The Great Depression began in October 1929 with the stock market crash, known as Black Tuesday. As stock prices dropped and people lost their investments, businesses began laying off workers due to overproduction, creating a vicious cycle where unemployed people had no money to spend. Bank failures further exacerbated the situation as banks ran out of money. President Hoover was blamed for not doing enough to solve the economic crisis. When Franklin D. Roosevelt took office in 1933, he immediately began passing new laws and programs through his New Deal to provide relief, promote recovery, and reform the economy to prevent another depression through work and infrastructure projects, strengthening of the banking system, and regulation of Wall Street.
2. October 1929
The Stock Market
Crash
Buying stocks on
margin causes prices
to drop.
People look to cash
out stock; stocks
become worthless.
This was a sign that
something was wrong
with the economy.
“Black Tuesday”
3. Causes of the Depression:
Overproduction of goods causes
factories to lose money which causes
businesses to fire workers. Laid off
workers then have no money to
spend (Vicious cycle).
Bank Failures: Banks ran out of
paper money during bank runs.
4. President Herbert Hoover (1929-
1933)
Hoover blamed for
many of the
problems during
the Depression.
Hoovervilles,
Hoover Blankets,
Hoover Stew,
Hoover Flags, etc…
The Bonus Army
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12. March 4, 1933
Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s inauguration
as President
“The only thing we have to fear is fear
itself.”
The “100 Days” refers to FDR’s first three
months as President.
FDR helps pass dozens of pieces of legislation
(laws) to put people to work and strengthen
the economy.
The Bank Holiday-what was it?
13. The New Deal
FDR’s plan to get the USA out of the
Depression and ways to prevent future
ones from happening.
New Deal programs met one of three
goals:
Relief (immediate help/money in your pocket)
Recovery (programs to strengthen the
economy)
Reform (programs to prevent future
depressions—long lasting)
14. New Deal cont…
Nicknamed “alphabet soup” because
the programs are known by their
initials (WPA, CCC, PWA, TVA, FDIC,
AAA, etc…)
FDR begins his fireside chats —
radio speeches where he describes
how things are going.
