The Great Depression

  • Black Thursday

    Black Thursday
    The stock market crashed “marking the end of six years of unappalled prosperity for most sectors of the American economy” and they sold all of the stocks they owned
  • trickle-down

    President Herbert Hoover believe that if he put money towards the higher class people the money would move down the line to the lower class of people.
  • stay positive

    stay positive
    there was no action taken by Americans action was taken by Herbert Hoover and he just remained optimistic that the trickle-down economics would work
  • the Gray Market

    the Gray Market
    people sold apples on the street corner on the New York city because there were no jobs.
  • Bonus Bill

    Texas congressman Wright Patman introduces legislation authorizing immediate payment of "bonus" funds to veterans of World War I. The "bonus bill" had been passed in 1924. It allots bonuses, in the form of "adjusted service certificates," equaling $1 a day for each day of service in the U.S., and $1.25 for each day overseas. President Hoover is against payment of these funds, saying it would cost the Treasury $4 billion.
  • Food riots and bad hombres

    Food riots and bad hombres
    "Food riots" begin to break out in parts of the U.S. In Minneapolis, several hundred people smash the windows of a grocery market and stole food. The "riot" is brought under control by 100 policemen. Seven people are arrested.
    Resentment of "foreign" workers increases along with unemployment rolls. In Los Angeles, California, Mexican Americans are accused of stealing jobs from "real" Americans. During the month, 6,024 Mexican Americans are deported.
  • the Giant falls

    New York's Bank of the United States collapses. At the time of the collapse, the bank had over $200 million in deposits, making it the largest single bank failure in the nation's history.
  • Redesign, Rebuild, Reclaim

    Congress establishes the Reconstruction Finance Corporation. The R.F.C. is allowed to lend $2 billion to banks, insurance companies, building and loan associations, agricultural credit organizations and railroads. Critics of the R.F.C. call it "the millionaires' dole."
  • determination

    Determined to collect their "bonus" pay for service, 15,000 - 25,000 World War I veterans gather and begin setting up encampments near the White House and the Capitol in Washington, D.C. On June 15, the House passes Congressman Wright Patman's "bonus bill" by a vote of 209 to 176. The bill falls to defeat in the Senate, however, 62 to 18. The vets maintain their determination to stay camped out until they get their pay.
  • two die for what they diserve

    The RFC is authorized to lend needy states sums from the National Treasury. The money is to go to public works projects.
    President Hoover signs a $100,000 transportation bill to assist "bonus Army". He sets a July 24 deadline for the men to abandon their encampments.
    On July 28, when some "bonus Army" members resist being moved from their camps, violence erupts, leading to the deaths of two veterans. Hoover orders Federal troops to assist D.C. police in clearing the veterans.
  • retaining the throne

    retaining the throne
    Franklin Delano Roosevelt is elected president in a landslide over Herbert Hoover. Roosevelt receives 22.8 million popular votes to Hoover's 15.75 million.
  • breaking banks

    FDR is inaugurated. FDR says "The people of the United States have not failed. In their need they have registered a mandate that they want direct, vigorous action. They have asked for discipline and direction under leadership...."
    FDR announces a four-day bank holiday to begin on Monday, March 6.
    By March 9, Congress passes the Emergency Banking Act of 1933.
    On March 12, FDR delivers the first of what came to be known as his "fireside chats