Migrantmother

The Great Depression

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    The Great Depression

    This is a breif timeline for the American Great Depression, It does not depict events leading up to the start of the depression, but those such events are still very important.
  • Wall Street Crash

    Wall Street Crash
    Also known as "Black Tuesday". The American stock market collapses; share prices on the NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) collapsed. Stock prices fell on that day and they continued to fall, at an unprecedented rate, for a full month.
  • Unemployment in 1929

    Unemployment  in 1929
    Unemployment averages 3.2% for the year.
  • Smoot-Hawley Tariff

    Smoot-Hawley Tariff
    Congress passes the Smoot-Hawley Tariff, steeply raising import duties in an attempt to protect American manufactures from foreign competition. The tariff increase has little impact on the American economy, but plunges Europe farther into crisis.
  • New York Bank Colapse

    New York Bank Colapse
    New York's Bank of the United States collapses in the largest bank failure to date in American history.[M31] $200 million in deposits disappear, and the bank's customers are left holding the bag.
  • Unemployment in 1930

    Unemployment averages 8.9% for the year.
  • Unemployment in 1931

    Unemployment averages 16.3% for the year.
  • Roosevelt Elected

    Roosevelt Elected
    Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt defeats Republican President Herbert Hoover in a landslide to win the presidency.
  • Unemployment in 1932

    Unemployment averages 24.1% for the year.
  • Townsend Pention Plan

    Townsend Pention Plan
    Dr. Francis Townsend sends a letter to the Long Beach Press-Telegram proposing state-funded pensions for the elderly to boost consumption and employment.
  • Unemployment in 1933

    Unemployment averages 24.9% for the year.
  • Townsend Plan Incorperated

    Dr. Francis Townsend formally incorporates Old Age Revolving Pensions, Ltd., to lead the Townsend Plan movement.
  • Unemployment in 1934

    Unemployment averages 21.7% for the year.
  • Unemployment in 1935

    Unemployment averages 20.1% for the year.
  • Roosevelt Re-elected

    Roosevelt Re-elected
    Franklin D. Roosevelt is elected to a second term as president, winning in a landslide over Republican Alf Landon. Roosevelt wins every state but Maine and Vermont.
  • Unemployment in 1936

    Unemployment averages 16.9% for the year.
  • Unemployment in 1937

    Unemployment averages 14.3% for the year.
  • Unemployment in 1938

    Unemployment averages 19.0% for the year.
  • Unemployment in 1939

    Unemployment averages 17.2% for the year.
  • Pearl Horbor

    Pearl Horbor
    The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor draws United States into World War II. Mobilization for war finally lifts the American economy permanently out of the Great Depression.