Dear Classmates,
This is the presentation for the Depression Era. There are several posts on this blog so please make sure to read them all in order to get answers for the quiz. You can reach other posts by clicking the "older posts" tab at the bottom of the screen.
Happy Reading!
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Kelley's Army
In winter of 1914 a group of 75,000 migratory laborers organized a march to the state capitol. They were organized by General Kelley and they camped outside the capitol but again they faced harsh opposition which lead to violence and they disassembled. The workers lobbied tirelessly and we can connect to how far we’ve come by thinking about today’s employment laws.
Reported by:
Maria Martinez
Reported by:
Maria Martinez
The International Workers of the World (I.W.W.)
The International Workers of the World was formed and they are a group of organized field workers who wanted to unionize and make changes to their deplorable working conditions and wages. The members of the IWW were also know as wobblies who went from farm to farm to encourage new members throughout California. The wobblies however were feared by the Californians as organized labor was not something they supported. Starting in the mid 1850s Vigilance Committees were formed to police the organized laborers. They weren’t fairly promoting a lawful environment since the vigilance committees were made up of people on the side of the farm owners and “the propertied class” (507) The battle was rich against poor working class laborers in which the people at the top of the food chain if you want to call it wanted to keep the laborers in their place.
Reported by:
Maria Martinez
Reported by:
Maria Martinez
The Wheatland Riot
The Wheatland Riot is an event that took place August 3, 1913 “on the ranch of a large hop grower named Durst near Wheatland, California.” (507) Durst had falsely advertised he was hiring 2700 workers and in reality he could only hire 1500 workers. May families caravanned to seek employment only to be met with a lack of water and sanitation while camping out. Durst had advertised for more workers than he needed so it could “drive wages down” he also intentionally kept the living conditions at the camp as inhumane living conditions purposefully hoping workers would leave and he could withhold ten percent of their wages. The people had enough of the terrible conditions which lead them to organize to improve working conditions. Their meeting was interrupted by “the sheriff and his men who fired a gun in the air” and then everyone started fighting. The riot caused a stir and resulted in deaths and there were many people arrested.
Reported by:
Maria Martinez
Reported by:
Maria Martinez
What caused the Depression
One of the major causes of the depression was the stock market crash of 1929. After World War I, the mood of the 1920s, also known as the "roaring twenties" consisted of new technologies and businesses. Many businesses opened up and people started buying shares because they were not seen as a threat. Many people of the time only thought that the value of stocks went up. In April of 1930, stocks were up almost 13 percent, but started to decline after. As a result, a lot of people invested their life savings into stocks because it was seen as a "sure thing". When the stock market crashed, a lot of people had no money and businesses laid people off to save money. Unemployment went up. In 1929, unemployment was at 3.2%, in 1930 it rose to 8.9 percent, and in 1933 almost 25% of the people were unemployed. Unemployment also meant people did not have a lot of m
oney that would go into the economy, which hurt the economy even more.
President Herbert Hoover took action by approving a program that urged the federal goverment to "accelerate their spending" and build some buildings. Hoover even asked companies, such as railroad and utilities, to promise investments and to keep their employees. However, businesses responded to what was going on by cutting down their labor force and cutting costs. Along with unemployment, many people and businesses filed for bankruptcy. "In 1929 there had been 659 bank failures. That number in 1930 rose to 1,352" (The great depression). Even with Hoover's plan, the economy continued to go down.
The Depression affected many states, but took a toll on California. Many of the immigrant workers lost their jobs. Houses were made out of almost anything, "Shelters were made of almost every conceivable thing - burlap, canvas, palm branches." (Picture this). Wages dropped because of more people in the labor force, and protests and strikes were held to battle against the bad conditions and wages. In the United States, agriculture suffered because of the Dust Bowl in the midwest. California was not harmed by this, however, California farm owners actually benefited because there were many immigrants fighting for the same job, farm owners had access to cheap labor. The Depression hurt many people. Many lost their jobs, but in California the owners benefited from the cheap labor of people trying to find jobs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oUcaodWSDE
sources:
http://www.stock-market-crash.net/1929.htm
http://www.fsmitha.com/h2/ch15wd.html
http://www.educationreport.org/article.aspx?ID=4018
http://www.museumca.org/picturethis/3_2.html
oney that would go into the economy, which hurt the economy even more.President Herbert Hoover took action by approving a program that urged the federal goverment to "accelerate their spending" and build some buildings. Hoover even asked companies, such as railroad and utilities, to promise investments and to keep their employees. However, businesses responded to what was going on by cutting down their labor force and cutting costs. Along with unemployment, many people and businesses filed for bankruptcy. "In 1929 there had been 659 bank failures. That number in 1930 rose to 1,352" (The great depression). Even with Hoover's plan, the economy continued to go down.
The Depression affected many states, but took a toll on California. Many of the immigrant workers lost their jobs. Houses were made out of almost anything, "Shelters were made of almost every conceivable thing - burlap, canvas, palm branches." (Picture this). Wages dropped because of more people in the labor force, and protests and strikes were held to battle against the bad conditions and wages. In the United States, agriculture suffered because of the Dust Bowl in the midwest. California was not harmed by this, however, California farm owners actually benefited because there were many immigrants fighting for the same job, farm owners had access to cheap labor. The Depression hurt many people. Many lost their jobs, but in California the owners benefited from the cheap labor of people trying to find jobs.
Reported by:
Mercedez Rodriquez
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oUcaodWSDE
sources:
http://www.stock-market-crash.net/1929.htm
http://www.fsmitha.com/h2/ch15wd.html
http://www.educationreport.org/article.aspx?ID=4018
http://www.museumca.org/picturethis/3_2.html
The Farm workers had long been searching for better treatment. They tried to do this by organizing into labor unions. However, they were strongly opposed by “Vigilante Committees” set up by the middle and merchant classes who were strongly opposed to unionization. These committees sought to stop the migrant laborers by any means necessary, up to and including violence.
Reported by:
Wesley Sam
Many Californians were very upset about the effects that the migrant workers were having on the area. One of the results of these feelings was the persecution of these people. One of these was the so-called “anti-okie law” of 1937, which read: "Every person, firm or corporation, or officer or agent thereof that brings or assists in bringing into the State any indigent person who is not a resident of the State, knowing him to be an indigent person, is guilty of a misdemeanor.”
Reported by:
Wesley Sam
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