Great Depression: Causes, Definition & Dates

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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.

How Bank Failures Contributed to the Great Depression

Were financial institutions victims—or culprits?

6 People Who Made Big Money During the Great Depression

Even amid America’s worst economic downturn, a select few accumulated vast fortunes.

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Gangsters in a patrol wagon, New York, USA, mid 1930s. Hiding their faces from the camera as they are on their way to the office of Special Prosecutor Thomas E Dewey. Dewey (1902-1971) was appointed Special Prosecutor to lead the fight against crime and corruption in New York. He later went on to serve as Governor of the state of New York (1943-1954) and was the unsuccessful Republican candidate for the US Presidency in 1944 and 1948. (Photo by Historica Graphica Collection/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

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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, […]

Social Security Act

Early 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 […]

The 1930s

The 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 […]

FDIC

Bank 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 […]

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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.