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Herbert Hoover takes office
Hoover was the 31st President of the United States and was a professional mining engineer and author. Hoover is also the last cabinet secretary to be directly elected President of the United States, as well as one of only two Presidents to have been elected President without electoral experience or high military rank. -
Dust Bowl
This event lasted until 1936, and in a few areas until 1940. It was a time of severe dust storms causing major ecological and agricultural damage to the midwestern U.S. lands. This event was caused by severe droughts of extensive farming without techniques to prevent erosion. -
RFC
The total $ spent from 1932 through 1941 was $9.465 billion, and almost all of it was paid back. The RFC was an independent agency of the United States government during the administration of Herbert Hoover in 1932. The RFC, or Reconstruction Finance Corporation, helped the government, banks, railroads, and other businesses by giving them over $2 billion in relief funds. -
Bonus Army
The World War Adjusted Compensation Act of 1924 had awarded the veterans bonus certificates they could not redeem until 1945. Since this was the time of the Great Depression, the veterans demanded their bonus money and camped out nearby the capital for their money, until they were forced out around July 28th. -
The New Deal
Roosevelt entered his presidency not having a specific plan to deal with the Great Depression, so he listened to many different ideas and came up with the New Deal. Between 1933 and 1936, a series of economic programs were implemented into the U.S. They were a response to the Great Depression and focused on the "3 R's," relief, recovery and reform. -
Hitler takes power
Hitler was a brilliant speaker, organised, and a good politician. He was a driven, unstable man, who believed that he had been called by God to become dictator of Germany and rule the world which kept him going when other people might have given up. President Hindenburg appointed Adolf Hitler chancellor of Germany on January 1933. -
FDR elected
Starting his first hundred days in office, Roosevelt launched major orders that led to the New Deal. Roosevelt is also the 32nd president and the only American president elected for more than two terms. -
Indian Reorganization Act
This was also known as the Wheeler-Howard Act or informally, the Indian New Deal. This was a U.S. federal legislation which gave certain rights to Native Americans. It also gave a return to local self-government on a tribal basis. The Act finally restored the management of their land to create a sound economic foundation -
Social Security Act
The Social Security Act was drafted during Roosevelt's first term by the President's Committee on Economic Security, and passed by Congress as part of the New Deal. The act was an attempt to limit what were seen as dangers in the modern American life, including old age, poverty, unemployment, and the burdens of widows and fatherless children. -
Social Security
In the United States, Social Security refers to the federal Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) program. Social Security is a social insurance program that is funded through dedicated payroll taxes called Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA). By dollars paid, the U.S. Social Security program is the largest government program in the world. -
Neutrality Acts
The Neutrality Act signed August 31, 1935, caused more harm then help to America. The act of 1936 forbade all loans or credits to belligerents, and renewed provisions of the 1935 act for another 14 months. All of the Neutrality Acts were mostly on banning weapon trading to most other contries, so that the U.S.A. would remain neutral. -
Father Coughlin attacks FDR, Jews
Coughlin's weekly broadcasts became filled with antisemitism views. He blamed the Depression on an "international conspiracy of Jewish bankers", On November 27, 1938, he said "There can be no doubt that the Russian Revolution was launched and fomented by distinctively Jewish influence." Up until May 1, 1942, Coughlin continued his broadcasts. On May 1, 1942 however, Rev. Edward Mooney said he would be defrocked if he ceased his broadcasts. -
GM Sit-down strike
GM had only two factories that produced the dies for cars to be stamped; one in Flint and the other in Cleveland. The workers in Cleveland went on strike forcing the union to accelerate their plans. The Flint police attempted to enter the Flint plant on January 11, 1937, but were unsuccessful when the strikers fought back. The parties finally reached agreement on February 11, 1937 on a one page agreement that recognized the UAW as the exclusive bargaining representative for GM's employees. -
Rape of Nanjing
This event was also known as the Nanking Massacre. This was a mass murder and war rape that occurred around the time the Japanese captured the city of Nanjing (Nanking), the former capital of the Republic of China. During this event, hundreds of thousands of Chinese civilians and disarmed soldiers were murdered and 20,000–80,000 women were raped by soldiers of the Imperial Japanese Army. -
The Grapes of Wrath
A novel published sometime in 1939 and written by John Steinbeck. The Grapes of Wrath describes the struggle of migrant farm workers who wanted better wages and working conditions. The farmers attempt to join unions and strikes.
