Grapes of Wrath Grapes of Wrath (the movie, 1940)(the movie, 1940)

• How would you describe their connection to the land?

• How did the economic system fail the Dust Bowl migrants?

• Why was it so difficult to assign responsibility?

• What kind of hardships did the Joads experience on the road?

• How did many “Okies” view California?

Federal AidFederal Aid

• Federal Emergency Relief Administration • Hostility toward Mexican communities• Texas• New Mexico• Los Angeles, CA• Private charities overburdened• City work relief goes to whites

GrowersGrowers

• Call for open border• U.S. Dept. of Agriculture • $38 million in federal monies had been

invested in irrigation projects • A devious plan

The Mexican “Problem”The Mexican “Problem”

• Immigration Act of 1929 • President Hoover publicly denounces

Mexicans • Repatriations as a solution • William N. Doak, Secretary of Labor• Publicizing raids and scapegoating

Mexicans

RepatriationRepatriation

• Local law enforcement • Sick and elderly • Texas• Los Angeles, January 6, 1931 • Scare-ahead tactics • La Placita Raid-Feb. 26, 1931 • Public space and psychological warfare

Repatriation and the Mexican Repatriation and the Mexican Family Family

• U.S.-born children• climate of fear, few community resources• Mixups and screwups

Consequences of RepatriationConsequences of Repatriation

• Economic impact• Immigration Bureau » Immigration and

Naturalization Service (1933) • FDR reviews repatriation • Banks hurt by repatriation • Mexicans emerge as the quintessential “illegal

alien” • dismal plight of Mexicans and Mexican

Americans • Disposal of human labor

Labor Activism and the New DealLabor Activism and the New Deal

• National Industrial Recovery Act, 1933– Section 7A

• The Farm Bloc and the New Deal

• Workers in ag. vs. industrial workers

• Agricultural Adjustment Act, 1933

• National Labor Relations Act (Wagner Act) 1935 – National Labor Relations

Board

Grapes of WrathGrapes of Wrath• John Steinbeck, 1939• Set during GD• Joad family driven off their farm• Dust Bowl reached Texas and Oklahoma, parts of New

Mexico, Colorado, and Kansas • Exacerbated economic depression• 100 million acres of land• By 1935, more than 500,000 Americans were left

homeless • 1934 and 1936 worst years• Migrate to California• “Okies”

Great Strike of 1933Great Strike of 1933• 1929 and 1933, wages dropped from $3.50 to

$1.90 a day • Violence escalates-Oct. 10, 1933 • Strike receives national attention • Killings force gov’t. intervention • Growers resisting arbitration • Growers agree to federal mediation • Strikers refuse to return to work • Partial victory for strikers

– Accepted 75 cents/hour

Pixley, California, Cotton Strike. Pat Chambers speaks to a crowd of strikers Pixley, California, Cotton Strike. Pat Chambers speaks to a crowd of strikers

during a rally.during a rally.

Pixley Cotton Strike leader Caroline Decker, a Communist organizerPixley Cotton Strike leader Caroline Decker, a Communist organizer

Pixley Cotton Strike. Procession (line) of trucks carrying strikers as a sort of Pixley Cotton Strike. Procession (line) of trucks carrying strikers as a sort of mobile picket line. First truck has a sign on side: "Join the Picket Lines; Don't mobile picket line. First truck has a sign on side: "Join the Picket Lines; Don't

Scab."Scab."

John Steinbeck's John Steinbeck's In Dubious BattleIn Dubious Battle is a novel describing the Great Cotton Strike is a novel describing the Great Cotton Strike

of 1933 by farm workers in the California Central Valley.of 1933 by farm workers in the California Central Valley.

Pixley, California, Cotton Strike, 1933. Overview of camp of evicted cotton Pixley, California, Cotton Strike, 1933. Overview of camp of evicted cotton

strikers.strikers.

At the Pixley, California,Cotton Strike in 1933, eight armed farmers wait At the Pixley, California,Cotton Strike in 1933, eight armed farmers wait

to ambush strikers/unionizers as they cross over to the union hall.to ambush strikers/unionizers as they cross over to the union hall.

Pixley, California, Cotton Strike, 1933. A line of men (possibly farm owners) Pixley, California, Cotton Strike, 1933. A line of men (possibly farm owners)

stands next to a long line of policemen, preparing for battle.stands next to a long line of policemen, preparing for battle.