1. The Great Depression

2. Many found being broke humiliating.
Stock market crash
Didn’t realize the effect it would have
No money to replenish what was borrowed
Many found being broke humiliating.

3. The Roaring 20’s The new concept of “credit” People were buying:
Automobiles
Appliances
Clothes
Fun times reigned
Dancing
Flappers
Drinking

4. Why was this bad? Credit system WWI
People didn’t really have the money they were spending
WWI
The U.S. was a major credit loaner to other nations in need
Many of these nations could not pay us back

5. The Stock Market People bought stocks on margins Stocks fall
If a stock is $100 you can pay $10 now and the rest later when the stock rose
Stocks fall
Now the person has less than $100 and no money to pay back

6. With people panicking about their money investors tried to sell their stocks
This leads to a huge decline in stocks
Stocks were worthless now
People who bought on “margins” now could not pay
Investors were average people that were now broke
And then….

7. President Hoover Herbert Hoover was president at the start
Philosophy: We’ll make it!
What He Did: Nothing
The poor were looking for help and no ideas on how to correct or help were coming

8. What about the people? Farmers were already feeling the effects
Prices of crops went down
Many farms foreclosed
People could not afford luxuries
Factories shut down
Businesses went out
Banks could not pay out money
People could not pay their taxes
Schools shut down due to lack of funds
Many families became homeless and had to live in shanties

10. Many waited in unemployment lines hoping for a job.

11. People in cities would wait in line for bread to bring to their family.

12. Some families were forced to relocate because they had no money.

13. “Hooverville” Some families were forced to live in shanty towns
A grouping of shacks and tents in vacant lots
They were referred to as “Hooverville” because of President Hoover’s lack of help during the Depression.

14. Hooverville

15. Out of the Dust:
The South
and the
Dust Bowl

16. A drought in the South lead to dust storms that destroyed crops.
“The Dust Bowl”

17. The South Was Buried Crops turned to dust=No food to be sent out
Homes buried
Fields blown away
South in state of emergency
Dust Bowl the #1 weather crisis of the 20th century

19. Two Families During the Depression

20. A Farm Foreclosure

21. Some families tried to make money by selling useful crafts like baskets.

22. *FDR* When he was inaugurated unemployment had increased by 7 million.
Poor sections (like Harlem) had 50% of the pop. unemployed
Instated the “New Deal”
Yea! Frankie!

23. People everywhere were affected by the depression
It wasn’t till President Roosevelt took over and tried to put the economy back together that people even saw a glimmer of hope

24. To Kill a
Mockingbird

25. Major Historical Happenings...
Jim Crow Laws
Scottsboro Trials
Recovering from the Great Depression
Racial Injustice
Poor South

26. Jim Crow Laws
After the American Civil War most states in the South passed anti-African American legislation. These became known as Jim Crow laws.
These laws included segregation in…
Schools -- Hospitals
Theaters -- Water fountains
Restaurants
Hotels
Public transportation
Some states forbade inter-racial marriages

27. These laws were instituted in 1896 and were not abolished till the late 1950’s (even then still not completely).

28. Harper Lee

29. Wrote To Kill a Mockingbird in 1960
Based the story on her life growing up in Monroeville, Alabama
TKAM was the only novel she ever wrote

30. The character of “Dill,” Scout and Jem’s playmate in the novel was based upon Lee’s actual neighbor, Truman Capote
Capote is famous for amongst other things, In Cold Blood and Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
It has been said that he gave Lee Mockingbird as a gift.

31. In 1962 the novel was turned into a film starring Gregory Peck.
It received a humanitarian award and several Academy Award nominations

32. Scottsboro Trials Took place during 1930’s in northern Alabama
Began with a charge of rape made by white women against 9 African American men.
Poor white status of accusers was a critical issue.
A central figure was a heroic judge, a member of the Alabama Bar who over- turned a guilty jury verdict against African American men.

33. Scottsboro Trials
An older woman was taking a younger woman across state lines to become a prostitute. During this time, taking a woman under age 18 was considered illegal. In reality, on the train ride, the women tore their dresses and roughened themselves up.

34. Scottsboro Trials
By claiming rape, they did not have to face the laws for bringing the underage woman across state lines.
The judge went against public sentiment in trying to protect the rights of the African American men.
Though none of the men were executed, they waited on death row for many years.
Finally, in 1976, the case was thrown out of court by a judge.

35. Ruby Bates taking the stand during the trial.
The Scottsboro boys with their lawyer.

36. Scottsboro Trial
The first juries failed to include any African Americans, a situation which caused the U.S. Supreme court to overturn the guilty verdict
The jury ignored the evidence, for example, that the women suffered no injuries.
Attitudes about Southern women and poor whites complicated the trial. .

37. Similarities between Harper Lee and Scout Finch
Grew up in 1930’s -- in rural southern Alabama town
Harper Lee’s father-- Amassa Lee-- an attorney who served in state legislature in Alabama
Older brother and young neighbor (Truman Capote) were playmates
Grew up in 1930’s -- in rural southern Alabama town
Scout Finch’s father-- Atticus Finch -- an attorney who served in state legislature in Alabama
Older brother and young neighbor (Dill) were playmates

38. Other Similarities Harper Lee - an avid reader
Six years old when Scottsboro trials covered in state and local newspapers
Scout Finch reads before she enters school, also an avid reader
Six years old when Tom Robinson trial takes place

39. The End