The History Behind Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men California Standard 3.12

The 1930s Depression - an economy with high unemployment, falling income, failing business, decline in production and sales. The Great Depression Misconception: - Stock market crash was the cause of the Great Depression.

Leading Causes Heavy Real estate losses in Florida Mass Consumption: Living above means Uneven Distribution of Wealth Uninsured banks Stock Market Crash Farming Depression (1920-1935) Cheap land (Banks allowed buyers to put 25% down on an acre that cost $15.00) Over production on wheat (five million acres) The Dust Bowl

Rapid Growth in the Stock Market To attract investors brokers sold stocks on margin -- the investor paid only part of the selling price in cash and borrowed the rest on margin from the stock broker. Brokers borrowed money from the banks to cover the margin.

Amount Broker Must Borrow Complete the table below. Now, ask yourself, why would a broker want to sell stock on margin? Is this risky? Stock Investor’s initial cost Amount Broker Must Borrow Investor 1 10 Shares $7.50 Investor 2 50 Shares $212.50 Investor 3 100 Shares $75.00 $42.50 $37.50 $425.00 Shares are being sold at $5.00 each. Initially, the investor owes 15%.

October 1929 “Black Tuesday” Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Stock Market Crashed! Sad days ahead! October 1929 “Black Tuesday” Confidence in stock market failed Investors began selling stocks Margin calls- Banks wanted their money from brokers, and brokers wanted their money from investors. March 1928 – Stock prices soared and the number of shares traded rose sharply Stock prices were 400 percent higher Investors became cautious Fewer buyers drove prices down

Dust Bowl The Dust Bowl itself was restricted to a 97-million-acre piece of high, level land in the southern portion of the Great Plains: Colorado, New Mexico, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas.

The "Drouth" From 1932-1936 the annual rainfall didn’t exceed 12 inches Low wheat prices and yields drove farmers from their lands Dust clouds lifted and settled over millions of acres Farmers and farmhands moved into California as migrant workers Seventy severe dust storms recorded in 1933

Dust Was Everywhere Atlantic Monthly, 1930s “Dust in the beds and in the flour bin, on dishes and walls and windows, in hair, eyes, teeth, and throats…” People in Cimarron County remember hanging wet blankets across their windows and laying wet cloths over their faces when they went to sleep. Ceilings collapsed under the weight of the accumulated dust mounds.

Migrant Workers Migration - movement of people from place to place for permanent settlement Drought in the plains forced owners off farms The Grapes of Wrath depicts this lifestyle

"Oakies" Migrant farm workers Homeless/farmless due to drought and “Dust Bowl” Poor mid-western farmers despised and abused in California

Effects of the Great Depression Factories and Mills closed Manufacturing cut in half Unemployment rose from 3.2 % to 24.9% Banks ran out of money “The Banking Crisis” F.D.R. Mortgages foreclosed Homelessness; poverty “Riches to Rags” For Sale

Living Conditions Malnutrition Doubt Most severe for men, women’s jobs actually rose Children more self-reliant Whites took-over jobs held by minorities

The Government Responds Hoover: self-reliance, restore confidence, grew unpopular as conditions worsened Roosevelt elected in 1932 “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself” Fireside chats (Full Transcripts) New Deal

End of Depression 1939 - unemployment still 15% Outbreak of WWII - expansion of national defense, stimulating jobs and growth Federal Government expanded its role in social and economic areas Democratic Party - majority of America’s support for next half of century