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Wall Street Crash (Black Tuesday)
The American stock market crashed and this signaled the onset of the Great Depression. The Dow Jones Industrial Average peaks in September 1929 at 381.17, and it will not reach that again until 1954. The Dow will bottom out at a low of just 41.22 in 1932. This is very important because it is the actual date when the Great Depression is marked as starting. -
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. This is important because it is one of the factors that sent America into the downward economical spiral. -
The Dust Bowl
This was the time where severe drought had caused many farmers' land to turn into massive dust fields, rendering the growing of crops impossible because of the poor soil conditions. This is an important date because it is another contributing factor to the Great Depression, in that farmers werent able to grow and sell crops, which hurt the economy of the nation and also caused a drastic decline in food production. -
Food Riots
Many poeople rioted in the country over the shortage of food, so they broke windows to shops and stole canned goods in order to feed themselves. During this time a hatred towards Mexican workers grew inside Americans because it was said that they were stealing American jobs from the people. This caused the deportation of over 6,000 Mexican workers back to Mexico. This is important becasue it captures the severity of the situation and sent a message to the government. -
Major Bank Collapse
New York's Bank of the United States collapses in the largest bank failure to date in American history. $200 million in deposits disappear, and the bank's customers are left holding the bag. This was very important to the Great Depression because it was a major factor that cause many people to lose tons of money therby severly hurting the economy. -
President Roosevelt Elected
Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt defeats incumbent Republican President Herbert Hoover in a landslide to win the presidency. This is very important becasue Roosevelt was the main figure to help bring America out of the economic slump of the 1930's. During his presidency he enacted the New Deal that would help pull America back into the economic powerhouse that it was used to being in. -
Unemployment in 1933 at 24.9%
This is the lowest that unemployment was marked as during the great depression, as the average yearly unemployment was at almost 25%. this is important becasue it shows the severety of the problem that had arisen. -
Emergency Relief Appropriation Act
Congress passes the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act creating the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and providing almost $5 billion for work relief for the unemployed for such projects as construction of airports, schools, hospitals, roads, and public buildings. This act marks the beginning of the Second New Deal. And is an important stepping stone for the US to economic success. -
FDR Stimulates the Economy
FDR asked Congress for an additional $3.75 billion to stimulate the still floundering economy. This is very important because it is when the economy will start to really take its hold in America, marking a steady economical increase for years to come. -
End of the Great Depression
The suffering American economy was given a boost when the fighting countries needed supplies and looked to America to make them. After Pearl Harbor was bombed on December 7, 1941, America entered the war. The U.S. enlisted more than 10 million men and women into the military. Since so many were fighting in the war, it was left for those at home to work in the factories to make supplies for the war effort. This is very important because it marks the end of the Economical Crisis.
