Background to "Of Mice and Men". The Great Depression and the American Dream.

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Alison Adeniyi 10.4

The Great Depression

The Wall Street crash was in October 1929 and with it the American economy collapsed. People who had bought shares in the banks now found out that their shares was only worth a fraction of what they had originally paid for them. Banks stopped giving out loans because they realized that their current customers where struggling to repay the loans they had given out. The number of produced goods dropped dramatically. The number of unemployed people reached upwards of 13 million.

Causes of the Depression

  1. As early as 1926, there were signs that the boom was under threat - this was seen in the collapse of land prices in Florida.
  2. Eventually, there were too many goods being made and not enough people to buy them. Farmers had produced too much food in the 1920s, so prices for their produce became steadily lower.
  3. There were too many small banks - these banks did not have enough funds to cope with the sudden rush to take out savings, which happened in the autumn of 1929.
  4. Too much speculation on the stock market - the middle class had a lot to lose and they had spent a lot on what amounted to pieces of paper.
  5. The Wall Street Crash of October 1929 was a massive psychological blow.
  6. America had lent huge sums of money to European countries. When the stock market collapsed, they suddenly recalled those loans. This had a devastating impact on the European economy.
  7. The collapse of European banks caused a general world financial crisis.
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The Effect of the Depression on Farming

The stock market crash in 1929 led to a bad economic crisis for all aspects of living.  Many independent farmers lost their farms when banks came to collect on their notes, while tenant farmers were turned out when economic pressure was brought to bear on large landholders. The attempts of these displaced agricultural workers to find other work were met with frustration due to a 30 percent unemployment rate. Many farmers lost their farms due to either finances or the 1930s drought, the "Dust Bowl." This situation created people becoming migrant workers, traveling from ...

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