This four week course will help students understand one of the most pivotal events in American history, the Great Depression. We will examine the development of banking in the United States as a backdrop to the events of 1929, study the Wall Street Crash of October 29th,1929 and its consequences and follow the unfolding of the Depression around the world and the United States' attempt to mitigate the disaster. This class will also lead students in comparing the financial markets of 1929 to those of today and speculate on whether or not another disaster of the magnitude of the Depression could happen again.