Historical Setting

• Published in 1937, the novel is set in the early-to-mid 1930s, the height of the Great Depression.

The Great Depression**statistics**

THE STOCK MARKET• Dow Jones Peak in September 1929: 381.17• Trough in July 1932: 41.22• The Great Crash of October 1929 was only the beginning of

four years of steady decline in stock values on Wall Street. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, one measure of the health of the stock market as a whole, lost nearly 90% of its value between 1929 and 1932. Amazingly, the Dow would not reach a value higher than its 1929 peak until 23 November 1954, a full quarter-century after the Great Crash.

USA GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT• The Great Crash, 1929-1933in 1929: $103.6 billionin 1930: $91.2in 1931: $76.5in 1932: $58.7in 1933: $56.4• New Deal Recovery and Recession, 1934-39in 1934: $66.0 billionin 1935: $73.3in 1936: $83.8in 1937: $91.9in 1938: $86.1in 1939: $92.2

Unemploymentin 1929: 3.2%in 1930: 8.9%in 1931: 16.3%in 1932: 24.1%in 1933: 24.9%in 1934: 21.7%in 1935: 20.1%in 1936: 16.9%in 1937: 14.3%in 1938: 19.0%in 1939: 17.2%• the highest annual unemployment rate ever recorded after 1940 was

9.7%in 1982.

FDR and the New Deal

• Democrat Franklin Delano Roosevelt (a former Governor of New York state), was elected in 1932. He was reelected 3 times, dying in the middle of his fourth term in 1945, in the final days of World War II. (1947, Congress passed the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution, limited presidents to only two terms, maximum.)

• President during most of World War II

FDR and the New Deal

• Having been elected in the middle of a severe economic crisis, Roosevelt introduced a number of economic policies collectively known as the “New Deal”.

• “New Deal” policies were essentially massive federal projects and programs designed to stimulate the economy and provide basic “safety net” guarantees to Americans.

“New Deal” programs and legislation

• Glass-Steagall Act – created the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) that guarantees bank deposits.

• Civilian Conservation Corps – put about 250,000 young men to work on rural projects

• Public Works Administration – a government agency that oversaw $3.3 billion in public spending on various construction/infrastructure projects.

• Works Progress Administration (WPA) – the largest New Deal agency. It oversaw massive jobs and relief projects. Almost every community in America has a park, bridge or school constructed by the agency. Expenditures from 1936 to 1939 totaled nearly $7 billion.

• Social Security Act – a national pension plan.• Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) – an agency that provided economic

development in many poor southern states. Chief projects included hydroelectric dams and modernization of farming methods.

• Repeal of Prohibition

Did FDR save the economy?Most historians give FDR great credit foreasing the tremendous suffering of thedepression. However, most also agree that theUS economy did not fully recover until WorldWar II, when the tremendous demand createdby global armed conflict stimulated industrialgrowth.

War is good for business.

THEORIES OF THE DEPRESSION• When one farmer struggling to make his mortgage payment encountered falling prices

for wheat, his rational response was to produce more wheat to make up the difference. But when millions of farmers did this, the resulting overproduction flooded the market, driving prices so low that no farmers could sell their crops at a price that justified the harvest.

• When one factory owner encountered falling demand for his products, his rational response was to cut production and cut costs by laying off workers. But when thousands of factory owners did this, the resulting mass unemployment and poverty drove demand for all their products even lower.

• When one worker encountered the high likelihood of losing his job, his rational response was to hoard his money, saving as much and spending as little as he could. But when millions of workers did this, the resulting lack of spending in the consumer economy destroyed markets for goods and thus caused employers to lay off more workers.

THEORIES OF THE DEPRESSION• When one depositor learned that his bank might fail, potentially wiping

out his savings, his rational response was to withdraw all his cash and put it in a shoebox. But when millions of depositors did this, the resulting runs on banks caused rampant bank failures and the constriction of the national money supply.

THEORIES OF THE DEPRESSION

CURRENT EVENTS POP QUIZ!!!During the current economic downturn, howhave world governments and central banks(especially the United States’) responded to thecrisis—with Friedmanist or Keynsian solutions? Support your answer!

Brother, Can You Spare a Dime, lyrics by Yip Harburg, music by Jay Gorney (1931)

They used to tell me I was building a dream, and so I followed the mob, When there was earth to plow, or guns to bear, I was always there right on

the job. They used to tell me I was building a dream, with peace and glory ahead, Why should I be standing in line, just waiting for bread? Once I built a railroad, I made it run, made it race against time. Once I built a railroad; now it's done. Brother, can you spare a dime? Once I built a tower, up to the sun, brick, and rivet, and lime; Once I built a tower, now it's done. Brother, can you spare a dime? Once in khaki suits, gee we looked swell, Full of that Yankee Doodly Dum, Half a million boots went slogging through Hell, And I was the kid with the drum!Say, don't you remember, they called me Al; it was Al all the time. Why don't you remember, I'm your pal? Buddy, can you spare a dime?

HOBOS• Hobos were migrant workers.

They appeared in great numbers during the Great Depression. They traveled all around the country, usually sneaking free rides on railroad freight cars. They had their own code of ethics, and left secret signs for each other. They often had the reputation of being lazy or violent, but most were peaceful and were willing to work when they got the chance.

John Steinbeck (1902-1968)1962 Nobel Prize Winner

One of America’s best known, admired, respected, and studied writers.

Salinas• Steinbeck was born in the small

town of Salinas, California. This area (a rich, agricultural valley) would provide the settings of many of his famous works.

Steinbeck grew up solidly middle-class. Hisfather was a countytreasurer; his mother aformer school teacher. However, he spentmuch time working onnearby ranches andfarms, where he got to know the toughconditions faced bymigrant workers.

He attended Stanford University intermittentlyfor about 6 years, but never graduated.

Literary Career

Like most young writers,Steinbeck struggled at first. Hepublished 4 novels beforegaining critical recognition andsome popular success with the1935 novel, Tortilla Flat.

Literary Career

• He then published four books about the struggles of common people during the Great Depression, set mostly in California. Most of his best-known are very lengthy and epic in scope.

• In Dubious Battle (1936)• Of Mice and Men (1937)• The Long Valley (1938)• The Grapes of Wrath (1939)

Of Mice and Men

• Of Mice and Men was an immediate hit. It was adapted into a hit Broadway play the same year it was published (1937).

• It was made into a movie three times—in 1939, 1981, and 1992.

The Grapes of Wrath

• Probably his most famous work is the monumental The Grapes of Wrath, an epic tale of the Joad family’s journey from Oklahoma during the “Dust Bowl” years, to California, where they face brutal work conditions. Some readers and critics called Steinbeck a communist and/or socialist for his highlighting the plight of the working class, and suggesting “communal” solutions.