Herbert Clark Hoover

Birth-Death: (1874 - 1964 ) Term: (1929-1933 )

As President Hoover moved into the White House, the nation seemed prosperous. However, shortly thereafter the nation fell into a depression. The economy of the United States was closely tied with those in Europe, and the two spiralled down together.

Major Events with Herbert Hoover

1929 - National Origins Immigration Act

    This act was the final bill in a series of immigration laws. Immigration to the United States was first restricted in 1882 with the Chinese Exclusion Act. Then, there was the Gentlemanšs Agreement, and in 1920s people decided to limit the number of immigrants coming from Eastern and Western Europe. Numerous quota acts were passed beginning in 1921, and as time went on the acts became more and more limiting.

    The National Origins Act of 1929 used the following proportion to calculate the number of people to be admitted yearly from each nation. The ratio was established as that nations ethnic population in the United States in 1920 to 120 million, in regards to 150,000. In other words, if there were 60 million people from a certain country, the yearly immigration ceiling from that country would be 75,000 people, preserving the ethnic ratio of the United States.

1929 - The Great Depression Begins

    The Great Depression officially began when the stock market crashed on October 29, 1929. There were numerous causes behind the crash: The western farmers had not experienced prosperity following World War I, during which they had exported to Europe; Europe could not pay any of the money it owed the United States from the first world war; buying on credit throughout the '20s had caused a saturation of the population with goods and thus overproduction was an important issue. The depression was worsened by the impact of technology; people could now hear how bad the situation was in other parts of the country. the depression would continue through FDRs term and was solved by the expenditures during World War II and the massive defense spending associated with the Cold War.

1930 - Hawley-Smoot Tariff

    Hoover had asked Congress for a slight revision of the tariff. What he got instead was a considerably higher protective tariff. Immediately many businessmen and bankers objected, as did world nations by putting up tariff barriers against American goods, and as a result, trade dropped off more than 50 percent in the 18 months that followed.