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Black Tuesday
The stock market crashed on this date. The crash originally began on October 24th which is called Black Thursday. By October 29th the stock markets plummeted and the banks were calling in loans. The sum of the loss of money in October of 1929 was about 16 billion dollars. -
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The Great Depression
http://americanhistory.about.com/od/greatdepression/a/facts_great_dep.htmThe Great Depression was a period of worldwide economic depression that lasted from 1929 to about 1939. The starting date of the Great Depression was October 29, 1929. Also known as Black Tuesday. -
Smoot-Hawley Tariff
Herbert Hoover did not offer any help. Instead Hoover and congressional republicans passed the Smoot-Hawley Tariff. This drove the average tariff rate up to almost 60 percent. -
The Beginning of the Bank Panics
In the fall of 1930, the first of four waves of banking panics began. Large numbers of investors lost confidence in the solvency of their banks and demanded deposits in cash. This forced banks to look for loans in order to supplement their insufficient cash reserves on hand. Bank runs swept the United States again in the spring and fall of 1931 and the fall of 1932, and by early 1933 thousands of banks had closed their doors. -
The Dust Bowl
While the Great Depression was going on there was also the Dust Bowl. The Dust Bowl stretched throughout the Midwest during the 1930's. It was caused by dust storms. Since it destroyed a large part of agricultural production, it contributed towards the Great Depression. -
The Hunger March
In Washington D.C., 3,000 Communists staged a "hunger march." In rural America farmers were joining together to prevent insurance companies from foreclosing their neighbors' farms. By the spring of 1932, 15 to 20,000 unemployed veterans camped out in a park in Washington D.C. demanding full payment of the bonus promised them for serving in World War I, and they were dispersed by the U.S. army. -
The Election of Franklin D. Roosevelt
In 1932, when there was about 13-15 million people unemployed, Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt had an overwhelming victory in the presidential election. At this point all of the poeple thought that they could maybe have some national relief. -
Inauguration Day
On this day every U.S, state had ordered all remaining banks to close at the end of the fourth wave of banking panics. The U.S. treasury didn't have enough cash to pay all the government workers. This day was very crazy. -
Tennesse Valley Authority
The TVA was created to oversee development in an area in the Tenessee Valley. Sharecroppers and tenant farmers were malnourished, soils were exhausted, eroded and polluted with chemical wastes, trees had been cut, vegetation had been destroyed, and many in the area could not afford electrical power. The TVA gave the valley electrical power, and they did all they could to get everything back to normal. -
The "Three Little Pigs"
The “Three Little Pigs“—released May 27, 1933, and produced by Walt Disney—was seen as symbolic of the Great Depression. The wolf represented the Depression. The three little pigs represented average citizens who eventually succeeded by working together. -
The New Deal
In 1933 president Franklin Roosevelt brought confidence that quickly rallied the people to the banner of his program, known as the New Deal. The president declared "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." The New Deal introduced types of social and economic reform familiar to many Europeans for more than a generation. -
The Slaughter of Pigs
To steady down the prices, the federal agricultural program commanded slaughter of over six million pigs. Many citizens dissented this move as maximum meat went waste. There was a very big food shortage at that point. -
The Indian New Deal
In spite of the New Deal and the “Indian New Deal,” most Native Americans remained bitterly poor during the Great Depression. The “Indian New Deal” (which was also called the Indian Reorganization Act) was a complex and multi-faceted legislation. It reversed the Dawes Severalty Act of 1887 and granted tribes more autonomy. -
The Union for Social Justice
The Union for Social Justice is set up by Father Charles E. Coughlin. He airwaved rebuked "predatory capitalism." His candid criticism of banking system and communism soon vented a worrying gospel of anti-Semitism. There was a lot of conflict at this time. -
The Works Progress Administration
The WPA or Social Security created old age and unemployment pensions. It started building roads and bridges across the country. It put women to work on useful sewing projects. The WPA had programs in the arts including theatre, music, literature, & painting. It also included programs of education including vocational training for needy youths. -
Emergency Relief Appropriation Act
On April 8, 1935 the FDR approved the Emergeny Relief Appropriation Act. This act provided $525 million for drought relief. It also authorized creation of the Works Progress Administration, which employed 8.5 million people. -
Wagner-Connery Act
The Wagner-Connery Act created a federal agency, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). This agency had the power to investigate and decide unfair labor practice issues. It also conducted elections in which workers could decide whether they wanted union representation. It was the view of liberal economists that workers would benefit not only from better working conditions, but that higher wages would improve the economy by creating greater purchasing power. -
Chain Letters
Chain letters seemed to have first begun in 1935 as a get-rich-quick scheme. The source of the letters is unknown. The letters became so popular that post offices around the nation had to hire extra help. -
The Untied Automobile Workers Strike
The United Automobile Workers strike at the General Motors Plant in Flint, Michigan had turned violent.The strikers clashed with police hired by the company. It was a very hectic time. -
The Minimum Wage Bill
The Minimum Wage Bill gave workers a 40-hour work week for workers of companies that participated in interstate commerce. The demand this placed on the government created a need for a much larger government workforce. At the beginning of the Depression, there were 553,000 civil employees on the government’s payroll. By the time the Depression ended, there were more than 953,000 paid civil workers. -
The End of the Depression
The United States finally starts to build it's armed forces. The country begins to recover from the Depression due to borrowing and spending $1 billion. Manufacturing increases 50% between 1939 and 1941.
