Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

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Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

• Background information about the novel by Mildred
  D. Taylor

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• Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, is a novel about a
  Southern black family, the Logans, who live
  during the Great Depression in a region that is
  deeply segregated and heavily prejudiced.
• The novel is loosely based on Mildred D. Taylors
  own family history, and the stories that her
  father told her about his own childhood.
• This presentation will provide some historical
  and social background for the novel, to give you
  an idea of what the world was like when this
  story took place.

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• The Great Depression

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• During the period between the two world wars, the
  United States experienced The Great Depression.
• The stock-market crash of 1929 paralyzed the
  nations economy.
• Banks cut off their loans to businesses
  businesses cut back on production millions lost
  their jobs.

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This photo shows a bank run. After the stock
market crash, customers would rush their local
banks, attempting to withdraw their savings,
until eventually, the banks ran completely out of
money.
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• Blacks were especially hurt by the Depression
  because their farm labor was no longer needed in
  the South and the new machinery in the northern
  factories replaced them.
• There were fewer jobs and loss of wages for many.

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• At the height of the Great Depression in 1933,
  about 13 million Americans had no jobs many with
  jobs only worked
  part-time.

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Many people were constantly hungry. This mans
car has stalled and he has no means to fix it.
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Migrant workers during the Great Depression
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• The rate of unemployment for black workers was
  almost four times the rate of unemployment among
  white workers.
• It became increasingly difficult for blacks to
  get work because now the white worker was forced
  by necessity to do the minimal jobs that were
  previously done by black workers. The saying
  Last hired and fired first proved to be true
  for black workers.

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• Adding to the trauma of the Great Depression was
  a drought that lasted many years and made it
  impossible for crops to grow. Because the land
  was so dry, the dust would blow thick and heavy,
  giving this period the name, The Dust Bowl.
• The effects of this agricultural devastation were
  felt worldwide.

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During the Dust Bowl, the dust would blow so
thick and heavy that visibility was impaired.
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Many families were forced to abandon their crops
and migrate West in search of a better life.
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Drought Refugees
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• President Roosevelt knew that something had to be
  done to help the people of America during the
  Great Depression, so he created The New Deal.
• The New Deal attempted to provide recovery and
  relief through programs of agricultural and
  business regulation, inflation, price
  stabilization, and public works. The New Deal
  also provided for social and economic legislation
  to benefit the mass of working people.

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Franklin D. and Eleanor Roosevelt at his
Inaugural Parade
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• Social Context of the Novel

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• In 1619, slavery began in the U.S. when 20 blacks
  were purchased as indentured servants. Soon,
  slaves were being imported at the rate of about
  1,000 per year.
• Slavery continued to grow despite opposition and
  conflict. The Civil War, 1861-1865, was sparked
  by controversy over the future of slavery.
• In 1862, President Lincoln signed the
  Emancipation Proclamation, freeing black slaves
  and the South lost the Civil War.

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• The Emancipation Proclamation, however, marked
  the beginning, rather than the ending of the
  black struggle for freedom.
• Due to custom and a body of laws known as the Jim
  Crow laws, blacks were robbed of their civil
  rights. These laws mandated "separate but equal"
  status for African Americans.

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• The efforts to obtain equal civil rights
  for the nations blacks began
  almost 100 years later.

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• During the time of the novel, blacks in America
  (the South in particular) were still considered
  second class citizens.
• The laws were separate but definitely NOT
  equal. There was absolute segregation between
  blacks and whites.

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Exclusive Colored Theatre
We Cater to White Trade Only
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School for white children
School for black children
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• The blacks in the South suffered harsh and and
  often brutal indignities at the hands of the
  superior whites.
• Groups such as the Ku Klux Klan began to flourish
  and many blacks were terrorized or killed if they
  attempted to gain economic freedom or tried to
  assert themselves in any way.

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Colored Entrance
Rex Theatre for Colored People
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• Most blacks were unable to own land, so they were
  forced to work out a new relationship with the
  former slave owners. Sharecropping developed as
  a replacement for slave labor.
• At first, sharecropping seemed like a good idea
  for the freed blacks. The arrangement allowed
  them some freedom to work independently, and they
  frequently got half the crop.

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• The system quickly proved to be disastrous for
  both poor blacks and whites. Sharecroppers
  needed more than just land to farm they needed
  seed, fertilizers, and provisions to live on
  until the crop was harvested.
• To obtain these things, they borrowed against
  their share. Falling crop prices, high credit
  rates, and dishonest merchants and creditors left
  many sharecroppers deep in debt after the harvest.

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Black Southern sharecroppers
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Black Sharecroppers Shack
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White Landowners Home
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Novel vs. History

• In the novel, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, you
  will see that the Logans are lucky enough to own
  their own land. Other factors, though, such as
  the Depression and racial prejudice affect this
  family, and you will witness their struggles and
  their victories.