In 1929, the wild financial speculation of the Roaring Twenties
came to a sudden halt in October when the stock market began to
slide. Banker's Committee Stops Panic of '29 Worries spread
through the economic community about the passing of the Smoot-
Hawley Tariff Act. Tariffs had always been a point of contention
among Americans, even spurring South Carolina to threaten
secession over the Tariff Act of 1828. Producers such as farmers
and manufacturers called for protective tariffs while merchants
and consumers demanded low prices. The American economy soared
while post-war Europe rebuilt in the '20s, and the Tariff Act of
1922 skimmed valuable revenue from the nation's income that
would otherwise have been needed as taxes. The country barely
noticed, and the economy surged forward as new technological
luxuries became available as well as new disposable income.
Meanwhile, however, the nation faced an increasingly difficult
drought while food prices continued to drop during Europe's
recovery. Farmers were stret