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Great Depression
The Great Depression was possibly the biggest economic crisis in U.S. history. At the highest point uneployment was near 25 percent. An estimated 12,000 banks closed during this time. The huge enviromental crisis known as the Dust Bowl was occuring at this time. -
Black Thursday
Stock market prices increased 40 percent between 1928 and 1929. It was like a buble waiting to burst and on October 24 it did. Everyone began to sell their stock in a panic. There was more money in the stock market than in the banks. People began to try to get money out of banks but the banks had lost it all -
Dust Bowl Exodus
The Dirty Thirties displaced about 300,000 people. Almost all of these people were farmers who had nothing to go back to. The dust storms destroyed farms. The very low crop prices caused most farmers to go bankrupt. Most families took everything they could and packed it into trucks. Once people got to California there weren't enough jobs for everyone. -
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10,000 Bank Failures
Between 1920-1929 an average of 600 banks closed every year. After the stock market crashed people went to their banks to get whatever they had. Oftentimes the banks had lost all or most of their money. There was no FDIC yet so therefore no insurance of their money. -
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Dust Bowl
Due to the detremental farming techniques used and the exhaustion of the soil in 1930 the first dust storm happened. The great plains had up to 5 feet of topsoil and once was some of the richest farmland in the world. The exhaustion of the soil and the soil being dried out by the sun caused the soil to become very light and dry. High velocity winds to go over the plains and pick up all of the dry soil. These massive dust storms ruined many farms leaving nothing for them left. -
Hoover Dam
Consturction on the Hoover Dam began in 1931 and finished in 1936. Approximately 5,000 laborers worked on the dam. The dam was considered the biggest engineering feat at the time. Huge national works projects like the dam were very helpful during this with employing large amounts of people. -
Roosevelt Elected
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New Deal
FDR passed a series of acts and laws known as the New Deal. There was a democratic congress majority and FDR was a democrat allowing for little opposition for acts. The AAA, CCC, FERA and NIRA
