TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas. The Depression and Culture

TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas. Objectives Discover how the Great Depression and the New Deal affected women, African Americans, Mexican Americans, and Native Americans. Learn about the causes and effects of the Dust Bowl. Understand how art, radio, and movies informed and entertained people during the Depression.

TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas. Terms and People Eleanor Roosevelt – FDR’s wife and First Lady; known for her active role in the administration civil rights – rights guaranteed in the Constitution, especially voting and equal treatment under the law Mary McLeod Bethune – educator and member of Roosevelt’s “Black Cabinet” Marian Anderson – African American singer whose performance at the Lincoln Memorial became a symbol of the civil rights struggle

TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas. Terms and People (continued) migrant worker – person who travels from one region to another in search of work John Collier – Commissioner of Indian Affairs who created the Indian New Deal John Steinbeck – author of the Depression-era classic The Grapes of Wrath

TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas. How did the Great Depression affect daily life? The Great Depression affected people of many different backgrounds and ways of life. Its hardships shaped American culture for generations to come.

TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas. During the Depression, women struggled to support themselves and their families. Women in the workplace Competed with men for jobs Were more likely than men to lose jobs or have wages cut Found fewer job opportunities Women at home took on more chores to save money: sewing clothes, canning food, and baking bread.

TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt inspired many women. Helped transform the role of First Lady Traveled widely Made radio speeches and wrote newspaper columns Used her position to champion women’s rights

TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas. African Americans were hit especially hard by the Depression. Over half were unemployed in the South. Sharecroppers were forced from their land as cotton prices plummeted. Some moved to the cities, but they often lost jobs to unemployed whites. SouthNorth African Americans continued to migrate north, looking for factory jobs. Often, however, they were the last hired and the first fired.

TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas. FDR had a mixed record on civil rights. Still, he appointed more than 100 African Americans to government posts. Black Cabinet Advised the President on African American issues Included Mary McLeod Bethune and William Hastie He failed to support an antilynching bill because he did not want to lose support from southern senators.

TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas. A concert by African American singer Marian Anderson proved to be symbolic of the civil rights struggle. Eleanor Roosevelt arranged to have Anderson perform at the Lincoln Memorial in front of a huge crowd. The Daughters of the American Revolution had refused to allow Anderson to sing in their hall.

TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas. Mexican Americans also suffered during the Depression. Many were migrant workers in the Southwest. When unemployed white workers flooded the area looking for work, Mexican immigrants and Mexican Americans were deported.

TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas. Native Americans continued to live in poverty. FDR’s Commissioner of Indian Affairs, John Collier, created the Indian New Deal. The Indian Reorganization Act restricted sales of Native American lands. Under the plan, Native Americans were hired to build schools, hospitals, and irrigation systems. Congress failed to enable self-government of the tribes or to promote education, however.

TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas. A new disaster struck the Plains in the 1930s—the Dust Bowl. Winds blew away soil on land cleared by farmers and parched from drought. The result was “black blizzards.” Black blizzards blocked the sun, seeped into houses, and killed people and animals. Crops failed, and farmers were ruined. In some counties, one in three families left to make a living elsewhere.

TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas. Dust Bowl refugees competed with local workers for low- paying jobs. Many farm families headed west, looking for work. Eventually, police tried to close roads into California, but migrants kept coming.

TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas. John Steinbeck captured the desperation of Dust Bowl families in his classic novel The Grapes of Wrath. The Grapes of Wrath The book tells the story of a family who moves to California seeking a better life. People in California called the migrants “Okies” because so many were from Oklahoma.

TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas. American arts and media reflected the hardships of the time. Under New Deal programs, artists and photographers like Dorothea Lange recorded everyday experiences. Other artists painted murals on public buildings.

TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas. Movies also portrayed the social problems of the time. Many movies, however, were meant to help people forget their troubles. The radio was a vital part of life, as people listened to FDR’s fireside chats, popular bands, and comedians.