New Deal Letters

DUE MONDAY AFTER SPRING BREAK!!!

Introduction
The beginning of the Great Depression was marked by the stock market crash of 1929, but it would take many years before the economic stranglehold would reach farmers and the working poor. In 1932, thirteen million people, or almost a forth of the work force, were unemployed. Banks ran out of money, farmers lost their land, and soup lines in the cities would sometimes stretch for blocks. While some were able to find work eventually, the economic conditions improved very slowly and depression lasted a full decade.


The Task
You will assume the role of one of the following peoples during the great depression:

a factory worker
a farmer struggling to keep the farm
a migrant worker from Oklahoma

You will be writing two letters to your family. In the first round of letters:

-the factory worker talks about what his or her job is like and the risk of being laid off

-the farmer talks about the drought and the bank wanting to foreclose 

-the migrant worker write about his or her journey to California and trying to find work

In the second round of letters, you will explain what programs have been put into place by the New Deal that affect you. 




The Process

The First Letter:
You will need to:
· write about how much money you make
· discuss the price of at least 2 items (any items that would be important to your life, but the items need to be different from what your siblings talk about)
· describe what a normal day is like
· guess what you think is going to happen
· write at least 10-20 sentences.

The Second Letter:
You will need to:
· explain what has happened since your first letter than makes your life harder
· explain what New Deal programs have been put into place that affect you
· explain why you think your life is easier or harder now that these New Deal programs have been put into place
· write at least 10-20 sentences.


Resources

Farm life

Background information about the drought (1 page)
Information about Black Sunday (1 page)
First hand account on the farm. (2 pages)
Man who lead campaign for soil conservation (2 pages)

City life

Description of mill worker (1/4 page)
Short blurb about rent parties (1/4)
Explains the WPA; unemployed factory workers might get a job this way (2 pages)

Migrant life

The drought and why people left (2 pages)
People leaving farms for California (2 pages)
A berry picker describes his day (3 pages)
Detailed description of trip to California (5 pages)
Connection to John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath

Everyone
List of New Deal Programs 
Prices of groceries and other goods