Great Depression

  • Black Thursday

    Black Thursday
    Investors started selling overpriced shares. On October 24, 1929, also known as Black Thursday, 12.9 million shares were traded and the stock market started to crash.
  • Black Tuesday

    Black Tuesday
    16 million shares were traded after another wave of people on Wall Street. Many businesses closed and many people lost their jobs.
  • The Dust Bowl

    The Dust Bowl
    The Dust Bowl killed many people, livestock, and crops. This caused people to leave farmland and move into cities for work.
  • Herbert Hoover

    Herbert Hoover
    During the presidency of Herbert Hoover, important matters would get worse and worse. From 1930 to 1931 the number of Americans looking for work increased from 4 million to 6 million.
  • Bank Runs

    Bank Runs
    In 1930 many people who invested had lost trust in their banks and started depositing cash, and the banks did not have a lot on hand. By 1933 thousands of banks had shut down.
  • Franklin D. Roosevelt is elected

    Franklin D. Roosevelt is elected
    Through his first 100 days in office Roosevelt passed legislation to give more people jobs and stable industrial and agricultural jobs. He also created the Federal Deposit Insurance Cooperation (FDIC) to protect peoples bank accounts.
  • Bonus Army

    Bonus Army
    World War I veterans marched on Washington demanding pensions. General Douglas MacArthur used force to remove them.
  • Great Depression Recovery

    Great Depression Recovery
    1933 were early signs of recovery from the Great Depression. The economy would improve throughout the next three years and the GDP would increase by 9 percent per year.
  • The New Deal

    The New Deal
    The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) built dams and hydroelectric projects to better maintain flooding. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) employed 8.5 million people from 1935-1943 to work on these projects.
  • Social Security Act

    Social Security Act
    Congress passed the Social Security Act to provide for people who are elders, unemployed, or disabled.
  • Federal Reserve

    Federal Reserve
    Federal Reserve decided to increase the requirements for reserving money in the bank.
  • World War II

    World War II
    World War II cause more businesses to begin production and opened up more jobs for people.