Unit VIII – Boom Times and Challenges

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Unit VIII Boom Times and Challenges

• Chapter 25 The Great Depression
• Section 3 Americans Face Hard Times

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Americans Face Hard Times

• The Big Idea
• All over the country, Americans struggled to
  survive the Great Depression.
• Main Ideas
• Parts of the Great Plains came to be known as the
  Dust Bowl as severe drought destroyed farms
  there.
• Families all over the United States faced hard
  times.
• Depression-era culture helped lift peoples
  spirits.
• The New Deal had lasting effects on American
  society.

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Main Idea 1 Parts of the Great Plains came to
be known as the Dust Bowl as severe drought
destroyed farms there.

• Hard times for farmers began in the 1920s because
  prices for farm products remained low.
• Severe drought hit the Great Plains in the early
  1930s.
• Lasted most of the decade
• Crops withered away
• Massive dust storms swept the region, turning the
  region into a Dust Bowl.

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Effects of the Dust Bowl

• Farmers could not raise crops.
• Could not pay mortgages
• Many lost their farms.
• Government tried to assist.
• New Deal programs offered price stabilization and
  loans to farmers.
• Scientific advances in soil conservation and
  farming methods
• Too little, too late
• People began leaving the region
• 2.5 million left the area

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Devastation in the Dust Bowl

• Nature delivered another cruel blow. In 1931 rain
  stopped falling across much of the Great Plains
  region.
• This drought, or period of below average
  rainfall, lasted for several years, and millions
  of people had fled the area by the time it
  lifted.
• Agricultural practices in the 1930s left the area
  vulnerable to droughts.
• Land once covered with protective grasses was now
  bare, with no vegetation to hold the soil in
  place.
• When wind storms came, they stripped the rich
  topsoil and blew it hundreds of miles. The dust
  sometimes flew as far as the Atlantic Coast.
• Dust mounds choked crops and buried farm
  equipment, and dust blew into windows and under
  doors.
• The storms came year after year, and the hardest
  hit areas of Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, New
  Mexico, and Texas eventually became known as the
  Dust Bowl.

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Devastation of the Dust Bowl

• Great Plains Drought- 1931
• Dust storms
• brought on by years of careless agriculture
  practices.
• Wind storms stripped away topsoil and blew it for
  hundreds of miles.
• Drifts choked crops, buried farms and blew into
  homes.
• Dust Bowl

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Devastation of the Dust Bowl
102 min.
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Fleeing the Plains
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Devastation of the Dust Bowl

• Migration
• Fleeing the Plains- Okies
• People quit, packed up and moved.
• End of 1930s- 2.5 million left.
• Headed west on Route 66 to California and migrant
  farm camps.
• Met by resistance and discrimination.
• Grapes of Wrath- book

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Migration the Dust Bowl
417 min.
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Migration the Dust Bowl
250 min.
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The Dust Bowl

• Why was the Dust Bowl so devastating?
• Recall- What would happen if a farmer could not
  make his mortgage payments?
• Make Inferences What could you infer about the
  condition of farm soil after the drought?

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Life in the 30's (0526)
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Main Idea 2Families all over the United States
faced hard times.

• American families faced hard times.
• Many forced to split up.
• Some roamed the country trying to find work.
• Children often had to drop out of school and take
  low-paying jobs or leave home and fend for
  themselves.

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Homeless People on the Road
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Eating in a Breadline
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Life in the Depression
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Minority Groups and the Depression
Mexican-Americans

• As white families moved west, it became harder
  for Mexican Americans to find work.
• In California, local leaders and unions convinced
  government to deport many Mexican-born workers
  and their children, many of whom were U.S.
  citizens.

African Americans

• Faced discrimination
• Many lost jobs to unemployed white workers.
• Many able to find work through relief programs.
• African American leaders acted as advisors to
  Roosevelt.
• Mary McLeod Bethune was an educator appointed to
  Roosevelts cabinet.
• African Americans appointed to Roosevelts
  cabinet were known as the Black Cabinet.

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New Roles for Women

• Women
• Roosevelt promoted and recognized women.
• Frances Perkins Secretary of Labor was the
  first woman to head an executive office.
• Ruth Bryan Owen served as minister to Denmark.
• Roosevelt appointed women to such posts as
  director of the U.S. Mint and assistant secretary
  of the Treasury.
• Women served as leaders in several New Deal
  agencies.
• Still, women faced challenges and discrimination.
• Lower wages
• Less opportunities
• Hostility in the workplace

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Hard Times

• Recall- Why did some people leave home during
  the Depression?
• Elaborate How do you think children who dropped
  out of school or left their families must have
  felt?

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Hard Times

• Recall- In California, who convinced the
  government to deport Mexican-born workers?
• Describe Explain the Roosevelts attitude
  toward African Americans?

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Main Idea 3Depression-era culture helped lift
peoples spirits.
Works Progress Administration put artists to
work and helped to create a record of life during
the Depression
WPA
Writers like John Steinbeck explored the theme of
Depression life in his writings.
Literature

• Some musicians, like folk singer Woody Guthrie,
  expressed themes of loss and struggle, reflecting
  the American Depression experience.
• Swing music helped people forget their troubles
  and lifted spirits.

Music

• Radios provided inexpensive entertainment with
  music and popular radio shows.

Radio

• Movies offered Americans another way to escape
  from reality.

Film
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Art of the Great Depression

• Painters and sculptors fashioned works depicting
  the struggles of the working class.
• Authors and playwrights focused on the plight of
  the rural and urban poor.
• Writer John Steinbecks The Grapes of Wrath
• Songwriter Woody Guthrie celebrated the lives of
  ordinary people.
• Writer James Agees Let Us Now Praise Famous Men
• Photographers
• Dorothea Lange recorded images of jobless people
  and the rural poor.
• Walker Evans depicted the lives of sharecroppers
  in the Lower South.

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Popular Entertainment of the Great Depression

• Movies
• Millions of Americans went to the movies each
  week.
• Most films were upbeat and allowed viewers to
  escape the depression.
• Grand musicals and comedies were popular.
• Animation and color photography delighted
  audiences.

• Radio
• Provided politics, religion, music, sports, and
  other forms of entertainment
• Introduced new music styles such as jazz and
  swing
• Action shows such as The Lone Ranger and comedies
  such as Fibber McGee and Molly were popular.

• Sports
• Interest in sports remained strong in the 1930s.
• Baseball was popular.
• Babe Ruth
• Joe DiMaggio
• Boxing was hugely popular.
• Joe Lewis

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Entertainment (0227)
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Dorothea Lange
Dorothea Lange was a celebrated chronicler of the
Great Depression. She recorded images of jobless
people in her hometown of San Francisco.
Lange worked for the Farm Security
Administration. She was hired to document the
plight of the poor and, through her images, gain
public support for New Deal programs.
Langes photographs of the rural poor helped
raise awareness about the poorest of the poor
sharecroppers and tenant farmers. In 1937 the
federal government finally began to provide help
to sharecroppers and tenant farmers.
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Lifestyles (0149)
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Sports Games (0315)
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Depression-Era Culture

• Recall- Why sort of workers did the WPA hire?
• Summarize In what way did the WPA preserve
  American culture?
• Rate What is your opinion about using public
  money for art?

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Main Idea 4 The New Deal had lasting effects on
American society.

• The New Deal has had long-reaching effects
• Gave Americans help and hope in a time of severe
  crisis
• Expanded the role of federal government
• Some agencies and programs still exist today and
  remain an important part of American society.
• Social Security still provides economic relief to
  the elderly, children, and those with
  disabilities.
• Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation protects
  the savings of bank customers.

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Effects of the New Deal

• Recall- When did America finally fully recover
  from the Great Depression?
• Make Generalizations What was offered by the
  New Deal Programs?
• Evaluate What is your opinion about the federal
  programs from the 1930s that still exist today?