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Great Depression Timeline
The Great Depression was the worst economic crisis in American history, beginning with the 1929 stock market crash and lasting through the 1930s.
Put the Events in Order
The events shuffled, to number from first to last. With answer key.
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In October 1929 the American stock market collapsed, wiping out billions of dollars of wealth almost overnight. Banks failed, businesses closed, and by 1933 one in four American workers had no job. Families lost their savings, their farms, and their homes. On the Great Plains, a severe drought turned fields to dust and forced thousands of families to pack up everything they owned and head west. President Franklin Roosevelt came to power in 1933 promising a New Deal — a sweeping program of government relief and reform — that put millions back to work and created programs still with us today. But it took the economic surge of World War II to finally end the Depression entirely.
- 1929
The Stock Market Crash
On October 29 — Black Tuesday — the US stock market collapses, wiping out billions of dollars of wealth in a single day.
Why it mattered: The crash destroyed the savings of millions of investors and triggered a chain reaction of bank failures and business closures that plunged the country into depression.
- 1930
The Dust Bowl Begins
Severe drought turns the Great Plains into a wasteland of blinding dust storms, destroying farms and forcing families to abandon their land.
Why it mattered: Thousands of farm families lost everything and headed west — their desperate journeys became symbols of suffering and resilience during the Depression.
- 1930
Smoot-Hawley Tariff
Congress raises tariffs on imported goods to protect American industry.
Why it mattered: The tariff backfired: foreign countries retaliated with their own tariffs, choking off world trade and deepening the depression globally.
- 1931
Bank Failures Spread
Thousands of American banks fail as desperate customers try to withdraw their savings all at once.
Why it mattered: When banks collapsed, people lost everything they had saved — there was no government insurance on deposits, and the failures made the depression far worse.
- 1932
Hoovervilles
Unemployed Americans build makeshift shantytowns of cardboard and scrap wood on the edges of cities, mockingly named Hoovervilles after President Herbert Hoover.
Why it mattered: The shantytowns became a visible symbol of how badly the government had failed ordinary Americans.
- 1932
Franklin Roosevelt Elected
Franklin D. Roosevelt wins the presidential election in a landslide, promising Americans a New Deal.
Why it mattered: Roosevelt's election gave a desperate country hope and set the stage for the largest peacetime expansion of the federal government in American history.
- 1933
The New Deal Begins
President Roosevelt launches a sweeping program of government relief, economic recovery, and financial reform in his first hundred days in office.
Why it mattered: The New Deal put millions back to work through programs like the CCC and WPA, and created lasting institutions including the SEC, FDIC, and Social Security.
- 1933
Bank Holiday and the FDIC
Roosevelt closes all banks for four days to stop the panic, then signs a law creating the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
Why it mattered: For the first time, Americans' bank deposits were guaranteed by the government — ending the devastating bank runs that had wiped out savings across the country.
- 1935
Social Security Act
Congress creates a national system of retirement benefits for older workers and assistance for the unemployed and disabled.
Why it mattered: Social Security became the most enduring program of the New Deal, providing a financial safety net that remains a cornerstone of American life today.
- 1939
War Ends the Depression
As the United States begins preparing for World War II, massive government defense spending sends unemployment plummeting.
Why it mattered: The military buildup did what the New Deal alone could not — it finally returned unemployment to pre-Depression levels and ended the decade-long crisis.
Great Depression Quiz
Check what you learned — read on screen, or download the Quiz with Answer Key above for a worksheet version.
What happened on Black Tuesday, October 29, 1929?
- A) Thousands of banks were closed for four days by the president
- B) The stock market collapsed, wiping out billions in wealth
- C) Congress passed a law creating the Social Security system
- D) Dust storms swept the Great Plains, destroying many farms
What were Hoovervilles?
- A) Shantytowns built by jobless Americans, named after President Hoover
- B) Dams and power plants built in the West, named after President Hoover
- C) Work camps for young men, run by the Civilian Conservation Corps
- D) Model farm towns built by the government for Dust Bowl families
What was the Dust Bowl?
- A) A government program that paid Great Plains farmers to plant trees
- B) A crash in wheat prices that closed the grain markets in Chicago
- C) A wave of bank failures that wiped out the savings of farm families
- D) A severe drought that turned Great Plains farms into dusty wastelands
What was the New Deal?
- A) Roosevelt's plan to build up the army and navy for World War II
- B) Congress's law that closed the stock market for four years
- C) Roosevelt's program of relief, recovery, and financial reform
- D) Hoover's plan to raise tariffs and protect American industry
What did the FDIC do?
- A) Insured Americans' bank deposits against bank failures
- B) Paid monthly retirement benefits to older Americans
- C) Hired unemployed Americans to build roads, parks, and bridges
- D) Set rules for buying and selling stocks on Wall Street
What did the Social Security Act of 1935 create?
- A) A program of jobs building roads, parks, and schools
- B) A system of government insurance for bank deposits
- C) A system of retirement and unemployment benefits
- D) An agency to regulate the stock market and its traders
Why did the Smoot-Hawley Tariff make the Depression worse?
- A) Other countries flooded America with cheap goods, closing factories
- B) Other countries stopped lending money to failing American banks
- C) Other countries bought up American farms hit by the Dust Bowl
- D) Other countries struck back with tariffs, choking off world trade
What finally ended the Great Depression?
- A) A stock market boom that began in the early 1930s
- B) Massive government spending to prepare for World War II
- C) Higher tariffs on imports under the Smoot-Hawley law
- D) Large tax cuts passed by Congress under President Hoover
Show answer key
1. B · 2. A · 3. D · 4. C · 5. A · 6. C · 7. D · 8. B
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How to print
Every sheet above is a ready-to-print PDF sized for US Letter paper (8.5 × 11"). The fill-in version keeps the dates and gives students lines to write each event, with the events listed at the bottom to place — good for review. The ordering activity and the quiz each end with an answer key.
Frequently asked questions
What caused the Great Depression?
The Great Depression had several causes that reinforced each other: the 1929 stock market crash wiped out investor wealth, thousands of bank failures destroyed savings, high tariffs choked off international trade, and severe drought devastated farming across the Great Plains. These problems fed on each other, turning a financial panic into a decade-long economic collapse.
How did the New Deal help during the Great Depression?
President Roosevelt's New Deal created jobs through public works programs, regulated banks and the stock market, provided relief for the unemployed, and established lasting programs like Social Security and the FDIC. It restored confidence and relieved enormous suffering, though full economic recovery did not come until the government spending of World War II.
What paper size should I print this on?
The timeline is sized for standard US Letter paper (8.5 × 11 in.). The Download PDF button gives you a print-ready file that fits the page automatically.