Of Mice And Men Context

Tuesday 24th October 1929 to April 1939

-began 24.10.1929 ('Black Thursday') when traders sold $12.9 million worth of stocks which was triple the usual amount of stocks sold.

-Depression spread across North America, Europe and other industrialised areas.

-Many people argued for jobs that were not avaliable.

-Worst economic crisis in the U.S. History 

-In April 1939, more than 1 in 5 Americans still had no job /couldn't find a job.

-WWII mark the end of GD

-ended by a reduction in taxes,reducion in spending and restored prosperity 

-Franklin D Roosevelt was elected President of USA in November 1932

-NEW DEAL had 3 aims:

1) RELIEF  : to help improve people's lives

2) RECOVERY :to begin rebuilding US industry and trade

3) REFORM :to change conditions to ensure future progress

- economy slowly began to recover but improvement was very slow 

-NEW DEAL created new optimism and people's lives were improving 

-Black Tuesday 29th October 1929 

-stock market lost 14 billion stocks on the New York Stock Exchange on that day 

-SM now worth $199 billion in 2017

-Stock process didn't reach the same level untill late 1954 due to the Great Depression.

-Many people committed sucide and moved away from the coutry as a   result of GD

-1 to 2 million people travelled the country desperately looking for somewhere to work.

-Signs saying 'No Men Wanted' were displayed all over the country

-high levels of unemployment, poverty and homelessness

-increasing mechanisation was driving labourers off the land

-California was filling with offical and unoffical refugee camps

-drought and over-farming were reducing the amount of fertile land

-some banks were collapsing as a result of GD

-landowners were going bankrupt and their land was being repossed in states such   as Oklahoma and Arkansas

-idea by James Truslow Adams in 1931 believing that everyone should have the same opportunities regardless of background, ability or birth

-TAD means everyone is deserving of having the set ideals of democracy,rights ,liberty ,opportunity and equality

-'Life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with     opportunity for each accorrding to ability or achievement'

-adapted in different ways but principal has been kept the same in countries such as Germany, Russia or China

-Links to 'all men are created equal' by Thomas Jefferson

-iconic symbol of American Dream is the statue of Liberty as it represents all of the set ideals to all Americans

-time of servere Dust Storms affecting the Southern States such as Texas, Hamilton, Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Nevanda.

-came in 3 waves 1934 ,1936 ,1939-1940

-damaged ecology & agriculture due to severe drought and failure to prevent wind erosion

-caused by economical & agricultral factors such as changes in regional weather, farm economics and federal land policies

-affected o.e. 35 million acres of land

-2.5 million people left the S.S. due to the storms

-Also affected Washington & New York ('Black Blizzards')

-could not see the day light as it was as heavy as snow

-people developed 'Dust Pneumonia' as the dust was getting into food, skin & on furniture as a result some people found it difficult to breathe & suffered from server chest pains

-In 1890s women were employed in sales, clerical and domestic services

-Because of the GD more than 2million men & women faced homelessness

-GD, the economic condition forced women to go out to work and provide an income   to their family 

-public did not appricate that married women were going out to work 

-society discriminated women because:

1) thought they were taking mens jobs

2) abonding their famiy at time of desperate need

-women played 'unrecognised roles'

-still expected to stay at home and look after the children

-not as appricated as they should have been

-'Black' slaves taken from Africa & forced to work for their 'owners'

-'owners' treated their slaves absusively & aggressively

-Separate facilities for different races; one for 'coloured' and one for     the 'white'(SEGREATION)

-In the 1930s Act Of Abolishing Slavery 'black' people were still treated poorly while others felt superior to them

-Not allowed to vote, had no rights

-Some individuals fought for their rights which helped to stop RACIAL   SEGREATION

-Mentally disabled seen as inferior

-Some religious people went as far to say that'retarded people were      either the spawn of Satan or the parents were commiting sins against    God and the child was punished'

-People who had simple disabilites such as ADHD, dyslexia, etc or   people who had no intelligence were considered to be disabled

-They had no roles in society 

-Considered to be scum

-occured in GD

-worstly affected was the Mexican-Americans working in   California

1) constanltly blammed for taking the jobs

-Bad conditions

1) Low pay

2) Bad living conditions

3) struggled to feed themselves due to the DB destroying        the crops

-Many farmers forced to leave their homes and move to others areas due to GD

-Many farmers had borrowed money from the banks to buy modern machines for their farms

eventually lead to over-production which made prices fall

-DB made 

1) soil to dry up

2) wind blew away the fertile top layer

3) areas of farmland became like a desert