The Great Depression

  • The Stock Market Crash

    The Stock Market Crash

    The stock market crash of 1929, which began on Black Thursday October 24, 1929 and continued through Black Tuesday October 29, 1929.
  • Bank Failures

    Bank Failures

    During the Great Depression 1930-1933, approximately 9,000 banks failed, resulting in the loss of $7 billion in depositors' assets. A key factor contributing to these failures was the speculative investment of bank assets, including customer deposits, in the stock market.
  • Dust Bowl

    Dust Bowl

    The Dust Bowl was a severe ecological and economic catastrophe that struck the U.S. Great Plains in the 1930s, caused by a combination of prolonged drought and unsustainable farming practices that removed protective native grasses and left topsoil exposed.
  • Hoovervilles

    Hoovervilles

    Hoovervilles were makeshift shantytowns built by homeless people during the Great Depression. Named derisively after President Herbert Hoover, they were a bitter symbol of the public's anger over the government's perceived inaction in the face of the economic crisis.
  • Roosevelt’s Black Cabinet

    Roosevelt’s Black Cabinet

    The "Black Cabinet" was an unofficial but influential group of African American advisors to President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the 1930s and 1940s. Led by educator Mary McLeod Bethune, these federal employees worked to ensure African Americans received a share of the New Deal benefits and advocated for broader civil rights from within the government.
  • Smoot-Hawley-Tariff

    Smoot-Hawley-Tariff

    The Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act was passed in 1930, at the start of the Great Depression, but was the result of a political push that began in the 1920s. The act significantly raised U.S. tariffs on imported goods, sparking retaliatory tariffs from other countries and contributing to a collapse in global trade
  • Scottsboro Boys Case

    Scottsboro Boys Case

    The Scottsboro Boys case involved nine African American teenagers falsely accused of raping two white women in Alabama in 1931. The notorious trials exposed deep-seated racial injustice in the American South and resulted in landmark U.S. Supreme Court decisions that expanded criminal defendants' rights.
  • Bonus Army

    Bonus Army

    The Bonus Army was the popular name for the Bonus Expeditionary Force (BEF). This group of over 17,000 World War I veterans and their families marched on Washington, D.C., in 1932. Many veterans were unemployed and impoverished due to the Great Depression. The purpose was to demand immediate payment of a cash bonus due in 1945.
  • FDIC Creation.

    FDIC Creation.

    The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) was created in 1933 in direct response to the bank failures and banking panics that occurred during the Great Depression. By insuring deposits, the FDIC restored public confidence in the nation's banking system
  • Herbert Hoover's Presidency

    Herbert Hoover's Presidency

    Herbert Hoover, the 31st U.S. president, served from 1929 to 1933. His reputation as an effective leader and humanitarian, earned before his presidency, was overshadowed by his failure to combat the Great Depression, which began with the stock market crash just months into his term
  • First Fireside Chat

    First Fireside Chat

    The first "Fireside Chat" was an address given by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on Sunday, March 12, 1933, to explain the banking crisis and his proposed solution. The 13-minute radio broadcast, delivered eight days after his inauguration, was meant to reassure a panicked American public during the Great Depression.
  • Roosevelt's Presidency

    Roosevelt's Presidency

    Because the user did not specify which Roosevelt they are asking about, it's necessary to provide information on both presidents who held that surname: Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR).
  • Bank Holiday

    Bank Holiday

    During the Great Depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared a nationwide bank holiday from March 6 to March 9, 1933. This was a critical first step in his plan to stabilize the U.S. financial system, which was suffering from widespread bank failures and a loss of public confidence.
  • National Housing Act of 1934

    National Housing Act of 1934

    The National Housing Act of 1934 was a cornerstone of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal, designed to revive the housing market and construction industry during the Great Depression. The act created a system of mortgage insurance that fundamentally changed home financing in the United States, but also institutionalized racist lending practices
  • Indian Reorganization Act

    Indian Reorganization Act

    The Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) of 1934, also known as the Wheeler-Howard Act, was a pivotal piece of U.S. legislation that reversed federal assimilation policies and aimed to promote tribal self-government and protect Native American lands and cultures
  • Social Security Act

    Social Security Act

    The Social Security Act of 1935 is a law enacted by the 74th United States Congress and signed into law by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt on August 14, 1935. The law created the Social Security program as well as insurance against unemployment.