Key Points Of The Great Depression
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Who: the entire United States
What: the bottom fell out of the market, and shareholders frantically tried to sell before the prices plunged. 16.4 billion shares were dumped that day. People who bough stocks on credit were stuck with huge debts, and others lost most of their savings.
Why: because panicked investors unloaded their shares at the same time
When: October 29, 1929 (by mid November investors lost about $30 billion)
Where: the stock market
Hawley- Smoot Tariff
Who: congress passed. Protect farmers and manufacturers.
What: established the highest protective tariff in US history. The tariff made unemployment worse in industries that could no longer export goods to Europe.
Why: to prevent other countries from earning American currency to buy American goods.
When: 1930
Where: united states
*Boulder Dam (aka Hoover Dam)
Who: Hoover authorized.
What: it gave jobs to unemployed workers. 726 ft high and 1,244 feet long. Worlds tallest dam, and second largest dam. Provided electricity and flood control, and regular water supply.
Why: to help the nations economy and give jobs
When: 1928
Where: Colorado river basin
Federal Home Loan Bank
Who: Hoover signed
What: lowered mortgage rates for homeowners and allowed farmers to refinance their farm loans and avoid foreclosure.
Why: to pass a series of measures to reform banking, provide mortgage relief, and funnel more federal money into business investment
When: 1932
Where: united states
Reconstruction Finance Corporation
Who: Hoovers idea. Approved by congress
What: authorized $2billion for emergency financing for banks, life insurance companies, railroads, and other large businesses.
Why: Hoover believed that the money would trickle down to the average citizen through job growth and higher wages.
When: January 1932
Where: united states
*Bonus Army (aka Bonus Expeditionary Force)
Who: between 10,000 and 20,000 war veterans and their families (one 11 month old baby and 2 people were killed, one 8 year old boy was blinded by gas)
What: President Hoover ordered 1000 soldiers under the command of Gneral Douglas MacArthur and his aide, Major Dwight D. Eisenhower, to rouse the veterans away
Why: he was nervous that the angry group could become violent
When: 1932
Where: Washington D.C.
New Deal
Who: FDR and his carefully picked team of advisers (professors, lawyers, and journalist) (they became the “Brain Trust”
What: was formulated to alleviate the problems of the Great Depression (three goals (3 Rs): relief for the needy, economic recovery, and financial reform)
Why: to help alleviate problems during the Great Depression
When: during the 4 month waiting period of FDRs inauguration in 1933
Where: the united states
*Hundred Days
Who: FDR
What: a period of intense activity where FDR proposed (and Congress passed) 15 major pieces of New Deal legislation. These laws significantly expanded the federal governments role in the nations economy.
Why: he wanted to expand the governments role in the nations economy
When: March 9 – June 16, 1933
Where: the united states
Glass-Steagall Act
Who: Congress passed
What: established the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), which provided federal insurance for individual bakn accounts of up to $5,000
Why: it reassured millions of bank customers that their money was safe AND it also required banks to act cautiously with their customers money
When: 1933
Where: united states
Federal Securities Act
Who: Congress and the president
What: required corporations to provide complete information on all stock offerings and made them liable for any misrepresentations.
Why: to regulate the stock market, in whcich people had lost faith because of the crash of 1929
When: 1933
Where: united states
Securities Exchange Commission (SEC)
Who: Congress created
What: regulate the stock market
Why: to prevent people with inside information about companies from “riggin” the stock market for their own profit
When: June 1934
Where: the united states
*Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA)
Who: government
What: paid farmers to leave a certain area of farm unseeded A(raise crop prices by lowering production). Paid hog farmers to slaughter 6 millino pigs. Raised crop prices and put money into farmers pockets.
Why: to raise crop prices and put money in farmers pockets
When: 1933
Where: united states
*Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)