Section
3
SECTION
Step-by-Step Instruction
From Oklahoma to California
“ One year the drought killed everything. We made $100—
just enough money to pay the rent. . . . We just knew that
there was work in California because of what we’d been
told and what we’d read in the papers. So we decided to
come to California.
Review and Preview
Students have read about FDR’s New
Deal programs to help lift the country
out of the Depression. They will now
read about how the Depression affected
daily life for many Americans.
”
—Mildred Ward, recalling why her family
migrated during the Great Depression
!
Life in the Great Depression
Section Focus Question
Objectives
• Discover how the Great Depression and
the New Deal affected women, African
Americans, Mexican Americans, and Native
Americans.
How did the Great Depression
affect daily life?
Before you begin the lesson for the day,
write the Section Focus Question on the
board. (Lesson focus: The Great Depression
caused great difficulties in everyday life for
many Americans.)
• Learn about the causes and effects of the
Dust Bowl.
• Understand how art, radio, and movies
informed and entertained people during
the Depression.
Prepare to Read
Build Background
Knowledge
L2
■
■
L2
Analyze Effects Effects are the results of an
action, event, or attitude. Often an action, event,
or attitude will have several effects. Certainly, the
events of the Great Depression had dramatic effects
on American business, families, and culture. As you
read this section, ask yourself: What happened to
businesses and individuals because of these events?
How did American culture change because of these
events?
Key Terms and People
Eleanor Roosevelt
civil rights
Mary McLeod
Bethune
Marian Anderson
migrant worker
John Collier
John Steinbeck
Differentiated Instruction
Teaching Resources, Unit 8,
Reading Readiness Guide, p. 18
Unfamiliar Words Suggest to students
782 Chapter 23
With so many men out of work, many Americans felt
that women should stay at home. Yet, women often had to
help support themselves or their families. By the end of the
Great Depression, more women were working outside the
home than at the start.
Women in the Workplace Women enjoyed two small
advantages in the workplace. Female salesclerks and secretaries
faced little competition from men. In addition, such jobs were
less likely to disappear than the factory jobs many men held.
Still, most women with jobs struggled. For example,
women who had trained to become schoolteachers or librarians suddenly found themselves competing for jobs with
men who had lost other work. Female factory workers were
more likely than men to lose their jobs or to have their wages
cut. Many maids, seamstresses, and housekeepers also lost
their jobs because fewer people could afford domestic help.
African American women were especially hard hit because
they held the majority of domestic jobs.
The Great Depression complicated life for most women,
whether or not they worked outside the home. To save money,
more women found themselves sewing clothes, canning fruits
and vegetables, and baking bread instead of buying it.
782 Chapter 23 The Great Depression and the New Deal
Form students into pairs or groups of
four. Distribute the Reading Readiness
Guide. Ask students to fill in the first
two columns of the chart.
Use the Numbered Heads participation
strategy (TE, p. T24) to call on students
to share one piece of information they
already know and one piece they want
to know. The students will return to
these worksheets later.
Why It Matters Not everyone benefited equally from FDR’s
New Deal. Poverty and discrimination plagued many. Farmers
in the Plains suffered drought and terrible dust storms that
destroyed crops. Thousands headed west to California hoping
for a better life.
Section Focus Question: How did the Great Depression
affect daily life?
Women in the Depression
Reading Skill
Ask students to recall the Depression-era
photographs they saw in Section 1 on p.
773. Then have students predict the ways
that the Great Depression affected the
everyday life of people. Ask: How do you
think the Depression affected particular
groups of people such as women or African Americans? (Students’ responses will
vary, but should reflect an understanding of the
hardships faced by most Americans during the
Great Depression.) After they make predictions about what they will learn, address
any misconceptions that students may
have about the topic. Remind them to confirm or revise their predictions after they
read the section.
Set a Purpose
A family fleeing drought-stricken Oklahoma in the 1930s
L1 Less Proficient Readers
L1 Special Needs
that they use a ruler to help them keep
their place as they read, line by line, down
a page. Have students mark unfamiliar
words or phrases (such as complicated on
this page) with a sticky note. Review with
students occasionally to see what they
have marked.
Eleanor Roosevelt
Born to a wealthy New York
family, Eleanor Roosevelt
spent much of her time as First
Lady visiting the needy. At far
left, she greets two children
with polio—the same disease
that struck her husband. At
left, she descends into a coal
mine. Critical Thinking:
Apply Information How did
Eleanor Roosevelt assist the
President?
6593
Teach
Women in the
Depression
p. 782
Instruction
■
L2
Vocabulary Builder Before teaching
this section, preteach the High-Use
Words confer and drastic, using the
strategy on TE p. T21.
Key Terms Have students continue fill-
ing in the See It–Remember It chart for
the Key Terms in this chapter.
An Active First Lady The most famous working woman in the
country was FDR’s wife, Eleanor Roosevelt. After polio had stricken
her husband in 1921, Mrs. Roosevelt overcame her shyness to begin
speaking and traveling on his behalf.
Eleanor Roosevelt helped transform the role of First Lady. The
wives of earlier Presidents had hosted teas and stayed in the background. By contrast, the energetic Mrs. Roosevelt crisscrossed the
country, serving as the President’s “eyes and ears.” Then, she
conferred with FDR on what she had seen and what he should do. In
1933 alone, Eleanor Roosevelt logged 40,000 miles, including a trip
down into a West Virginia coal mine. She also made frequent radio
speeches and wrote a daily newspaper column.
Mrs. Roosevelt used her position to champion women’s rights.
She held press conferences limited to female reporters. She also
urged FDR to appoint more women to government positions.
Vocabulary Builder
confer (kahn FER) v. to exchange
■
Read Women in the Depression with
students using the Oral Cloze strategy
(TE, p. T22).
■
Discuss with students the unique ways
in which the Depression affected
women. Ask: Why did women face new
competition from men for jobs during
the Depression? (Men who were out of
work began seeking jobs that had been traditionally filled by women.)
■
Use the transparency Migrant Mother,
1936 by Dorothea Lange to engage students in the topic of women in the
Depression.
ideas with someone
What challenges did women face during the Great
Depression?
African Americans in the Depression
African Americans had been hit hard by the Depression. They
generally suffered more unemployment, homelessness, illness, and
hunger than did whites.
South and North In the South, plunging cotton prices forced
many African American sharecroppers off their land. Moving to
southern cities, they found that many jobs traditionally done by
blacks, such as cleaning streets, were now filled by jobless whites. By
1932, more than half the African Americans in the South were
unemployed.
Section 3 Life in the Great Depression 783
Use the information below to teach students this section’s high-use words.
High-Use Word
Definition and Sample Sentence
confer, p. 783
v. to exchange ideas with someone
The President confers with his Cabinet on important matters.
drastic, p. 784
adj. extreme in effect or action
Some considered the writing of the Declaration of Independence a
drastic action.
Color Transparencies, Migrant Mother, 1936
by Dorothea Lange
■
Ask: In what way was Eleanor
Roosevelt a role model for women during the Depression? (Like many women,
she responded to new needs by taking on a
new role, in her case crisscrossing the country to gather information and advise the
President.)
Independent Practice
Have students begin to fill in the Study
Guide for this section.
Monitor Progress
As students fill in the Notetaking Study
Guide, circulate to make sure students
understand the challenges women faced
during the Depression. Provide assistance
as needed.
Answers
Apply Information She spoke and trav-
eled on his behalf and conferred with him
about important issues facing the country.
Women faced job losses,
new job competition from men, and challenges to find new ways to save money.
Chapter 23 783
African Americans in
the Depression
Marian
Anderson
p. 783
Instruction
■
■
■
1897–1993
L2
Have students read African Americans
in the Depression. Remind students to
answer the Section Focus Question.
Discuss the impact of the Great Depression on African Americans. Ask: What
do you think the phrase “the last hired
and the first fired” means? (It means
that blacks had more difficulty than whites
finding jobs and often were the first workers
to lose their jobs when employers made
cuts.)
Discuss with students FDR’s mixed
record on civil rights. Ask: What facts
on p. 784 explain the meaning of the
heading FDR’s Mixed Record? (Possible
answer: Roosevelt refused to support an
antilynching bill, but appointed at least 100
African Americans to government posts.)
Independent Practice
Have students continue filling in the Study
Guide for this section.
FDR’s Mixed Record The majority of African
Marian Anderson began singing in a
local Philadelphia church at the age of
six. By 1934, she was singing for the
kings of Sweden and Denmark.
Anderson is best remembered for her
1939 concert at the Lincoln Memorial.
At first, she shied away from the
attention. But she realized, “I had
become, whether I liked it or not, a
symbol, representing my people.”
Biography Quest
What other barriers did Anderson break
in her career?
For: The answer to the question about
Anderson
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American voters had backed Roosevelt. Still, the
President had a mixed record on civil rights. Civil
rights are the rights guaranteed in the Constitution,
especially voting and equal treatment under the
law. For example, FDR failed to support a federal
antilynching bill, which his wife strongly supported.
The President feared that he might lose the support of
southern senators for his New Deal programs.
Still, in part due to his wife’s prodding, Roosevelt
appointed at least 100 African Americans to government posts. Educator Mary McLeod Bethune, a
friend of Eleanor Roosevelt’s, became the topranking African American in the government.
Bethune was a member of FDR’s “Black
Cabinet,” a group of high-ranking appointees who
advised the President on African American issues.
Other members of the Black Cabinet included
William Hastie, who later became the first African
American federal judge.
A Symbolic Moment In 1939, the Daughters of
the American Revolution (DAR) refused to allow African American
singer Marian Anderson to perform at their hall. Eleanor Roosevelt, a
DAR member, resigned in protest. She then arranged for Anderson to
sing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on Easter Sunday.
Anderson’s performance drew a crowd of 75,000 listeners. The
concert became a key symbol of the struggle for civil rights.
Interactive Reading and
Notetaking Study Guide, Chapter 23,
Section 3 (Adapted Version also available.)
Monitor Progress
As students fill in the Notetaking Study
Guide, circulate to make sure students
understand the impact of the Depression
on African Americans. If students do not
seem to have a good understanding, have
them reread the section. Provide assistance
as needed.
The migration of African Americans to the
North, which had started after World War I,
continued at an even faster pace. Even in northern
cities, though, more black than white factory
workers lost their jobs. African Americans were
usually the last hired and the first fired. In New
York, almost 50 percent of blacks were jobless.
What was the Black Cabinet?
Other Americans in the Depression
Vocabulary Builder
drastic (DRAS tik) adj. extreme in
effect or action
All Americans were affected by the Depression. Yet, some faced
drastic circumstances. Many Mexicans and Mexican Americans were
not only forced out of work but also out of the country. Meanwhile, the
New Deal meant a new government policy toward Native Americans.
Mexican Immigrants Are Deported Many Mexican immigrants lived in the Southwest as migrant workers, people who travel
from farm to farm picking crops. During good times, farm owners
had welcomed the Mexicans, who were willing to toil for low wages
under harsh conditions. During the Depression, though, thousands
of white migrant workers also flooded the area looking for work.
784 Chapter 23 The Great Depression and the New Deal
Answers
Marian Anderson also
performed with the Metropolitan Opera,
served as an alternate delegate to the United Nations, and received the Presidential
Medal of Freedom.
The Black Cabinet was a
group of high-ranking appointees who
advised Roosevelt on African American
issues.
784 Chapter 23
Differentiated Instruction
L3 Advanced Readers
L3 Gifted and Talented
Write a Biography John Collier extended
New Deal programs to Native Americans
through his leadership as Commissioner of
Indian Affairs. Have students research
Collier’s life and write a report on their
findings. Ask students to focus not just on
Collier’s achievements as a government
leader, but also on what his accomplishments meant for all Native Americans coping with poverty. Have students present
their reports to the class.
Other Americans in the
Great Depression
The Dust Bowl
Many Americans wanted the government to
force the Mexicans out of the country. Federal
immigration officials rounded up hundreds of
thousands of people and deported them to
Mexico. Some of those deported were not immigrants but were citizens who had been born in
the United States.
pp. 784–785
Instruction
The Indian New Deal A law in 1924 had
granted American citizenship to Native
Americans. Still, when the Great Depression
hit, most of the nation’s 170,000 Indians lived in
poverty on reservations administered by the
government.
Under FDR, John Collier became Commissioner of Indian Affairs.
Collier, a white man who had lived among the Pueblo Indians of New
Mexico, embarked on an ambitious program that became known as the
Indian New Deal. With funding from federal agencies, he hired Native
Americans to build needed schools, hospitals, and irrigation systems.
Collier also hoped to put reservations under Indian control, stop sales
of Native American lands, and encourage Indian schools to teach
Native American history and the arts.
Congress approved part of Collier’s plan in the Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) of 1934. The IRA did restrict tribal land sales. Yet, it
failed to bring self-government to the tribes or to promote education.
Native Americans continued to be the poorest Americans.
Native Americans
and the New Deal
In addition to the Indian
Reorganization Act, Native
Americans benefited from other
New Deal programs. These farmers
display the blue eagle, the symbol
of the National Recovery Act.
Critical Thinking: Apply
Information What was the
Indian New Deal?
Why were many Mexican Americans expelled from
the country during the Great Depression?
The Dust Bowl
In the southwestern Plains, farmers already suffering the effects
of the Great Depression faced another disaster. In 1930, very little rain
fell. The resulting drought caused widespread crop failure and sent
storms of dust swirling across the land. These gigantic dust storms
lasted for five years, turning 100 million acres of rich farmland into a
wasteland known as the Dust Bowl.
Black Blizzards Modern farming methods contributed to the Dust
Bowl. Mechanical farming equipment, which had made farming easier,
encouraged farmers to clear huge plots of land. They removed native
grasses along with the sod formed by the grass roots. This sod layer,
however, had held the dry Plains soil in place. When the rains failed, the
rootless soil blew away like powder. (See the Geography and History
feature following this section.)
Some dust storms arose so suddenly that people called them “black
blizzards.” Black blizzards made noon seem like midnight, buried
fences, seeped into houses, and killed people and animals. “We went to
school with headlights on and with dust masks on,” recalled one man.
L2
■
Have students read Other Americans in
the Great Depression and The Dust
Bowl. Remind students to answer the
reading Checkpoint question.
■
Ask: What is a migrant worker? (a person who travels from farm to farm picking
crops)
■
Ask: How did the Great Depression
affect many Mexican migrant workers?
(Many faced job competition from whites,
and hundreds of thousands were deported by
federal immigration officials.)
■
Ask: To what location did many of the
farmers affected by the Dust Bowl
migrate? (to California to work on farms)
■
Ask: Why do you think Californians
were scornful of the Dust Bowl
migrants? (Possible answers: The migrants
were poor, they were outsiders, and they
competed with local workers for jobs.)
Independent Practice
Have students continue filling in the Study
Guide for this section.
Interactive Reading and
Notetaking Study Guide, Chapter 23,
Section 3 (Adapted Version also available.)
Monitor Progress
As students fill in the Notetaking Study
Guide, circulate to make sure students
understand the effects of the Depression
on Mexican Americans and Native Americans and the impact of the Dust Bowl as it
forced many people living in the Midwest
to relocate to California in search of work.
Provide assistance as needed.
Section 3 Life in the Great Depression 785
History Background
Causes of the Great Migration The Great
Migration, which gained momentum during the Depression, continued for decades
and had a variety of causes. The general
causes were the needs of people in the
South to find better jobs and the desire to
escape the brutality of southern segregation. But there were also several specific
causes. A boll weevil infestation in south-
Answers
ern cotton fields in the first two decades of
the twentieth century greatly affected
sharecroppers, many of whom were African Americans. World War I created a
labor shortage in northern cities for manufacturing jobs, attracting southern African
Americans. A devastating flood of the
Mississippi River in 1927 also drove thousands of sharecroppers north.
Apply Information The Indian New Deal
was a program created by John Collier that
gave Native Americans jobs with building
projects and worked toward putting
Native American reservations under
Native American control.
They were caught up as federal immigration officials, under pressure
from many Americans competing for the
same jobs, deported illegal immigrants.
Chapter 23 Section 3 785
Arts and Media of the
Depression
p. 786
Artists of the Depression
Instruction
William Gropper created this
painting, Construction of the
Dam, for the Department of
the Interior in 1937. The vibrant
colors and dynamic poses
reflect the strength of the men
who labored on public works
projects during the New Deal.
Critical Thinking: Apply
Information Why was dam
building a fitting subject for a
painting during the era of the
New Deal?
L2
■
Have students read Arts and Media of
the Depression. Remind students to look
for causes and effects.
■
Ask a volunteer to read aloud the
excerpt from The Grapes of Wrath. Ask:
Why does Steinbeck use nonstandard
spelling and grammar in this passage?
(Possible answer: He is trying to capture
accurately Ma Joad’s Okie accent and manner of speaking.) Ask: What was the
impact of the Depression on her family? (It had broken up her family.)
Independent Practice
Okies Head West By the thousands, ruined farm families
Have students complete the Study Guide
for this section.
Interactive Reading and
Notetaking Study Guide, Chapter 23,
Section 3 (Adapted Version also available.)
Monitor Progress
■
■
Analyze Effects
Review and analyze the
effects of the Great
Depression and the Dust Bowl on
farmers in the Great Plains.
As students complete the Notetaking
Study Guide, circulate to make sure students understand the importance of the
arts and media during the Depression.
Provide assistance as needed.
abandoned their dusty homes to seek work elsewhere. In some of the
worst-hit Dust Bowl counties, as many as one family in three left.
Many headed west to the rich farmlands of California.
California residents scornfully called the migrants Okies because
so many had come from Oklahoma. The migratory agricultural
workers found conditions in California almost as miserable as the
ones they had left. Unable to buy land, they competed with local
workers to pick crops at starvation wages. The police eventually
closed some roads entering the state. Still, the migrants kept coming.
What were the causes of the Dust Bowl?
Arts and Media of the Depression
In 1939, writer John Steinbeck captured the miseries of the Dust
Bowl in The Grapes of Wrath. The novel tells the story of the Joads,
Okies who seek a better life in California. In one scene, Ma Joad
describes how her family has been shattered by hard times:
Tell students to fill in the last column of
the Reading Readiness Guide. Ask them
to evaluate if what they learned was
what they had expected to learn.
They was the time when we was on the lan’. They was a
“boundary
to us then. Ol’ folks died off, and little fellas come,
Teaching Resources, Unit 8,
Reading Readiness Guide, p. 18
an’ we was always one thing—we was the fambly—kinda
whole and clear. An’ now we ain’t clear no more. Pa’s lost
his place. He ain’t the head no more. We’re cracking up,
Tom. There ain’t no fambly now.
”
Answers
Apply Information The subject of dam
—John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath
building shows progress and improvement through public works.
Reading Skill Falling crop prices
throughout the 1920s reduced incomes for
farmers in the Midwest. Modern farming
methods that had allowed farmers to clear
large plots of land removed native grasses
from the land and allowed the soil to
become loose and blow away. As a result of
the land becoming more difficult to farm,
many Midwesterners relocated to California where they worked as migrants.
The causes of the Dust Bowl
were a widespread drought and modern
farming methods that stripped the layer of
sod from the soil, allowing the soil to be
blown away.
786 Chapter 23
Steinbeck’s novel became the classic example of how American
writers and artists tried to cope with the human toll of the Great
Depression.
786 Chapter 23 The Great Depression and the New Deal
Differentiated Instruction
L1 English Language Learners
L1 Special Needs
Listening to the Text Have students read
the text of this section as they listen to the
SE on Audio CD. Monitor student answers
to Checkpoint questions to make sure that
they understand the material. Provide stu-
dents with a copy of the CD to work
independently at home or in the School
Resource Center.
SE on Audio CD, Chapter 23, Section 3
Visual Arts Photographers and painters used the Depression as a
Assess and Reteach
theme for their art. Under a New Deal program called the Farm
Security Administration, photographer Dorothea Lange recorded
the experiences of Dust Bowl migrants. Her classic photograph of a
woman migrant farmworker remains the symbol of the Depression.
As you have read, the WPA hired artists to paint murals on public
buildings. The realistic, colorful murals of artists such as Thomas
Hart Benton paid tribute to the lives of ordinary working people.
Assess Progress
Teaching Resources, Section
Quiz, p. 27
Movies and Radio During the Depression, some movies dealt
realistically with social problems. These included a 1940 movie
version of The Grapes of Wrath. Gangster films, such as The Public
Enemy, depicted the rise of organized crime in American cities.
Most movies of the era, however, were meant to help people
forget their problems. Audiences laughed at the antics of Mickey
Mouse and thrilled to the adventure fantasy King Kong. One of the
most popular stars was Shirley Temple, a little girl who symbolized
optimism in the face of trouble.
The radio was a vital part of everyday life. Families gathered in
their living rooms to listen to FDR’s fireside chats. For entertainment,
people enjoyed popular bands and comedians. During the day, many
listeners tuned in to continuing dramas sponsored by soap companies. Such serials are still known as soap operas.
Image ssah6596- TK
Reteach
Poster for the 1933 movie
King Kong
Extend
the Great Depression affected Americans of the time. In the next
section, you will look at the lasting impact of the New Deal.
Comprehension
and Critical Thinking
For: Self-test with instant help
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Web Code: mva-8233
Writing
Reading Skill
3. Analyze Effects Reread the text 6. Choose one of the general topics
from the list that follows. Narrow
under the heading “Other Ameri1. (a) Recall How did Eleanor and
that topic down to a more specific
cans in the Depression.” Analyze
Franklin Roosevelt differ in their
subtopic that could be covered in
the effects of the Depression on
position on a proposed antilyncha multimedia presentation of
Mexican
Americans.
ing bill?
5 minutes. List three elements for
(b) Evaluate Information
that presentation.
Key Terms
Whose position do you agree
with? Explain.
• popular media of the 1930s
Answer the following questions
in complete sentences that show
• the Dust Bowl
2. (a) Describe What caused the
your understanding of the key
• the Depression and women
Dust Bowl in the 1930s?
terms.
(b) Make Predictions What do
• the Depression and African
4. What is the goal of people who
you think finally ended Dust Bowl
Americans
seek civil rights?
conditions?
• family life in the 1930s
5. What did Mexican Americans and
Okies do as migrant workers?
Section 3 Life in the Great Depression 787
Section
3 Check Your Progress
1. (a) Eleanor strongly supported the bill,
but Franklin feared that southern senators would no longer back him if he
supported the bill.
(b) Answers will vary, but students’
responses should show an understanding of the issue.
2. (a) The Dust Bowl was caused by a
period of drought, combined with modern farming methods that removed the
layer of sod from the soil.
L1
If students need more instruction, have
them read this section in the Interactive
Reading and Notetaking Study Guide and
complete the accompanying question.
Interactive Reading and
Notetaking Study Guide, Chapter 23,
Section 3 (Adapted Version also available.)
Looking Back and Ahead In this section, you saw how
Check Your Progress
To further assess student understanding,
use the Progress Monitoring Transparency.
Progress Monitoring Transparencies,
Chapter 23, Section 3
How did movies and radio help Americans during
the Great Depression?
Section 3
L2
Have students complete Check Your
Progress. Administer the Section Quiz.
(b) Possible answer: an end to the
drought or improved farming methods
that do not destroy the soil
3. Mexican Americans suffered from job
losses and faced a backlash from other
Americans with whom they were competing for jobs.
4. People who seek civil rights want every-
one to have equal access to voting and
equal treatment under the law.
L3
Have students research Depression-era
Farm Security Administration photographs in the online collections of the
Library of Congress. Have students select
and print three images from the collection.
Then ask students to make a tri-panel display on which they display the images and
several sentences about each image. Display students’ projects in the classroom.
For: Help in starting the Extend
activity
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Progress Monitoring Online
Students may check their comprehension
of this section by completing the
Progress Monitoring Online graphic
organizer and self-quiz.
Answer
Most were meant to help
people forget their problems, but some
dealt realistically with social problems.
6. Answers will vary, but students’
responses should indicate an understanding of possible subtopics that
would support the topic that is chosen.
5. They traveled from farm to farm to pick
crops for low wages.
Chapter 23 Section 3 787