The stock market would continue to fall through 1932, hitting the bottom at 89% below its peak in 1929 and then the Great Depression began. "By 1933, almost half of America's banks had failed and unemployment rates were around 30% or 15 million people," Lutkemuller adds.  For African Americans, it was even worse, as approximately half were out of work and racial violence would increase in parts of the South. It wouldn't be until 1954 that the Dow Jones would reach pre-crash levels. In an effort to put the US back on track, a series of moves were made in 1933 under President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal. The New Deal was an expansive series of programs put in place, with several of the original protections and agencies that are still used today. The New Deal created the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to ensure the funds held in US banks up to a certain limit. It also created the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to protect investors and oversee the stock market. The FDIC was created because as the stock market fell, thousands of people began withdrawing their money from banks. "Banks didn't have adequate reserves to meet these demands, due to the funds being invested in the market. This sent the market into even more of a spiral," adds Lutkemuller.