Of Mice And Men

1. The Great Depression

1.1. The Great Depression was a severe, worldwide, depression caused by the crash of the Stock Market.

1.2. Herbet Hoover, the US president at the time, was blamed for the Great Depression, as he was president and in charge of the country at the time.

1.3. In 1933 Franklin D, Roosevelt was elected president, and he had promised to act swiftly to deal with the great depression, during a speech on March 4th of 1933, and he tried to give people hope.

1.4. This made Hitler's Nazi Party in Germany, very popular amongst Germans.

1.5. It was one of the multiple reasons for World War 2, although it ended due to the start of world war 2.

1.6. The Great Depression caused a trade war.

1.7. Another cause for the great depression was the drought, overproduction of goods, bank failures, stock speculation and consumer debt.

2. The Wall Street Crash

2.1. The Wall Street Crash was the crash of the Stock Market in New York, during November 24th of 1929.

2.2. It caused unemployment and hyperinflation which led to the great depression.

2.3. Signs that said, "No Men Wanted" were displayed all over the country because of the Wall Street Crash.

2.4. It caused Nazis, Communism and Fascism to rise.

2.5. It caused the failure of thousands of banks and caused job losses, as well as, poverty.

2.6. It happened all over the world, not just in America.

3. Migrant Workers

3.1. Migrant Workers were workers that immigrated to the US to find work.

3.2. Migrant African farmers were often treated more like slaves.

3.3. Migrant workers lived in poor conditions and took any opportunity given to them, to get a job.

3.4. Most migrant workers worked as farmers or as construction workers.

3.5. They were given very strict rules and paid very little, the average being $5 a day.

3.6. They weren't given any education or shelter, and even the children were forced to work.

3.7. Migrant workers tended to move West in order to find work.

3.8. A lot of migrant workers came from Oklahoma.

3.9. Migrant workers were forced to sleep in chicken coops, buildings that weren't safe for humans, roughly constructed shacks, tents or in an open field.

3.10. Migrant workers had a lack of legal protection.

3.11. California was seen as the promised land, and it was where migrant workers often travelled to in order to find work.

3.12. Most of the black Africans couldn't get jobs.

3.13. A lot of farmers were in debt.

3.14. Most of the jobs were dangerous as well as low-paying.

4. African Americans in the 1930s

4.1. Black people often found it harder to get jobs as they were the "Last Hired and First Fired". And most of the jobs they did end up getting, were considered unofficial.

4.2. African Americans were used as slaves, and any children they had, were born into slavery with no chances of escaping.

4.3. Lynching happened a lot to the African Americans, and there wasn't any punishment for doing this. Over 6,000 African Americans were lynched.

4.4. African Americans tended to be show shiners, drivers or pullman car workers, they got the jobs that the white men didn't want to do. And sometimes they made less than $5 a day.

4.5. The majority of the time, blacks weren't allowed in soup kitchens.

5. Mental Illnesses in The 1930s

5.1. The mentally ill were not treated correctly, as people didn't know what was biologically wrong with them, and they assumed they just didn't know how to act normal around people.

5.2. Most mental illnesses were treated with the same methods, which tended to be morbid. Examples of the techniques they used are, shock therapy, lobotomy and hydrotherapy.

5.3. Stereotypes were used against people with mental illnesses.

5.4. Lobotomy was a technique used to damage the neurological connection that were the roots of mental illnesses. This technique often had negative effects on the patients' personalities, initiative empathy and ability to function on their own.

5.5. People with mental illnesses were seen as crazy and not fit for society, which gave the doctor's more reasons to test their techniques on patients.

6. The American Dream

6.1. The American dream was the belief of a land where life would be better, richer and fuller for everyone, depending on their ability or achievement.

6.2. The Great Recession and rising income inequality caused the end of the American Dream for many people.

6.3. The term "The American Dream" was created by James Truslow Adams in September of 1931.

6.4. It was called this, because for many, it was only a dream, and didn't always become a reality.

6.5. The American Dream is no longer seen as achievable.

6.6. It was sold as an achievable plan, although it ended up being very different from the way it was expected to go. Especially for those who weren't white.

6.7. People believed that America was the country to go to if you wanted to be rich or famous.

6.8. For many people, the American dream turned into a nightmare, as they didn't get what they had hoped for.

6.9. The Dream only survived for certain individuals, as after wars and the horrors of slavery, as well as, the corruption of the government, a lot of people lost hope in the American Dream.

6.10. For a large amount of people, the dream ended with the wall street crash in 1929.

7. The Roaring Twenties

7.1. It was called "The Roaring Twenties" to represent the massive amounts of automobiles that filled the streets during the twenties.

7.2. The Roaring Twenties happened after the end of World War One, and it happened because people decided to enjoy life.

7.3. During the Roaring Twenties, life got better for women, as they got the right to vote and they earned better wages.

7.4. People started going to dance clubs, movies and sporting events.

7.5. People were challenging old traditions, which caused the majority of older generations to disapprove of this era.

7.6. During the Roaring Twenties, jazz music became really popular.

7.7. People were starting to really enjoy life, as they could be free to do whatever they wanted.

7.8. People demanded more money, and wanted more consumer products.

7.9. It lasted from 1918-1929, and it ended because of the Wall Street Crash and the start of the Great Depression.

7.10. During the Roaring Twenties, the economy began to prosper.

8. Dust Bowl

8.1. This was the name given to the Great Plains region in America, which consisted of Oklahoma, Texas and parts of neighbouring places, such as Kansas and Colorado.

8.2. It was called the "Dust Bowl" because it suffered from severe drought. It also had large dust clouds called black blizzards.

8.3. It was caused by weather patterns over the pacific ocean.

8.4. It caused around 7,000 deaths from being suffocated or being lost in the dust storms. It also caused permanent soil erosion.

8.5. By 1930, over 200 people had left the Great Plains.

8.6. Between 1932 and 1940 there were 362 black blizzards, which could last up to 11 hours, visibility levels could reach zero, and they could travel up to 60mph. It also covered 75% of the country.

8.7. It was impossible to harvest anything.

8.8. The amount of males going to school increased, although alcoholism, suicide rates and prostitution also increased.

8.9. Men ran away from marriages out of the fear of not being able to support their families.

8.10. Birthrates decreased, as having an unexpected child, wasn't ideal, as it would be costly, and most males couldn't afford to deal with the costs.

8.11. People started smoking cigarettes, as cigars were far too expensive.

8.12. The clouds created were so terrifying, people thought the world was going to end.

9. Changing Roles of Women Over The 1920s and 30s

9.1. Women began gaining more rights, during this time period, for example, they gained the right to vote, in August 18th of 1920.

9.2. The majority of women remained housewives, however the number of working women increased by 25%.

9.3. Divorce became easier for females, which resulted in the number of divorces doubling.

9.4. Gibson Girls were ideal, they had long hair straight skirts, large hats, no makeup and they were only allowed to do sports that couldn't hurt them, as well as being unable to smoke or drink.

9.5. Flappers were the changed American women, they had short, dark, bobbed hair and they wire short skirts, just below the knees and heavy makeup. They smoked and drank in public, wore bell shaped hats and casually dated.

10. John Steinbeck

10.1. His full name was John Ernst Steinbeck (Jr), after his father.

10.2. He was born on Feburary 27th of 1902, in Salinas California.

10.3. His father tried several different jobs to keep his family fed.

10.4. His mother, Olive Hamilton Steinbeck, was a former school teacher.

10.5. He grew up with 3 sisters and had a happy childhood.

10.6. He decided to become a writer at the age of 14, when he would lock himself in his bedroom to write poems and stories.

10.7. In 1919, John Steinbeck enrolled in Stanford University, although he, later on, dropped out.

10.8. He won many prizes for his work, and the last prize he won before his death, was the Nobel Prize for literature.

10.9. He wrote 27 books, 16 novels, 6 non fiction books and two collections of short stories. His first novel being, "Cup of Gold"

11. By Rhianne