“After all, there is an element in the readjustment of our financial system more important than currency, more important than gold, and that is the confidence of the people themselves. Confidence and courage are the essentials of success in carrying out our plan. You people must have faith; you must not be stampeded by rumors or guesses. Let us unite in banishing fear. We have provided the machinery to restore our financial system; and it is up to you to support and make it work.
It is your problem, my friends, your problem no less than it is mine. Together we cannot fail.”
This is a quote from a statement that President Franklin D Roosevelt made over the radio to inform the people of America of what was happening with the banks at that time. This was the first of a series of radio speeches made by Roosevelt during these times.

These speeches were called...

Before the Great Depression started, and before the Stock Market crashed, many things led up to the events that prevented the economy from being strong enough to fight the crash. Many people blamed their troubles that came from this on the president.

The president when the Great Depression began in 1929 was...

While the stock market crash was not the sole reason for the start of the Great Depression, it is arguably the most famous thing that people think of kicking off the Depression, because it made the economy so unstable. The biggest drop in the stock market was called black Tuesday.

What date was black Tuesday?

“I talked with families who had lost their wheat crop, lost their corn crop, lost their livestock, lost the water in their well, lost their garden and come through to the end of the summer without one dollar of cash resources, facing a winter without feed or food -- facing a planting season without seed to put in the ground.
That was the extreme case, but there are thousands and thousands of families on western farms who share the same difficulties.”
This is an excerpt from one of president Roosevelt on the extreme drought that came about in the mid 1930’s during the depression. This brought winds and dust storms that destroyed many crops and caused many farmers to lose their farms.

What was this period in time called?

AGREEMENTS AND LICENSES SEC. 4. (a) The President is authorized to enter into agreements with, and to approve voluntary agreements between and among, person engaged in a trade or industry, labor "organizations, and trade or industrial organizations, associations, or groups, relating to any trade or industry, if in his judgment such agreements will aid in effecting the policy of this title with respect to transactions in or wetting interstate or foreign commerce, and will be consistent with the requirements of clause”
This is a section from an act that was passed in 1933 to focus on recovery and reform, encourage unions, set minimum wages and maximum hours, and get rid of child labor in industry. This was later deemed unconstitutional.

What was this act called?

Many people who were affected by the great depression were
“Restoration calls, however, not for changes in ethics alone. This Nation asks for action, and action now.”
This is an excerpt from president Roosevelt's inaugural address, where he speaks about his plans to help the economy and the nation as a whole during his time of presidency. During this time, he established many programs designed to help America prosper again.

What was this collection of programs called?

Roosevelt studies at Harvard, where he met his later wife, who became very important in the tie of the Great depression. While he was stuck in bed with a disease, Roosevelt could not get out to keep his name in politics, so his wife got involved in public speaking and kept his name afloat.

Who was Franklin Roosevelt’s wife?

When the country was really struggling deep in the depression, Herbert Hoover was reelected for a second term of presidency, and Franklin D. Roosevelt was running against him. Hoover had not gained, or obtained, the amount of trust that Roosevelt had, and Roosevelt won the election easily.

What year was Roosevelt elected for the first time?

While the economy was so low, banks were not doing well, which meant that they could not make loans to corporations or businesses, which meant that nothing was helping the economy grow. Because of this, President Hoover wanted to increase money supply for banks, so that they could start loaning money to corporations and people could get their jobs back. Since the board refused to increase money supply, he created a corporation that would get a pool of money for banks, however this did not work well enough to make a dent.

What was this corporation called?

SECTION 301. For the purpose of assisting the States in the administration of their unemployment compensation laws, there is hereby authorized to be appropriated, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1936, the sum of $4,000,000, and for each fiscal year thereafter the sum of 49,00.0,000, to be used as hereinafter provided.

This is a section from an act passed to help provide financial security to old age, disadvantaged or in the case of the section above, unemployed Americans. This outlines the compensations that these people acquire for their struggles.

What is this act called?

During the 1920’s there was an ongoing rise in stock prices across the market. This encouraged many people to invest a lot of money in stocks, convinced they were going to get their money out of it. This made so many more people vulnerable to the stock market crash that sent many people into debt.

What is it called when there is a long period of rising stock prices?

On October 21 1929, the stock market began to plummet. A comedian was called by his broker and was told the news. Days later, he lost everything, including all of his earnings from all of his plays and films. He then wrote his story and we are able to use this today to see what life during the Depression was like for the people affected.

This comedian was…

Many riots broke out one year of the depression in particular. People looted grocery stores and started showing up at “huger marches”. One day in particular is very famous. In Washington, D.C., a group of about 1,200 hunger marchers chanted, “Feed the hungry, tax the rich.” Police responded by herding them into a cul-de-sac and denying them any food or water. This caused controversy and it was decided that they had a right to petition their government and they continues their marches.

On what date did this happen?

A year after the National Credit Corporation was set up, Hoover wanted a corporation to provide money for railroads, financial institutions, and business corporations. This corporation provided $238 million, and was at first running without interference, but soon became involved in politics because of its growing role. Despite this, however, the corporation failed to meet the needs of the economy and it continued it’s decline.

What was this corporation called?

While Roosevelt was working to fix the damage already done to the economy, he thought it was important that the stock market be regulated to help make sure the market never crashed again. So, he created a committee that regulated the market and prevented fraud. It also prohibited the buying of any stock without the funds to pay for it, and provided for the supervision of markets and stockbrokers

What was this committee called?

Many investors bought stocks by only paying a fraction of the whole cost of that stock, with the rest of the stock being loaned by a stockbroker. This was called buying stocks on margin. The loan would be paid back over time, but to protect their loan, the broker could demand that the money be paid back in whole at any time.

What was this called?

During the great depression, while the economy was going downhill, one thing that was prospering was media, art, and entertainment. Journalists were using their platform to lift people's spirits and to show people around the country and the world what it was like living in the time of the Great Depression. Arguably, the most influential of these reporters and novelists really brought the flesh and blood to the traditional stories about the Depression.

Who was this journalist?

When The Bank of the United States failed, it was considered the largest bank failure in history. Hoover became very worried about budget deficits and returned the top income tax rate to 25%. This caused the economy to shrink 8.5%and caused the unemployement rate to rise to 8.7%. This in turn caused deflation to set in as prices fell a whopping 6.4%.

What date did this happen?

As more people became unemployed and hungry, there was a growing need for relief, or money for directly impoverished families. So, congress passed an act, which was reluctantly signed by Hoover, and called for $1.5 for public works and $300 million in emergency funds for states and relief. This act bailed out large relief organizations on the verge of collapse, and also financed expansion of relief in smaller communities and rural regions that supplied relatively little relief prior to the act. Though it made a good impact, like the acts and corporations before it, it was not strong enough to reverse the damage.

What was this act called?

The Glass-Steagall Act was created to separate commercial banking from investment banking. The act also created a corporation to provide government insurance for bank deposits. It was established after the collapse of many American banks. The creation of this increased the nations confidence in the banking system, which was one of Roosevelt's main goals.

What was this corporation called?

The president during most of the great depression, Franklin D. Roosevelt was very popular for his charming personality. He was nominated for the Democratic vice-president candidate, but he lost the election. After that, he fell out of politics and contracted a disease that normally nobody could recover like he did from, to go on to do the amazing things that he did.

What was the disease that Roosevelt got after losing the election in 1920?

Photography was also becoming very important, because it showed people what people were living like, and it told a story through just a photo. People would travel all over to take photos for magazines. One of these photographers was famous for using photography to capture the era's ironies and contrasts. In 1937, Life magazine showed one of her most famous photographs, which showed a line of poor African American’s waiting in front of a billboard which declared, "World's Highest Standard of Living" and showed a happy white family driving a car.

Who was this photographer?

A couple years after the peak of the economy, it finally reached its bottom. The economy has shrunk 27% since 1929, when it was at it’s highest point, right before the stock market crashed.

When did the economy reach its bottom?

After World War I ended, Congress told each veteran they would get $1,000 bonus, and that it would be distributed in 1945. In 1929, a bill was introduced that told veterans they would get their bonuses early, and many veterans started rallying for passage of this bill. Veterans continued to join them until they numbered about 1,000 people. These veterans would wear their old uniforms and sing war songs to get to the public.

What were these marchers called?

It was not only businessed and big corperations that were suffering because of this economic decline, farmers were also having a very hard time. This is believed to be mostly due to overproduction, or the supply of too many crops for farmers, and nobody buying them. Because of this, the president thought is was important to pass the Agricultural Adjustment act to help farmers, under this act, there was an administration created to pay farmers not to raise certain livestock, grow vertain crops, or produce dairy products. This was to help with the overproduction and therefore help farmers get more money. Though this helped many farmers, it also created controversy because it did not help all farmers, in particular, African American tennant farmers. Many lost their jobs and thier homes still, but for some, $1 billion dollars was raised to support them.

What was this administration called?