Of Mice and Men WEBQUEST

1. Of Mice and MenWEBQUEST By: John Steinbeck

2. What are the geographical features of the Salinas Valley? • Located in Monterey County along the northern coast of California. • The valley is formed by the Gabilan and Santa Lucia mountains. • Referred to as the “Valley of the World” www.swisseduc.ch

3. What kinds of jobs are available there? • Primarily agricultural • Farm workers • Shipping • Agricultural Products • Artichokes • Lettuce • Strawberries • Wine Grapes • Various others • Livestock www.aniegogo.weebly.com

4. What were the main features of the Great Depression? • The stock market crashes in October of 1929. • Banks begin calling in loans. If people could not pay, they would lose their property (or whatever they promised as collateral). • More that 3.2 million people are unemployed. • Food riots explode across the nation and resentment of “foreign” workers increases. Mexican Americans are accused of stealing jobs from “real” Americans. • Government creates jobs that resulted in the development of national forests, parks, and lakes. (C.W.A. – Civil Works Administration and W.P.A – Works Progress Administration)

5. What were some of the causes of the Great Depression? • The Stock Market Crash of 1929. • Overproduction of consumer goods by factories. • Farmers were planting more wheat than what the market demanded. • Banks had little to no government regulations which left their customers unprotected when the market crashed. People lost their entire life’s savings.

7. How did the Dust Bowl/Great Depression effect California? • Due to the cultivation of land in the Great Plains during the 1920’s, the topsoil was left susceptible to drought. The rains stopped in 1931 which led to the Dust Bowl. • A quarter of the population of the Great Plains (estimated two million) left their land. • 200,000 migrated to California and joined the labor force of migrant workers.

8. Who were migrant workers? • Migrant workers travel to where work is offered – usually with the seasons. • Migrant workers are from all nationalities • European American • African American • Native American • Asian American • Hispanic American • In addition to non-citizens

10. How did the Great Depression effect the migrant worker? • Many Mexican American migrant workers were falsely deported because they were not viewed as “real” Americans. • Migrant workers were subjected to harsher working conditions and lower wages because people were desperate for work. Workers were replaceable. • Too many people looking for work reduced living conditions. The migrant worker camps were primitive – no electricity and no indoor plumbing.

11. What were some of the struggles that migrant workers faced? • Unfair wages for highly physical labor • Referred to as “stoop labor” • Primitive living conditions • Discrimination • Poor sanitation that resulted in health problems