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1929- Stock Market Crash
March 4: Herbert Hoover assumed office as the President of the United States. August: This month, the prosperity achieved throughout the Roaring Twenties would reach its peak before beginning to downfall. October 24: Black Thursday started the stock market crash, leading to the Great Depression. Stocks dropped 11%, but with Wall Street bankers buying, only 2% was lost. October 28: Stock prices fall by 13% today, making the day become known as Black Monday. Unemployment Rate: 3.2% -
1930- The Dust Bowl Begins
March: Another 1.5 million people have been made unemployed. June 17:In 1930, President Hoover signed the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, which raised taxes on 900 imports. A drought hit 23 states, leading to the Dust Bowl. Hoover requested the American Red Cross to support those in need and later, Congress provided $65 million for food, seeds, and feed for farmers. November: In New York City, 6,000 unemployed people begin selling apples at five cents each. Unemployment Rate: 8.7% -
1932- President Roosevelt is Elected
June 6: President Hoover signs the Revenue Act of 1932, increasing the top income tax rate to 63%. July 2: Franklin D. Roosevelt, a 1932 presidential candidate, gives his “New Deal” speech to the public to reveal his plans for economic recovery. Unemployment Rate: 23.6%. -
1933- The First Hundred Days and the New Deal
March 4: President Roosevelt begins his “first hundred days” in office and 15 laws are introduced rapidly to begin tackling the Great Depression. March 5: President Roosevelt closes all banks for a “bank holiday.” March 12: Roosevelt's "Fireside Chats" were a series of broadcasts from his home where he updated the nation on the government's efforts to fight the Great Depression. In the first chat, he explained new bank laws. Unemployment Rate: 24.9% -
1934- Dust Storms and Droughts Continue
January 30: Gold price history is changed when the Gold Reserve Act is introduced. The act doubled the price of gold and banned private ownership. April 15: Known as Black Sunday, the worst dust storm hits the United States. In order to help farmers learn how to work sustainably, President Roosevelt introduces the Soil Conservation Act Unemployment Rate: 21.7% -
1935- Creation of the Works Progress Administration
January 1: More than 5,000 Townsend Clubs nationwide bringing together more than 2 million members. February 1: There are 27,000 clubs in the Share Our Wealth society across the country, with 7.5 million Americans on the mailing list. April 30: The Resettlement Administration helps to train and give loans to farmers. August: The Social Security Act provides income to the elderly, blind, and disabled from payroll taxes and the Social Security Trust Fund. Unemployment Rate: 20.1% -
1936: President Roosevelt Elected For a Second Term
June: The heat in the United States continued to blaze, with 8 states recording temperatures of 43 degrees celsius or warmer. Throughout the year, another 12 states recorded temperatures of the same level, including another four that reached 48 degrees. By the end of the year, the heat waves experienced across the nation had killed 1,693 people, and while trying to keep cool, 3,500 more people drowned. Unemployment Rate: 16.9% -
1937- Spending on New Deal Programs Cut
President Roosevelt had the difficult task of having to manage the debt, but also try to keep the economy out of the depression. In an attempt to relieve the country’s debt, he cut back spending on the New Deal programs, which ultimately pushed the economy back into the depression. In the end, after a $5 billion relief program was enacted by Congress, the economy grew by 5.1%. Unemployment Rate: 14.3% -
1938- Economic Growth
June: The economy started to grow again this year, eventually bringing the country out of the Great Depression. Unemployment Rate: 19.0% -
1939- The Start of World War Two
April 14: John Steinbeck publishes his novel The Grapes of Wrath, depicting the hardships of the 1930s through a migrating family from Oklahoma. November: With the invasion of Poland by Hitler and the start of the Second World War, President Roosevelt persuaded Congress to remove the military arms embargo to France and Britain to support them during the war. Unemployment Rate: 17.2%