1. Of Mice and Men
The Uplifting Background of the Great Depression, Dust Bowl, and Migrant Workers!

2. The Great Depression
Decade of unemployment, low profits, low prices, high poverty, and barely any trade
Worst hit were heavy industry, agriculture, mining, and logging
Began on Tuesday, October 29, 1929 and ended in 1941
Stock market crashed on “Black Thursday”
FDR formed the New Deal coalition in 1941 to provide federal aid to agriculture and labor unions, among others

6. The Dust Bowl
Series of catastrophic dust storms from Texas up to southern Canada beginning in 1933
Cause major ecological and agricultural damage
Caused by decades of extensive farming without crop rotation among cotton, corn, and grain farmers using techniques that promoted erosion coupled with severe drought
During the drought, the soil dried out, became dust, and blew away eastwards, mostly in large black clouds
Left over 500k Americans homeless, which created a mass exodus and migration

11. The Great Migration and the Problem of Migrant Workers
Because of the Dust Bowl and Great Depression, many of those Americans moved westward- to California
The migration was drastic- 15% of the state of OK moved to CA
Estimates of displaced peoples range from 300k-2.3mil
Largest migration in American history
CA was overwhelmed- 7k new migrants a month
LAPD sent 136 deputies to state lines to turn back penniless migrants- the “bum brigade”
There was not enough work for all the migrants; many remained poor, homeless, and hungry
Many CA farms were corporate-owned; the larger, more modernized, with unfamiliar crops
Hard life for migrant workers
Eventually, the numbers of migrant workers and families became so great, migrant camps were created
Many gave up farming and bought cheap land and shacks until they could buy or build “real” houses