The 1930s. The Great Depression and more

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1 The 1930s The Great Depression and more

The 1930s in historical context 1929 The stock

American culture, especially the faith in

2 The 1930s in historical context 1929 The stock market crash The Great Depression 1939 World War II begins in Europe The Great Depression challenged certain basic ideas of American culture, especially the faith in individual self-help, business, and limited government.

Events of the 1930s 1931 - Nine African American youths, the "Scottsboro Boys, are

The case established the right of African Americans to serve on juries.

3 Events of the 1930s Nine African American youths, the "Scottsboro Boys, are unjustly charged with rape. The case established the right of African Americans to serve on juries The son of aviator Charles Lindbergh is kidnapped Babe Ruth predicts, and then hits, a home run as the Yankees sweep the Cubs in the World Series

Events of the 1930s 1933 Franklin Delano

1934 - Public Enemy Number 1, bank robber

4 Events of the 1930s 1933 Franklin Delano Roosevelt, FDR, becomes president and launches the New Deal 1933 Prohibition is repealed Public Enemy Number 1, bank robber John Dillinger, is shot and killed by the FBI President Roosevelt signs the Social Security Act.

1938 - To avert war, Britain and France give in to Hitler's claim to the

5 Events of the 1930s 1936 Jesse Owens wins four gold medals at the Summer Olympics in Berlin To avert war, Britain and France give in to Hitler's claim to the Sudetenland, the Germanpopulated part of Czechoslovakia Germany invades Poland. World War II begins Gone with the Wind opens.

6 The Great Depression The stock market crash in October 1929 brought the economic prosperity of the 1920s to an end. By 1932, stocks were valued at just 12% of what they had been worth in September 1929.

The Great Depression By 1933, unemployment had soared to 25%, up from just 3.2% in 1929.

7 The Great Depression By 1933, unemployment had soared to 25%, up from just 3.2% in By 1933, average family income had tumbled 40%, from $2,300 in 1929 to just $1,500. Vagrancy shot up as many families were evicted from their homes for nonpayment of rent.

The effect on families The Great Depression forced couples to delay marriage and drove the birthrate below the replacement level for the first time in

8 The effect on families The Great Depression forced couples to delay marriage and drove the birthrate below the replacement level for the first time in American history. The divorce rate fell because many couples could not afford to maintain separate households or to pay legal fees. Rates of desertion soared.

9 The effect of families A heavy psychological toll on jobless men Many men lost power as primary decision makers. Large numbers of men lost selfrespect and stopped looking for work. Others turned to alcohol or became self-destructive or abusive.

10 The effect on families In contrast to men, many women saw their status rise. Married women entered the work force in large numbers, though often in menial jobs. That they were employed and bringing home paychecks elevated their position within the family

Families had to devise strategies for getting through hard times Many

11 The effect on families The Great Depression drew some families closer together. Families had to devise strategies for getting through hard times Many families drew comfort from their religion; others placed faith in themselves. Increasingly, they looked to the federal government for help.

12 The effect on minority groups No groups suffered more from the Depression than African Americans and Mexican Americans.

The unemployment rate for African Americans in Memphis, TN, was 75%.

13 The effect on African Americans In 1930, the unemployment rate for African Americans in Charleston, SC, was 70%. The unemployment rate for African Americans in Memphis, TN, was 75%. In Macon County, AL, most black families lived in homes without wooden floors or windows or sewage disposal; income was less than a dollar a day.

line. In many northern cities, African Americans lived in tiny

14 The effect on African Americans In Chicago, 70 percent of all black families earned less than a $1,000 a year, far below the poverty line. In many northern cities, African Americans lived in tiny apartments, fitting five or six families into spaces formerly housing only one.

Blacks often has separate, lower pay scales in government programs.

15 The effect on African Americans Most New Deal programs discriminated against African Americans. Blacks often has separate, lower pay scales in government programs. Over 100,000 African American farmers were forced off the land due to gov t programs. Blacks in the South were hurt more than those in northern states.

More than 400,000 people of Mexican descent, including many American citizens, were

16 The effect on Mexican Americans Labor unions, made up mostly of white workers, resented competition from Mexican American workers as jobs got fewer. More than 400,000 people of Mexican descent, including many American citizens, were deported to Mexico. The Mexican-born population of both Texas and Los Angeles was reduced by one-third.

17 The effect on farmers At the beginning of the Depression, 20% of all Americans lived on farms. Farm income fell by two-thirds by As farm incomes fell, farm tenancy soared; two-fifths of all farmers worked on land that they did not own.

Overgrazing and over-farming destroyed most of the protective grass cover.

18 The effect on farmers On the Great Plains, much of the top soil blew away, creating the Dust Bowl. Overgrazing and over-farming destroyed most of the protective grass cover. Drought, high temperatures, and high winds led to massive dust storms. By 1939, over a million people left the Plains to become itinerant farm workers in California.

By 1942, 35% of farm families had electricity due to gov t programs.

19 The effect on farmers As late as 1935, more than 6 million of America's 6.8 million farms had no electricity. By 1942, 35% of farm families had electricity due to gov t programs. Gov t programs helped fight soil erosion and brought some relief from bank foreclosures. The gov t helped raise crop prices by paying farmers not to plant all of their fields.

20 The effect on farmers Farm incomes doubled between 1933 and 1936, but large farmers reaped most of the benefits. The New Deal farm policies unintentionally forced at least 3 million small farmers from the land.

The New Deal In his first 100 days in office, FDR

banking and industry to agriculture and social welfare.

21 The New Deal In his first 100 days in office, FDR introduced many programs designed to combat the effects of the Depression. These programs reshaped every aspect of the economy, from banking and industry to agriculture and social welfare. Roosevelt appealed directly to the people to support for his programs using radio broadcasts known as "fireside chats."

22 The New Deal The New Deal improved the economy, but another recession hit in By 1938, expansion of the New Deal was blocked by Congress.

23 Popular Culture The popular culture of the 1930s was full of contradictions. It was, simultaneously, a decade of traditionalism and of experimentation; of sentimentality and "hard-boiled" toughness; of longings for a simpler past and fantastic dreams of the future.

24 Popular Culture Americans grew increasingly interested in tradition and folk culture. Folk singers like Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger attracted large audiences. Jazz was also popular, especially among urban audiences.

Popular Culture Writers such as William Faulkner and

25 Popular Culture Writers such as William Faulkner and John Dos Passos led the modernist movement in literature. Architects like R. Buckminster employed curves and streamlining to give their projects a modern appearance. The 1939 New York World's Fair, the self-proclaimed Fair of the Future, promised to show fairgoers the world of tomorrow.

26 Popular Culture Many Americans in the 1930s hungered for heroes. Comic book heroes Superman and Batman made their first appearances. Detective novels by authors like Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler with hard-boiled heroes like became popular.

Popular Culture - Movies Movies were a popular way to escape

films remained grounded in the realities of everyday life.

27 Popular Culture - Movies Movies were a popular way to escape the difficulties of the Great Depression, though films many films remained grounded in the realities of everyday life. Violent gangster movies and sexually suggestive comedies were very popular in the early 30s. These movies provoked outrage in some quarters and led to strict standards, known as the Hays Code.

Popular Culture - Movies Comedy stars of the early 30s,

28 Popular Culture - Movies Comedy stars of the early 30s, like the Marx Brothers, W.C. Fields, and Mae West, mocked traditional institutions, ridiculed of family values, and used sexual innuendo to make fun of middle class morality. Dramas often reflected the darker side of life with guntoting gangsters, haggard prostitutes, and sleazy politicians.

Popular Culture - Movies With the slight

Musicals with stars like Fred Astaire and

29 Popular Culture - Movies With the slight upturn in the economy and the implementation of the Hays Code, movies began to have a more optimistic outlook. Musicals with stars like Fred Astaire and Ginger Rodgers were very popular. Gangsters gave way to G-men and detective heroes.

Popular Culture - Movies Cowboys movies, both

decade, movies like Gone with the Wind and The

30 Popular Culture - Movies Cowboys movies, both singing and non-singing, grew in popularity. Screwball comedies zany, clever, breezy, and a bit harebrained became the standard By the end of the decade, movies like Gone with the Wind and The Wizard of Oz began the long road from black and white to color.

31 Popular Culture - Music Growing radio networks, car radios, and movie soundtracks helped the music industry through the rough times of the Depression. Popular music was very diverse, from social protest songs to Broadway hits to danceable swing bands to classical pieces, both old and modern.

32 Popular Culture - Music Because of radio and phonograph records, music which would have once existed on the margins of American society now could reach audiences across the nation. Popular musical talents included Bing Crosby, George and Ira Gershwin, Duke Ellington, Woody Guthrie, and bandleaders like Tommy Dorsey.

Popular Culture - Magazines Magazines flourished in

Starting in 1936, Life magazine focused on

33 Popular Culture - Magazines Magazines flourished in the 30s. Time magazine, which began in the 20s, was the most popular news magazine of the day. Starting in 1936, Life magazine focused on photojournalism. Other popular magazines targeted fans of movies, science fiction, and dozens of other areas of interest.

Popular Culture - Sports Baseball was the most popular

team, with stars like Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Joe

Louis Cardinals, know as The Gashouse Gang, were also a

34 Popular Culture - Sports Baseball was the most popular sport in the country, and the Yankees were the dominant team, with stars like Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Joe DiMaggio. The St. Louis Cardinals, know as The Gashouse Gang, were also a powerhouse. Boxing was also very popular. The most famous boxer of the decade was Joe Louis, known as The Brown Bomber.

35 Popular Culture - Radio The 30s was the Golden Age of radio. At the beginning of the decade, 12 million households had radios; by the end, the number grew to over 28 million.

Popular Culture - Radio Entertainers, such as

could return to, with characters they could

36 Popular Culture - Radio Entertainers, such as comedians Jack Benny and Fred Allen, made their names on radio. The radio soap opera, a running story that people could return to, with characters they could sympathize with, was born in this decade. Heroes like The Lone Ranger and The Shadow also provided entertainment.

FDR used his Fireside Chats to communicate his political messages to the public.

37 Popular Culture - Radio News broadcasts also influenced the way the public experienced current affairs. When the Hindenburg airship exploded in FDR used his Fireside Chats to communicate his political messages to the public. Orson Welles infamous 1938 broadcast of War of the Worlds caused much of the nation to believe that Earth was being attacked by invaders from Mars.

John Steinbeck Born in Salinas, CA, in 1902. Attended Stanford but never graduated.

38 John Steinbeck Born in Salinas, CA, in Attended Stanford but never graduated. First successful novel was Tortilla Flat in His novels are social commentaries, often dealing with the problems of farmers and farm workers.

John Steinbeck He wrote Of Mice and Men in 1937.

The 1940 movie of Grapes of Wrath was a box office

39 John Steinbeck He wrote Of Mice and Men in The Of Mice and Men movie came out in Steinbeck s most famous, important, and popular book, The Grapes of Wrath, was published in The 1940 movie of Grapes of Wrath was a box office and critical success, having been nominated for 7 Academy Awards and winning 2.

40 John Steinbeck Steinbeck won the Nobel Prize for literature in He died in 1965 in New York City.

41 Introduction

42 The Setting The novel is set in the farmland of the Salinas valley, where John Steinbeck was born The ranch in the novel is near Soledad, which is south-east of Salinas on the Salinas river. The countryside described at the beginning of the novel, and the ranch itself is based on Steinbeck s own experiences.

Between the 1880s and the 1930s thousands of men would travel

43 Migrant workers Before technology created farm machinery, humans had to do a lot of the farm work by hand. Between the 1880s and the 1930s thousands of men would travel the countryside in search of work. Such work included the harvesting of wheat.

44 Migrant workers These workers would earn $2.50 or $3.00 a day, plus food and shelter. During the 1930s, the unemployment rate was high in the U.S., and with so many men searching for work, agencies were set up to send farmworkers to where they were needed. In the novel, George and Lennie (the two main characters) were given work cards from Murray and Ready s, which was one of the farmwork agencies.

45 Title of novel The title of the novel comes from a poem by the Scottish poet Robert Burns ( ) The best laid schemes o mice and men Gang aft agley [often go wrong] And leave us nought but grief and pain For promised joy!

Of Mice and Men. By John Steinbeck

Of Mice and Men. By John Steinbeck Of Mice and Men By John Steinbeck John Steinbeck One of The Great American Writers of the 20 th Century A Look at the Author Born February 27 th in 1902 in Salinas, California, John was the third of four