Wall Street Crash, Roosvelt and the new Deal

During the election campaign people threw eggs at Hoover an made placards that said hang Hoover and in Hoover we trusted and now we are busted. voters nicknamed Roosevelt the champ. he was the man to trust. his slogan was happy days are here again . the American public voted for the man who promised action and Roosevelt won 42 of the 48 states in a landslide election victory and was elected president.

in the summer of 1932 a bonus army of unemployed war veterans marched on Washington DC to demand early payment of bonuses of about $500

Scheduled to be paid in 1945.

they set up huge Homerville opposite the white house and president Hoover had them cleared out by soldiers with tear gas clubs.

the depression also brought problems to the country side

as demand for farm produce fell many farmers went bank corrupt and were evicted.

the situation was then worsened by over intensive farming which led to soil infertility as demand and erosion.

investors on the stock exchange thinking that the prosperity boom would soon end became nervous and began selling shares.

prices began to fall and people started panic set in.

on Tuesday 29th October 1929 ( dubbed black Tuesday) 16.5 million shares were sold.

the value of all shares had dropped by $40,000

the 1920s were a time of great prosperity and excitement.

this period was dubbed the jazz age.

the republicans were in control and believed they had created a new economic era. were soon all Americans could live in comfort.

-the us was a divided society 5% of the population had 33% of the worlds wealth.

-old industries and agriculture had suffered in the 1920s

-republican thinking was to leave businesses alone (Laissez-Faire act)

-high tariffs on imported goods led to a drop in demand for us goods overseas.

- there was mass over-production.

-the better off over speculated on the stock exchange. the poor over-extended themselves on credit.