Events Leading Up To The Great Depression

The Great Depression was a time of widespread poverty, unemployment, and homelessness lasting from 1929 to 1941. The events leading up to the Great Depression formed a snowball effect. During the Roaring 20s, the wealth was not being shared with the workers. Wages were not keeping up with rising prices, so workers were unable to pay for goods. As fewer products were being sold, factories had to let go of workers. All these factors caused a gap between the rich and the poor as the middle class fell into poverty. In August 1929, some investors started to notice the Roaring 20s economic boom would soon end, and thus they sold their stocks. More people started selling their stocks in September and stock prices plummeted. President Hoover tried
Hoover also supported the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, which would loan money to companies to keep them in business, in hopes of saving jobs. President Hoover's efforts were too little, too late. The Bonus Army marched on DC demanding War time Bonuses but when Hoover agreed to send in the Army to drive them out he lost all favor with the public and his allies. On the other hand, Franklin D. Roosevelt’s (FDR) charm and promises to fix the nation's economic problems gained him overwhelming popularity amongst the public, giving him a landslide win in the 1932 election. During the election of 1932, Roosevelt had announced that he had plans for a “New Deal”. President Roosevelt's “New Deal” plan had three main goals, relief, recovery, and reform. FDR’s first target was the banks. A day after he took office, President Roosevelt announced a four-day Bank Holiday, so he could implement the Emergency Banking Relief Act. The act said that only banks with the funds to repay depositories could reopen. To announce the new act and to reassure the people, FDR started the first of 30 radio broadcasts he would make during his