John Steinbeck and 1930's America
- Created by: tillywithwings
- Created on: 08-05-16 11:27
John Steinbeck
- He was born in Salinas, California in 1902
- Even though his family were wealthy, he was interested in the lives of farm workers and spent lots of time with them
- He used the experiences as material for his writing
- He wrote a number of novels about poor people who worked on the land and dreamed of a better life
The Depression
- On October 29th 1929, millions of dollars were wiped out in an event that became known as the Wall Street Crash
- This lead to The Depression in America that lasted from 1930-1936
- People lost their life savings when firms and banks went bust
- 12-15 million men and women (a third of America's population) were unemployed
- There was no dole to fall back on, so food was short and the unemployed couldn't pay rent
- Some ended up in settlements made from old packing cases and corrugated iron
Migrant Farmers
- Added to the man-made financial problems were natural ones
- There was a series of droughts in states like Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas
- This led to failed harvest and dried up land
- Farmers were forced to move off the land as they couldn't repay the bank loans that had helped to buy the farms
- They had to sell what they owned to pay their debts
- Many economic migrants headed west to 'Golden' California, thinking that there would be land going spare
- However, the Californians turned many away, fearing that they would be overrun
- The refugees had nowhere to go back, so they set up home in huge camps in the California valleys
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