phrase, the shot heard round the world, taken from a famous poem that was written by American writer Ralph Waldo Emerson in 1837. In that pivotal moment on 19 April 1775, the British soldiers, who were then referred to as lobsterbacks because of their red coats, began exchanging gunfire at Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts with the local antagonistic colonial militia. This infamous encounter had led to the start of the great war between the British Empire and the American colonials, who were seeking their independence from British rule. In the American Revolutionary War, the American Colonies were provided with ample support by their revenge driven allies France, Spain, and the Netherlands, whose combined forces eventually won a historic victory for the United Colonies over the British forces. When the war concluded, the Treaty of Paris was signed in Paris on 3 September 1783, between representatives (including signatory Benjaman Franklin) of the United Colonies, and the representatives of King George III of Britian, but also, representatives of King Louis XVI of France, and King Charles III of Spain.

The Treaty of Paris had provided France with the Island of Tobago, and Senegal in Africa, meanwhile, Spain had acquired Florida, and the Netherlands regained possessions of lands in the East Indies from the British, but in return Britain received trading rights within the Dutch East Indies. The new treaty officially verified the end of the American revolutionary war and recognised the sovereignty and independence of the United Colonies. It is important to mention that when America was in the midst of its revolutionary war against Britian, the first Continental Congress, who were American delegates that had been appointed to represent the 13 colonies, had agreed to convene in Philidelphia where they officially adopted the Declaration of Independence on 4 July 1776, just one month later, on 2 August 1776, the delegates of the Second Continental Congress met to sign the documents pertaining to the Declaration of Independence. This decision was viewed by some observers as overconfident and presumptive, since, the war was ongoing and its outcome was uncertain, and if the British had won the war against America at that time, then the Declaration of Independence would have become meaningless. But following the enactment of the Treaty of Paris, the United Colonies of the New World celebrated and officially declared their independence from the British Crown, and then formed the United States of America as a new fully independent nation.

The First President Of America

In 1854, America witnessed the birth of Republicanism, which was a political group that was founded and named after the Jeffersonian party, and later it became known as the Republican Party. Republicanism is perceived by many to be the golden child of the Founding Fathers (George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay), also known as the principle seven who had signed the Declaration of Independence. Republicanism is viewed by certain Academics as a political ideological excellence that lives in the mind of those faithfuls, who religiously pursue its never-ending refinement, as they would a tantalizingly but elusive dream. General George Washington (born 1732 - died 1799) was a military officer and a statesman, who had famously led the United States Army to a great victory against the British Empire in 1783. Then several years later, George Washington ran as a nonpartisan candidate for the Presidency of America, and consequently, Washington was historically elected as the first President of the United States of America on 30 April 1789. Although America was a free independent nation, nonetheless, during this era the British parliament continued to regard the American colonies as a sphere of influence. In that era the British Empire was America's largest and most important trading partner, and as such, the British government had maintained a controversial policy known as mercantilism, which was a series of complex international trading laws that had ensured that Britain exported far more goods to the United States than it received. Given that the British Empire was in possession of many colonies across the world at that particular time in history, such trading policies had provided Britain with an important political leverage over the United States for several generations.

The African Slave Trade

The European immigrants that settled in America in the 16th and 17th century was able to procure vast areas of land without financial costs, alternatively, those European settlers were able to purchase land cheaply. Many of the ambitious landowners had a great requirement to employ workers to be involved in land cultivation and building infrastructure, as well as a wide variety of other types of work. The population of the new colonies expanded rapidly fuelled by a great influx of European immigrants, some of which were fleeing from religious persecution, others were adventures and pioneers, but many were in search of a better life with greater opportunities for themselves and their families. The African slave trade officially began in America in August 1619, in Jamestown, Virginia, North America, however, some academics argue that the Americans had begun exploiting African slaves from a much earlier time in history. The slave trade was undertaken within each of the Thirteen Colonies which eventually founded the United States of America. Over hundreds of years millions of African people were systematically kidnapped, and then forced onto European and American ships to be trafficked across the Atlantic Ocean to other countries, but particularly to America, where they were enslaved and oppressed for profit, while being prevented from any human and civil rights, as millions of them endured untold indignities and abuse on a daily bases over many centuries. At that time in American history under colonial law a slave could be purchased or sold, and then treated as property including all descendants of a slave. The topic about how the United States of America became such a wealthy and powerful nation far surpassing the other advanced economies across the world within a relatively short period of time, is still a controversial debate amongst many contemporary historians and academics, with some individuals arguing that the African slave trade was a significant contributory factor to America's flourishing economy over hundreds of years. The question is to what extent did the knock-on effects of the Atlantic slave trade (African slave trade), over many hundreds of years contribute to America's current standing. With some academics asserting that once first position has been attained, it is far easier from that pinnacle to manipulate the various levers at your disposal, which may or may not affect other nations negatively or positively in order to maintain that coveted first place position.

The 13th Amendment (Slave Act 1865)

In the beginning African slaves were captured from West Africa before they were brought to America. Spanning over hundreds of years millions of slaves were trafficked across the United States, where they were forced to work within a wide range of industries, including the coffee, sugar, tobacco, cocoa, and cotton industries. Millions also laboured within the railway, farming, shipping, and mining industries, additionally, it was said that some slaves were specially selected to be taught higher skills within masonry and carpentry, so that they could be used to work within the US construction industries. Meanwhile, millions more worked within private homes and various other establishments, as domestic servants, preparing and serving meals or as nannies and housekeepers. In the age of rapid American expansionism and development, it was strongly argued that slavery was the foundation of the American economy. However, slavery became a controversial and divisive issue across different parts of the United States, in particular, there were several prominent religious groups such as Quakers, Methodists, and Baptists, as well as conscientious anti-slavery movements, each of them had campaigned tirelessly to abolish the shameful practice of slavery within the United States and give rights to all African Americans.

The first American law enacted against slavery in the United States was the Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves in 1807, it was passed by the United States Congress and signed into law by the third American President Thomas Jefferson. This new law had marked a watershed moment in US history, it stated that the importation of African slaves within any jurisdiction of the United States was illegal. When America was still in midst of a bloody Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln, who was known for speaking out against slavery, famously issued the Emancipation Proclamation (1 January 1863). The executive order had embodied the consciences of all those Americans who had been strongly against slavery. And following the American Civil War, the US congress passed the 13th Amendment on 31 January 1865, and this Act was later ratified on 6 December 1865. The 13th Amendment officially ended slavery across the United States, which was seen as another important milestone in the long struggle to end slavery and oppression in America. According to US historical records, at that time in history approximately 4 million black slaves had been emancipated. Nonetheless, grave injustices towards African-Americans had continued to be perpetrated by means of segregation, convict leasing, sharecropping, and from the infamous Jim Crow laws, which were state and local laws enacted in the 1870s, that had enforced or legalized racial segregation, which was predominantly practiced within the Southern regions of the United States. In addition, many other regions of the US were affected by formal and informal policies of racial segregation, but after many years of vigorous campaigning by the determined efforts of numerous American citizens, the Jim Crow laws was finally abolished in 1965.

The American Civil War (1861 - 1865)

After Abraham Lincoln won the 1860 US election on a campaign to abolish slavery in the United States. His victory prompted seven Southern States to secede from the United States, and then those States collectively set up a new government, which they proclaimed as the Confederate States of America (Confederacy), and this conglomerate was formed on 8 February 1861. The first seven Southern States that formed the Confederacy were, South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas. Then on 12 April 1861, certain forces from the Confederate States secretly planned and then executed a brazen attack on the US military garrison at Fort Sumter, in South Carolina's Charleston Harbor, just two days after the surprise offensive the besieged Union forces surrendered. Although there were no reported fatalities this attack was said to be the official start of the United States Civil War (1861-1865), infamously the bloodiest conflict in US history. After the start of the Civil War another four states joined the Confederacy, they were Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee, which had comprised a total of 11 Confederate States. Those American states that had opposed the Confederacy were called the Union, and they were comprised of 20 US States, including, Maine, New York, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, California, Nevada, and Oregon, the President of those States was Abraham Lincoln. Primarily, the Civil War was between the Northern verses the Southern half of America. The Northerners were called the Yankees, and the Southerners the Rebels. The central cause of the Civil War was the contentions issue of slavery in America, the Southern States had demanded the continuation of slavery, meanwhile, the Northern States were attempting to abolish slavery within all regions of the USA. After the Civil War American historical records concluded that a total of about 620,000 Americans died in the United States Civil War, there were about 360,222 Union deaths and roughly 258,000 Confederate deaths.

The Great War (1914 - 1918)

World War I (1914-1918) was also known as The Great War, and over the first few years this conflict involved the Allied forces, which was mainly Britain, France, Italy, Japan, Canada, Australia, and Russia, against the so-called Central Powers, who were mainly Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire, and Turkey, however, Italy switched sides in 1915 in order to join the Allies. Before World War I began the American economy was experiencing a severe economic downturn, however, beginning from 1914 to 1918 the US economy underwent a remarkable revival, which was said to be primarily due to greater US exports. The total value of US exports grew from $2.4 billion in 1913 to $6.2 billion in 1917, most of which went to the Allied forces. According to official studies exports of machinery plus various metals, as well as automobiles had increased from $480 million in 1913 to $1.6 billion in 1916. A wide variety of food exports from the US had dramatically increased from $190 million to $510 million during the same time span. Meanwhile, the United States supplied military equipment, ships, planes, and many provisions to the Allied forces, as well as allowing a generous extension of credit to the Allies. At the start of World War I the United States government had officially declared America to be a neutral nation, but after Germany continued committing many international violations, including, repeated attacks on US merchant ships, some heading for Britain, in addition to the Zimmermann Telegram incident in January 1917, the United States eventually joined the Allied Forces when it declared war on Germany on 6 April 1917, and this event had crucially affected the balance of the war. According to the National Archives, when the United States declared war against Germany, the USA had a standing army of about 127,500 officers and soldiers. However, at the war's conclusion, about four and a half million American soldiers had served in the United States Army, including more than 380,000 African-American soldiers, with about 200,000 of them sent to Europe. World War I finally ended with a victory for the Allied forces on 11th November 1918.

The Roaring Twenties

The Roaring Twenties refers to the decade of the 1920s in certain Western European nations, but particularly within the United States. The Roaring Twenties also known as the Jazz Age, was an era many alluded to as a magical time in America between 1920 and 1929, during which the US had sustained exceptional economic prosperity, and many Americans enjoyed an unprecedented standard of living. The economic boom which had occurred was partly created by a new era of mass consumerism in the US. Dating back from between the years 1870 to 1920, approximately 11 million Americans migrated from rural areas into US cities, additionally, the majority of 25 million immigrants who had arrived in the United States over the same period, had decided to settle in the cities. As a result, by the 1920s more Americans lived in US cities than rural areas for the first time in American history. The 1920s was also the era of new technological advancements and large-scale developments, such as, telephone networks, films, radios, automobiles, and millions of Americans began purchasing electrical home appliances such as dishwashers, washing machines, ovens, vacuum cleaners, fridges, toasters, hairdryers, and gramophones, each of these factors had coincided to boost economic growth.

In the early 1920s a new and exciting style of music called 'Jazz' emerged from the African communities of New Orleans, in Louisiana, and Harlem, in Upper Manhattan, New York City. In that era jazz music had struck a chord with millions of people across the United States from all walks of life, particularly, white-middle class Americans. Jazz became such a captivating music genre during the 1920s that a famous American novelist named F. Scott Fitzgerald coined the term 'the Jazz Age' with the publication of his popular short stories which was called 'Tales of the Jazz Age' in 1922. Jazz was the dominant dance style music within various night clubs and dance venues across the United States, its innovative and improvisational music style eventually came to symbolize the decade's spirit of adventure and liberation. Importantly, on 18th August 1920, the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified by the US Congress, it proved a landmark event which finally granted white American women the right to vote for the first time in American history. The American women in that era had demanded and claimed greater respect from society, particularly, following their significant contributions during World War I when millions of black and white American women had been called upon to support the war effort by working within a variety of male dominated industries across the United States. American women had felt more emboldened and liberated than ever before, and as a result, a new vibrant, bold, and adventurous subculture group of young western women emerged in the 1920s, those women were notoriously referred to by society as flappers, and they were known to be the first females to wear short skirts, since, knee length skirts had been considered risqué in the 1920s.

The term flapper was a derogatory word that was attributed to those young brash women of the 1920s, who had dared to challenge the conventional norms for women in that era. It is uncertain when and where the term flappers originated, and what its original meaning was. Certain sources state that the term was supposedly derived in England in the early 17th century meaning prostitute, alternatively, the word was once attributed to a fledgling bird attempting to fly by repeatedly flapping its wings, but it is believed that by the late 19th century the term was used as a reference to high-spirited young women. Flappers became the infamous bad girls of the 1920s, and such women had a reputation to indulge in casual sexual encounters, they also wore excessive makeup, smoked cigarettes in public places, and donned provocative clothing with cloche hats upon their bobbed hair styles. Those women had a reputation of frequenting night clubs, where they danced flauntingly to jazz music whilst consuming alcohol excessively throughout the night. Many academics have proclaimed that the 1920s marked a new era in the history of the United States. Because of the hedonistic lifestyles that many Americans had participated in at that time in history, this era was alluded to as the Roaring Twenties. In 1920, an innovative American music radio station called KDKA was established in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where it began regular broadcasting (KDKA is said to be the world's first commercially licensed radio station), over the ensuing years hundreds of similar radio stations began to proliferate across the USA, and as a consequence what was arguably the first popular music culture had emerged in the 1920s. Meanwhile, revolutionary trends in people's attires, lifestyle, and cultures evolved. At the same time the US media became more widespread and influential, well assisted by the new all-consuming industry of mass-market advertising, and this process had significantly helped to drive consumer demand across the USA.

The Prohibition Act (1920 - 1933)

Prohibition was enacted by the US congress across all states in America from 1920 until 1933. The United States Prohibition Act was a nationwide constitutional ban on the production, importation, transportation, and sale of any alcoholic drinks beginning from 17th January 1920 until 5th December 1933. However, prohibition in the US did not forbid the consumption of alcohol by individuals. United States law stated that any beer, wine or spirits that Americans had already put a side prior to the start of the ban was theirs to enjoy within the comfort and privacy of their homes. Prohibition was originally undertaken in order to reduce the disturbing high levels of crime and corruption pertaining to alcohol consumption in America at that time, but also to resolve the many social problems, and decrease the tax burden created by prisons and certain institutions relating to those types of health-related issues, additionally, to help prevent morale decline and improve the general health of the nation. However, the new law had proved difficult to enforce, and ironically, prohibition had instigated the unintended consequences of creating a bootlegger's paradise across the United States of America in that era.

The Wall Street Crash (1929)

The Wall Street Crash, also known as the Great Crash, was a major American stock market crash that began in September 1929, when share prices on the New York Stock exchange began to tumble very rapidly and which culminated in a total collapse of the US stock market by October 1929. In that year the United Kingdom was one of the first major economies to be impacted by a significant economic decline following the London Stock Exchange crash in September 1929, the ripple effect of this event had heralded doom for the New York stock exchange with the grim prospect of a deep depression to ensue. The Wall Street Crash had been precipitated by over optimistic investors who were indulging in excessive speculation on the US stock market for several years, and this contagious over-exuberant behaviour started from the early 1920s. During this decade many investors had widely anticipated that the stock market would continue to be buoyant almost indefinitely. However, following the crash of the London Stock exchange, there followed two other significant events which had severe repercussions on the American economy. Beginning on Thursday 24 October 1929, the world witnessed the largest US stock market crash in the history of the United States hitherto, and that fateful day became known as Black Thursday. Then on 29 October 1929, multitudes of investors panicked and then began frantically trading about 16 million worth of shares on the New York Stock Exchange within 24 hours, and subsequently, that day became known as Black Tuesday. The 1929 Wall Street Crash eventually led to the worst depression in America's history, which spanned more than ten years. But ironically, once again, it was the start of another World War in 1939, which had ignited the embers of the American economy, and ultimately, this event had served to rescue the United States from the darkest depths of depression.