| Banks made speculative investments in the stock market during the 1920s. When the market crashed in 1929, bank depositors worried that the banks would go bankrupt and rushed to withdraw their deposits in cash. These runs on banks ensured that many banks failed. Here, depositors besiege Merchants Bank in Passaic, New Jersey. Under President Roosevelt, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation was created to insure deposits up to $100,000 and promote stability in the banking industry. |