-
Stock Market Crash of 1929
This is considered the start of the Great Depression. This sudden crash of the stock market (where many people got their income) caused all the later events of the era. -
Period: to
Banking Failures
During this period, many banks failed due to the sheer number of people who began pulling out money from their accounts, causing the banks to lack the money to give. This caused millions of Americans to lose their savings. -
Period: to
Great Depresssion
During this period, Americans will suffer a high level of unemployment and poverty like never before. It will also affect other countries, due to the US's economy failing to such a degree, but Americans will be one of the hardest hit by the depression -
Period: to
The Dust Bowl
During this period, a drought along with a series of dust storms overtook the farmer's portion of America. This meant that farmers were not only getting sick, but crops and food became scarce for the rest of the US. -
Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act
President Hoover signs the Smoot-Hawley Tariff act, an attempt to protect farmers and businesses by limiting foreign competition. This caused massive amounts of backlash from foreign governments. -
Franklin D. Roosevelt Elected
After the previous president (Herbert Hoover) was blamed for the great depression along with his incompetence in stopping it, FDR was elected. He ended up staying the president for the rest of the Great Depression, only stopping after his death in 1945 -
Glass-Steagall Banking Act
This act separated investment and commercial banking activities, specifically when they got involved in the stock market. This made banking easier for everyone, especially since a lot of people didn't trust stocks at the time and refused to use them. -
New Deal Starts
In order to try and help the US's economy, FDR had the plan to release a series of new laws, all of which having the purpose of helping Americans. These were almost all very successful, and many of its' programs are around today. -
Bank Holiday
After taking office, Roosevelt takes immediate action and declares this day a bank holiday. During this "holiday", all banks close until they are declared secure by government officials. -
Home Owners’ Loan Act
This act gave financial aid to homeowners. This was extremely helpful, since a lot of people during the time were under constant threat of losing their houses. -
National Industrial Recovery Act
This act allowed the legalization of price controls and the collective bargaining of labor. This was passed in order to help stimulate ethe economy. -
Prohibition Ends
After the prohibition was started in 1920, it is finally uplifted in 1933. This was done in order to stimulate the economy more, since alcohol was at high demand. -
Taylor Grazing Act
This act, in tandem with the Soil Conservation act, worked to preserve our soil. It did this by limiting free grazing, which eliminated both overgrazing in livestock and soil erosion. -
Soil Conservation Act
This act was a direct response to the Dust Bowl, which caused soil erosion in the American Great Plains. This allowed government officials and farmers to work together and create methods in order to preserve our soil. -
Social Security Act
This act allowed people to get financial aid as long as they paid an extra expense on their taxes. This was a huge help to Americans, especially ones with bigger families. -
Robinson-Patman Act
This act prohibited larger markets to drive out smaller sized competitors. This prevented monopolies from forming, plus it helped stimulate the economy more. -
Hindenburg Explodes
During this day, the Hindenburg blimp takes flight, all filmed and commercialized. However, tragedy soon struck, and the blimp exploded all on camera for the US to see. This made air travel decline greatly, and made people weary of traveling in the air. -
World War 2 Starts
Although the War caused a lot of inevitable pain for not only Americans, but for people across the globe, the stabilization of the economy in preparation for this war is often credited as the end of the Great Depression.