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Many citizens could not earn a decent living. Industries struggled and farmers produced more crops and livestock than they could sell at a profit. Both consumers and farmers were going deeper into debt.
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Herbert Hoover is elected the 31st president of the United States.
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The stock market in New York City completely collapses, marking one of the primary factors of the Great Depression.
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Land within the Great Plains was stripped of its topsoil, creating large amounts of dust that the wind would pick up and spread across the country.
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Many men walked the streets looking for work, but it was rarely successful. Some even abandoned their families. Men wondered the country, hitching rides on railroad boxcars, eventually turning up at homeless shelters.
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Working women became the target for resentment. Many believed that women, especially married women, had no right to work when there were men that were unemployed. Women were often too ashamed to reveal their hardships.
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About 400,000 farms were lost through foreclosure. Many farmers lost their land and fell into heavy debt.
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Falling taxes led to school boards shortening the school year, or even closing schools entirely. More than 300,000 students were out of school, and many searched for work instead. Many children suffered from health issues or worked in hazardous conditions.
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People lost their jobs and were evicted from their homes, ending up in the streets. The poor dug through garbage cans, begged for food, or lined up at soup kitchens for free or low-cost food.
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10,000 and 20,000 World War II veterans and their families arrived in Washington D.C. in order to support the Patman Bill. Hoover disbands the army by sending out his military to gas them. Many were injured.
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The incident with the Bonus Army ruined Hoover's image, therefore Franklin D. Roosevelt is elected into office.
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The government had not been protecting or insuring citizen's bank accounts and millions of people lost their savings. 11,000 of the nation's 25,000 banks had failed.
