The 1930s Government, Politics, and Law: Chronology

1930:     January Nationwide unemployment reaches four million.

1930:     February 10 More than one hundred people are arrested in Chicago for bootlegging (the illegal selling of alcoholic beverages).

1930:     June 17 The Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act sets the highest import tariffs (taxes on imported goods) in American history.

1930:     December 11 The Bank of the United States closes, taking with it the savings of more than 400,000 depositors.

1931:     January 7 A government report informs President Herbert Hoover that almost five million Americans are out of work.

1931:     January 19 "Prohibition is not working," claims a government report from the Wickersham Committee on Law Enforcement and Observance.

1931:     March 3 Hoover signs a bill making "The Star Spangled Banner" the national anthem.

1932:     February The Reconstruction Finance Corporation and the Glass-Steagall Credit Expansion Act allow businesses to borrow money to keep people in work. In all almost two billion dollars of loans and gold reserves are made available.

1932:     November 8 Franklin D. Roosevelt is elected to his first term as president of the United States.

1933:     March 5 In an attempt to stop the banking crisis, Roosevelt declares a four-day national bank holiday.

1933:     March 9 The first "hundred days" of the "First New Deal" begins with a special session of Congress that concentrates on passing legislation to revive the economy.

1933:     March 12 Roosevelt makes his first "fireside chat" on national radio.

1933:     June 16 The first "hundred days" of the New Deal ends with fifteen major pieces of legislation in place, including the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA).

1933:     June 16 Banks are forbidden to sell stocks and bonds by the Glass-Steagall Banking Act. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation insures banks against failure.

1933:     December 5 Prohibition ends with the Twenty-first Amendment to the Constitution, which repeals the Eighteenth Amendment.

1934:     January 30 The Gold Reserve Act allows the government greater control over the value of the currency.

1934:     February 15 The Civil Works Emergency Relief Act authorizes $950 million in funding for civil works projects.

1934:     April 28 The Homeowners' Loan Act helps people buy their own homes or reorganize their mortgages in order to boost the building industry.

1934:     June 28 The Frazier-Lemke Farm Bankruptcy Act stops banks from foreclosing on loans to farmers for five years. The Taylor Grazing Act aims to help prevent soil erosion.

1934:     November 6 Democrats gain nine seats in both the Senate and House of Representatives.

1935:     January 4 The "Second New Deal" begins with Roosevelt's plans for social reform.

1935:     April 8 The Works Progress Administration (WPA) is created. It will eventually employ eight million people in building works and public arts projects.

1935:     May 27 The NIRA is declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

1935:     July 5 After the failure of NIRA in the courts, the National Labor Relations Act (Wagner Act) restores the right of workers to form unions.

1936:     November 3 Franklin D. Roosevelt is elected to his second term as president.

1937:     February 5 Roosevelt announces his intention to increase the number of Supreme Court justices to fifteen. He is attacked for trying to influence the court's decisions through "court packing."

1937:     March 1 The Supreme Court Retirement Act allows justices to retire at age seventy on full pay. In the months that follow, the Supreme Court upholds several key New Deal measures, including the minimum wage for women and the Social Security Act.

1938:     January 3 President Roosevelt's State of the Union address declares the need to build up the nation's military defenses.

1938:     May 26 The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) is established.

1938:     June 25 Forty-four hours is set as the federal standard work week by the Fair Labor Standards Act.

1938:     November 14 The United States recalls its ambassador from Germany in protest of the treatment of Jews.

1939:     January 5 More than $1 billion in defense spending is demanded in the budget.

1939:     April 14 Roosevelt calls for a world disarmament conference and appeals to Adolf Hitler of Germany and Benito Mussolini of Italy to act peacefully.

1939:     September 1 Germany invades Poland, beginning World War II.

1939:     September 5 Roosevelt declares the United States neutral in the war in Europe.