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Hoover Becomes President
Hoover went against Smith in the 1928 election and won. He used prosperity of republican rule to win the American people. His campaign sell was to draw America closer and closer to overcoming poverty. This is ironic because he was often blamed for the devastating effects of the great depression. -
Federal Farm Board Founded
Hoovers approach to cleaning up the Great Depression was to invest in small business, so he supported the Federal Farm Board. It was intended to raise crop prices to help farmers financially after the crash. -
Stock Market Crash
The peak then fall of stock prices prompted investors to sell their stocks quick and pull out. On Black Tuesday the bottom fell out of the market. Shareholders tried to sell before prices went even lower. People who had bought stocks on credit had debt and people lost their savings. Panicked people tried to get their money from the banks but the banks had invested in stocks and no longer had the peoples money. This caused majority of banks to close down and tons of citizens money had been lost. -
Hawley-Smoot Tariff Passed
The great depression limited America to import goods from Europe and made it hard to sell American goods abroad. This tariff, when established was the highest protective tariff in US history. It was meant to protect US business from foreign competition but instead prevented other countries from getting US money to buy US goods, this spiked unemployment in the US. -
Reconstruction Finance Corporation
Another economic measure that Hoover took to heal the effects of the Great Depression was the the RFC. This allowed 2 billion dollars for emergency financing for things like banks, life insurance companies, railroads, businesses, ect. He did this because he believed the money would go through the system and eventually end up in the hands of the citizens. -
Federal Home Loan Bank Act
This act was passed by Hoover to reform banking, provide mortgage relief to the American people, and to put more money into business investment. This act did this by lowering mortgage rates for homeowners and allowed farmers to refinance their farm loans and avoid foreclosure. -
Hoover Disbands Bonus Army
The bonus army was a group of WW1 veterans who were in favor of the Patman Bill which would make the government pay the veterans not rightly compensated for their wartime. They supported this by marching at the capitol. Hoover called on them to leave and some did not. He then disbanded them using gas, this killed many people including children. By doing this Hoover basically doomed himself for the next election as people were outraged that he would treat veterans this way. -
Civil Works Administration
This was established in 1933 as part of the new deal programs by Roosevelt. The purpose was to create work in federal jobs to aid in the unemployment rates after the Great Depression. -
Black Sunday
This was one of the worst dust storms in American history and was a part of the dust bowl. A drought had began in the 1930's and the dry dust would accumulate and wind would cause dust storms. The dust storms created impossible viable conditions causing people to leave the great plains, abandon heir farms, or die from lung related conditions. -
Hoover Dam Finished
The building of the Hoover Dam was approved by Congress in 1928. To avoid foreign intervention the dam was supplied financially by the money the dam would make by generating electricity. Once finished, the dam provided flood control and electricity and provided a regular water supply which helped the agricultural economy of Cali grow. -
Publishing of "Migrant Mother"
This photo was taken by Dorothea Lange. She visited a camp in California where the dust bowl victims were and took a picture of this mom of seven. The photo is the most recognizable symbol of the Great Depression and was the strongest argument to support the new deal relief programs put in by Roosevelt by documenting the harsh living conditions of the time. -
Neutrality Act of 1939
The Neutrality Act of 1939 and cash and carry policy went into effect. The cash and carry policy allowed warring countries to buy US weapons as long as they paid cash and transported them themselves. Roosevelt thought this would help France and Britain beat Hitler and keep the US out of war. As we all know this was not successful since we end up in the war.
