EXERCISE#11
Accounts from the Great Depression
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Date
CHAPTERFOUR
Name
Readthe foflowingstoriesaboutwhat life was like duringthe Great Depression,and then
answer
the correspondingquestions.
Living in the Jungle
I left home in 1932 and have never been back, I was reafly depressed before I feft
home. The
"tarm"
had turned into a desert and no amount of work would bring in a crop. Dust rtotr", pr"iri"
fires, hunger,and dirt were the only rewards receivedin the palliseiTriangle.
I am now living in a Jungle" outside a small town in British Columbia- There are about
twenty of
us living in tarpaper and cardboardshacks. There is no pfumbingor heating but at
least it,s a
"
place to stay. We live from day to day and never know when we willLat again.
The peopfe from the town avoid us. Anything that goes wrong in the town is our fault.
But the
police don't come into the jungle because they're afraid. We are fiving in tough
tirnes and the
needy people have become desperate
In a few days, f'll hop on a freighttrain and move east. Just thinking of moving again
bringsfear
and hope- Ridingthe rods is dangerous.I have learnedto run beside the moviig train at
tlie right
speed and to grab onlo the ladder on the side of the car at the right moment. But I
have seen
terribleaccidents-I have seen men fall under the wheelsof the train when they fosttheir grip.
The best thing that could happen would be for all of us to find jobs and setile down. But
lhere are
no jobs available,except at the reliefcampsRecently I've become homesick. I want to go home and see my folks but I know that conditions
at
home are still bad. The drought is stilt going on and I woulb just be an exlra mouth
to feed.
SometimesI get the feeling that we are all being punishedfor iomething - but I don't
know for
what- | just hope thbt somedaythe rains will come to allow my family and myselfto make
a living.
I want to get back my pride.
A Wanderer
I never so much as stole a dime, a loaf of bread, a gatlon of gas, but in those days t
was treated
like a criminal.lt became a criminalact just to be poor.
I was not a hobo' A hobo, by definition,is a regular bum, a professionalbum, and lhere probably
were hoboes in the time of the Crusades and there are hoboes now. There always have
been
that kind of people, whether they are on the highways or in the stums, or in the Skid Roads living
off their wife's inheritedwealth. Hoboismis a state of mind.
I was, you could say, a wanderer. One of the unfortunates.A victim of the economic system?
Perhaps- Certainly, most certainty a casualty in the battle between ignorant men who were
runningthis country.
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EXERCTSE#11
Accounts from the Great Depression
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sHAPIERFOUR
Narne
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The Dirty Thirties
We were dryland farmers in the Palliser Triangle during the Dirty Thirties, Let me tell you, they sure
were dirty- The wind blew all the time- lt was always here, and it came from alf four corners of the
world. lt sucked up every bil of moisture we hadWhen the wind picked up, the dry dust would just float away - like smoke- lt was arvful- Great hunks of
dirt would just be blown right awayThat dirt which blew off my land, that wasn't dirt- That yyas my land, and it was going south into
Montana or north up towards Regina or easl or west and it was never coming back- T[e brf just bfew
away-
1- What is meant by the expression "riding the rods'?
2- The author of "Living in the Jungfe" alludes to possible work at "relief camps". What is a
relief camp? \Afhatkind of work would be avairabrethere?
i i
3" why does the author of "A wanderef'
reject the tiile of hobo?
4" According to the author of "The Dirty Thirties', why was it particularly apt that the Great
Depression was named the difty Thirties?
5- Discuss the significanceof the loss of land to farmers during the Great Depression.
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EXERCISE#12
Responses fo the Depression
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Date
CHAPTERFOUR
Name
Refer to the Student Workboakp,90-92
1- In what sense were world leaders shortsiqhtedwhen respondingto the Depression?
THE UNITEDSTATES
2- Explain how PresidentHoove/s policiesaffectedthe extent to which the Depressionhit the
U.S.A.
3- What electionpromiseconvincedthe peopleto elect FranklinRooseveftin the next election?
4- a) What radicalsolutiondid John MeynardKeynesproposein responseto the Depression?
b) An importantpart of Keynes' plan included the point that employment programsshould
not merelybe "make-work"-Explainwhat this means.
5. why were countriesreluctantto adopt Keynesianeconomics?
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EXERCfSE#12
Responses fo the Depression
Block
Date
CHAPTER FOUR
Name
CANADA
6- Name five ways in which some canadians tried to address
their econornicproblems-
7. Why did so many people "ride the raifs'?
B. Why didn'l more peopfe collect public relief?
9' Expfain how Prime Minister Bennett initially
responded to the Depression when he was
efectedin 1930t
t
10- outline the components of Bennett's 'New Deal'
by ranking each point in order of what you
think best protectsindividualsin times of economic
crisis.
11-a) fn June 1935, why did thousands of relief
campers participate in the -on-to-ottawa
Trek'?
b) What happenedat the Regina Riot?
12' Why did the people turn against Bennettand elect
Mackenzie King in the next election?
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t
l
"
EXERCISE#13
Conseguences af the Great Depression
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Date
CHAPTER FOUR
Name
Referto the StudentWorkbookp-93-g4
Explainthe following conseguencesof the Great Depression:
1- Unemployment
2. BankingFailures
4- Changein Rofe of Government
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and specific to site.