Great Depression: Causes, Definition & Dates | HISTORY (2024)

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Featured Articles 5 Causes of the Great Depression Topics Crime in the Great Depression Videos Here’s How the Great Depression Brought on Social Security Stories 7 of FDR’s Most Inspiring Speeches This Day in History This Day in History Video: What Happened on January 24 Stock market crashes on Black Tuesday Nevada legalizes gambling Works Progress Administration established by Congress as part of FDR’s “New Deal” FDR announces “court-packing” plan New York World’s Fair opens

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The Great Depression was the worst economic downturn in the history of the industrialized world, lasting from 1929 to 1939. Explore topics on the era, from the stock market crash of 1929, to the Dust Bowl, to FDR’s response to the economic calamity—the New Deal.

Featured Articles

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5 Causes of the Great Depression

By 1929, a perfect storm of unlucky factors led to the start of the worst economic downturn in U.S. history.

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How Bank Failures Contributed to the Great DepressionWere financial institutions victims—or culprits?Read more
6 People Who Made Big Money During the Great DepressionEven amid America’s worst economic downturn, a select few accumulated vast fortunes.Read more
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The Causes of the Great DepressionUnemployment During the Great Depression

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Featured

Crime in the Great Depression

Organized Crime in the Prohibition Era The passage of the 18th Amendment and the introduction of Prohibition in 1920 fueled the rise of organized crime, with gangsters growing rich on profits from bootleg liquor—often aided by corrupt local policemen and politicians. According to the FBI, Chicago alone had an estimated 1,300 gangs by the mid-1920s, […]

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Social Security ActEarly Social Assistance in America Economic security has always been a major issue in an unstable, unequal world with an aging population. Societies throughout history have tackled the issue in various ways, but the disadvantaged relied mostly on charity from the wealthy or from family and friends. In the early 17th century, England established “poor […]Read more
The 1930sThe Great Depression The stock market crash of October 29, 1929 (also known as Black Tuesday) provided a dramatic end to an era of unprecedented, and unprecedentedly lopsided, prosperity. The disaster had been brewing for years, though different historians and economists offer different explanations for the crisis: Some blame the increasingly uneven distribution of wealth […]Read more
FDICBank Failures Deepen Depression Many analysts expected the United States economy to make a quick and robust recovery after the stock market crash of 1929. Three previous market contractions—in 1920, 1923 and 1926—had lasted an average of 15 months each. A series of bank panics in 1930 and 1931, however, turned a typical economic downturn […]Read more

History Shorts: How Artists Helped End the Great Depression

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Here’s How the Great Depression Brought on Social Security

Explore how the Great Depression of the 1930s forced America to consider having a social safety net, leading President FDR to sign the Social Security Act into law via his New Deal programs. Learn how Social Security has changed over time.

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2:25 minTV-14
The Stock Market Crash of 1929Black Thursday brings the roaring twenties to a screaming halt, ushering in a world-wide an economic depression.Watch now
2:05 minTV-PG
Artists of the New DealPresident Franklin Roosevelt creates a series of programs designed to help America cope with, and recover from the Great Depression.Watch now
3:20 minTV-14
Deconstructing History: Hoover DamDid you know that the Hoover Dam supplies electricity to more than 20 million people? Get all the facts on this marvel of engineering.Watch now

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7 of FDR’s Most Inspiring Speeches

Roosevelt, known as ‘the great communicator,’ used his speeches and fireside chats to calm Americans’ fears during depression and war—and to rally them around his policies.

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What Was FDR’s ‘Indian New Deal’?An economic relief program aimed specifically at helping Native American communities during the Great Depression, the legislation marked a sharp U-turn in federal policy toward Indigenous peoples.Read more
Why Social Security Was the Cornerstone of FDR’s New DealSocial Security differed from other New Deal programs in that it wasn’t a short-term solution to the Great Depression. It was a long-term investment.Read more
What Was the Role of FDR’s ‘Black Cabinet’?Led by Mary McLeod Bethune, this informal network of advisors was the first group to press for civil rights from within the federal government.Read more

This Day in History

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Great Depression: Causes, Definition & Dates | HISTORY (18)

This Day in History Video: What Happened on January 24

Great Depression
Great Depression: Causes, Definition & Dates | HISTORY (19)1929

Stock market crashes on Black Tuesday

Great Depression
Great Depression: Causes, Definition & Dates | HISTORY (20)1931

Nevada legalizes gambling

Great Depression
Great Depression: Causes, Definition & Dates | HISTORY (21)1935

Works Progress Administration established by Congress as part of FDR’s “New Deal”

Great Depression
Great Depression: Causes, Definition & Dates | HISTORY (22)1937

FDR announces “court-packing” plan

Great Depression
Great Depression: Causes, Definition & Dates | HISTORY (23)1939

New York World’s Fair opens

Great Depression
Great Depression: Causes, Definition & Dates | HISTORY (2024)
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