Georgia Economic History
DEPRESSION AND WORLD CONFLICT
Lesson 10
“Ya better sell your old machines 'cause when I'm through
with your cotton you can't even buy gasoline…”
The impact of the boll weevil and drought on Georgia
Enduring Understanding
The prosperity of a region is determined by natural, economic, and political forces.
Lesson Essential Question
How do forces of nature affect the economy of Georgia?
Introduction
In the 1920s, Georgia’s economy (primarily based on growing cotton) was devastated by
the boll weevil and drought. In this lesson students will learn that the drought and the
boll weevil were so devastating to the economy that it led to the “Great Migration” of
both African-Americans and Whites from rural to urban areas. In addition, students will
examine the impact that these natural disasters and other economic events had on popular
culture (e.g. songs).
GPS Standards –
SS8E1 The student will give examples of the kinds of goods and services produced in
Georgia in different historical periods.
SS8H8 The student will describe and analyze the important events that occurred after
World War I and their impact on Georgia.
a. Describe the impact of the boll weevil and drought on Georgia.
b. Explain economic factors that led to the Great Depression.
Economic Concepts
economic growth, opportunity cost
Knowledge
The student will know that:
ƒ the boll weevil and drought of 1924
had long lasting economic effects
on the state of Georgia.
ƒ the boll weevil and drought of 1924
were factors that led to the Great
Migration.
ƒ major economic events have been
immortalized into popular culture
by song.
Core Skills
The student will be able to:
ƒ read for information.
ƒ draw conclusions.
ƒ interpret a chart.
ƒ identify primary and secondary
sources.
Georgia Council on Economic Education © 2008
Lesson 10
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Georgia Economic History
DEPRESSION AND WORLD CONFLICT
Materials Needed
1 copy/student:
ƒ white paper
ƒ colored pencils and markers
ƒ Loss of Full Cotton Yield
Worksheet
ƒ Boll Weevil Song Handout
ƒ Brother Can You Spare a Dime
Handout
ƒ Economic Music Worksheet
One copy to display on overhead or LCD
projector:
ƒ Bug Monument Selection
Transparency
ƒ Boll Weevil Monument
Transparency
ƒ Boll Weevil Transparency
ƒ Boll Weevil Destruction
Transparency
ƒ Hardships of the South Handout
ƒ CD player or computer with
speakers
ƒ Boll Weevil Song Music
ƒ Brother Can You Spare a Dime
Music
ƒ Georgia Stories video The Great
Depression
ƒ Whiteboard and markers
Time Required
2-3 class periods
Procedures
1. Begin lesson by showing the Bug Monument Selection Transparency. Ask
students to list the advantages and disadvantages of each bug shown. After
coming to some kind of consensus on which bug or bugs is/are the best, ask
students the likelihood of any town actually building a monument to a bug.
2. Tell students that they must select one of the four bugs to become a new
monument in the center of town. This new monument will be used to honor the
selected bug. Students should write a one-paragraph speech that will be read at
the dedication of the monument.
3. Show the students the transparency, Boll Weevil Monument, which is an actual
monument located in Enterprise, Alabama. Ask students why they think a town
would erect a statue in honor of an insect and discuss their answers.
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Georgia Economic History
DEPRESSION AND WORLD CONFLICT
4. Ask students to identify which crops the South specialized in before and after the
Civil War (cotton, tobacco, peaches). Ask them if they have ever heard of the
boll weevil before seeing the monument. Tell them that even though most may
have not heard of it, this little insect was incredibly destructive to the economy of
the South, including Georgia.
5. Discuss possible reasons for building a boll weevil monument despite the fact that
these bugs were so destructive.
6. Explain to students that, due to the economic hardships caused by the boll weevil
and the drought, African-American and white agricultural workers in Georgia had
to make choices about where to move and what to do for a living. Many decided
to move to cities located either in Georgia or in other parts of the United States
(mainly in the North or West). Remind students that no matter what decisions
were made there were always opportunity costs (explained below in step 8)
involved with those decisions.
7. Ask students what was given up by the agricultural workers when they decided to
move to cities in Georgia and other parts of the United States. Ask students what
the best alternative would have been for a farmer who decided to leave his or her
farm to seek work in a city. List student responses on the board.
8. Define “opportunity cost” as the next best alternative given up when a decision is
made. Link this definition back to step 7. Ask students what the opportunity cost
was for the agricultural workers who moved to cities.
9. Distribute the Loss of Full Cotton Yield Worksheet and tell students that they are
going to make two graphs illustrating (1) the destruction of cotton caused by the
boll weevil, and (2) the mass migration of African-Americans. Have students
answer the questions listed on the handout and allow them to discuss their
answers with a partner.
10. Check student graphs for completion and accuracy. Ask students to discuss the
relationship between the two graphs.
11. Show students the Boll Weevil and Boll Weevil Destruction Transparencies.
Explain to the students that once the weevils started laying eggs in cotton fields it
was very destructive to the crop.
12. Share the Hardships of the South Handout and have the students take notes.
Answer any questions students may have.
13. Instruct students that the destruction caused by the boll weevil was such a major
event that many musicians of the time wrote popular songs about the occurrence.
Explain to students that major economic events often times find their way into
popular music as song writers try to explain major events of the day.
Georgia Council on Economic Education © 2008
Lesson 10
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Georgia Economic History
DEPRESSION AND WORLD CONFLICT
14. Distribute the lyrics to the Boll Weevil Song and Brother Can You Spare a Dime
(you may have to give a brief explanation of the events portrayed in Brother).
Play the song and have students complete the Economic Music Chart. Upon
completion go over the answers. Emphasize the fact that certain economic events
became the basis for popular music. Complete the Brother Can You Spare a
Dime section with the next EQ
15. Ask the students how the boll weevil forced agricultural workers to specialize and
diversify. Direct discussion to include the idea that the boll weevil forced farmers
and communities to diversify their practices. The boll weevil was also
responsible for pushing many workers into new lines of work.
16. Ask students how the boll weevil helped cities grow. Direct discussion to include
the idea that with an influx of new workers, cities were able to expand. Conclude
this lesson by showing students the Georgia Stories video “The Great Depression”
which summarizes the era.
17. Conclude the lesson by displaying the Boll Weevil Monument image once again.
Ask students why this monument was constructed.
The New Georgia Encyclopedia
For more background information to support this lesson, read these entries:
Poor Whites
Sharecropping
Great Depression
New Deal in Georgia
Cotton
Boll Weevil
Cotton Expositions in Atlanta
EconEdLink Online Lessons
For more student activities on economic history in a U.S. context, use these lessons:
Where Did All the Money Go? The Great Depression Mystery
http://www.econedlink.org/lessons/index.php?lesson=EM558&page=teacher
The Road to Emerald City Is Paved with Good Intentions
http://www.econedlink.org/lessons/index.php?lesson=EM38&page=teacher
Georgia Council on Economic Education © 2008
Lesson 10
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Georgia Economic History
DEPRESSION AND WORLD CONFLICT
Assessment
1. The boll weevil monument in Enterprise, Alabama, was created because the boll
weevil forced people in the south to
A. diversify their economy.*
B. move from urban to rural areas.
C. create an economy based solely on one crop.
D. grow more cotton to compensate for the boll weevil’s destruction.
2. The boll weevil and drought of 1924 forced both Southern Blacks and Whites to
A. move from urban to rural areas to find jobs.
B. move from rural to urban areas to find jobs.*
C. work together to overcome their economic hardships.
D. move from Northern cities to Southern cities to find jobs.
3. Brother can You Spare a Dime is a primary source written about which major
economic event?
A. the Panic of 1837.
B. the Great Migration.
C. the Drought of 1924.
D. the Great Depression.*
Georgia Council on Economic Education © 2008
Lesson 10
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Bug Monument Selection
Transparency
#1 Sand Gnat
#2 Mosquito
#3 Cockroach
#4 Boll Weevil
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Lesson 10
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Boll Weevil Monument: Enterprise, Alabama
Georgia Council on Economic Education © 2008
Lesson 10
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Transparency
Loss of Full Cotton Yield
Worksheet
Create a bar graph based on these data.
% Loss of Full Cotton Yield Due to Boll Weevil (Georgia): 1915-1939
1915: 0%
1918: 11%
1921: 45%
1924: 15%
1927: 18%
1930: 7%
1933: 8%
1936: 6%
1939: 14%
Source: Fabin Lange, Allan L. Olmstead, & Paul W. Rhode The Impact of the Boll Weevil: 1892-1940 (2007)
http://www.nber.org/confer/2007/si2007/DAE/rhode.pdf
Create a line graph based on the data provided…
% of African Americans Living in Urban Areas 1890-1930
1890: 20%
1900: 23%
1910; 27%
1920: 34%
1930: 44%
Source: Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture “Number and Percent of African-Americans in the United States Living in
Urban and Rural Communities: 1890-1930
http://www.inmotionaame.org/gallery/detail.cfm?migration=8&topic=10&id=8_004M&type=map
Compare your two graphs. On the back of this sheet, write three
generalizations based on these data.
Georgia Council on Economic Education © 2008
Lesson 10
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Loss of Full Cotton Yield
Worksheet
% Loss of Full Cotton Yield Due to Boll Weevil (Georgia): 1915-1939
50
%
Destruction
45
25
Cotton
18
15
14
11
7
0
1915
1918
1921
1924
1927
1930
8
6
1933
1936
1939
Year
% of African Americans Living in Urban Areas 1890-1930
50
45
34
% in
Cities
27
23
25
AfricanAmericans
20
0
1890
1900
1910
1920
1930
Year
Answers will vary but possible conclusions could include: Many African-Americans had already started
moving to urban areas before the boll weevil arrived, but their numbers increased more dramatically
during the same years (1920-1930) that the boll weevil was causing the most damage. The destruction
caused by the boll weevil both increased and decreased through the 1920’s and 1930’s but the migration
of African-Americans continuously increased. The most damage caused by the boll weevil occurred in
1921, etc.
Charts generated from: National Center for Educational Statistics: Kid Zone http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/createagraph/
Georgia Council on Economic Education © 2008
Lesson 10
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The Boll Weevil
Transparency
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Lesson 10
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Boll Weevil Destruction
Georgia Council on Economic Education © 2008
Lesson 10
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Transparency
Hardships of the South
Handout
ƒ A boll weevil is a small, gray, long-snouted
beetle that attacks the cotton plant.
9 Originally came from Mexico
9 The larvae feed on the white, fluffy
cotton resulting in vast destruction of
crops.
ƒ Droughts in Georgia result in devastation of
crops, leaving a lower supply of food for
families and their animals.
9 In addition to the boll weevil, Georgia
farmers have been hurt primarily by
droughts.
9 The 1924 drought resulted in: workers
moving away to seek jobs, a decline in
the number of working farms, and banks
facing losses of assets (due to the money
they had previously loaned to farmers).
9 Although the drought had harsh effects
on other crops it DID slow down the
destruction of the boll weevil on the
cotton plants.
Georgia Council on Economic Education © 2008
Lesson 10
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Boll Weevil Song by Brook Benton (1961)
Let me tell ya a story about a boll weevil
Now, some of you may not know
But a boll weevil is an insect
And he's found mostly where cotton grows
Now, where he comes from, hm, nobody really knows
But this is the way the story goes
The farmer said to the boll weevil
"I see you're on the square"
Boll weevil said to the farmer
"Say yep, my whole darn family's here"
The farmer said to the boll weevil
"Say, why do you pick my farm"
The weevil just laughed at the farmer 'n' said
"We ain't gonna do ya much harm"
Ho-o-o-o-o,-o-o-o, -o-o-o, o-o-ome"
And the boll weevil spotted a lightning bug.
He said "Hey, I'd like to make a trade with you
But, ya see if I was a lightning bug
I'd search the whole night through"
And the boll weevil called the farmer, 'n' he said
"Ya better sell your old machines
'Cause when I'm through with your cotton
Heh, you can't even buy gasoline
"Stake me a home, gotta have a home
And the boll weevil said to the farmer, said " Farmer
I'd like to wish you well"
Farmer said to the boll weevil
"Yeah, an' I wish that you were in ****" home
Lookin' for a home
Ahh, you have a home all right, you have a home
A real hot home, ahhh
Source: Oldielyrics.com http://www.oldielyrics.com/lyrics/brook_benton/the_boll_weevil_song.html
Georgia Council on Economic Education © 2008
Lesson 10
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Handout
"Brother, Can You Spare a Dime"
Handout
lyrics by Yip Harburg, music by Jay Gorney (1931)
They used to tell me I was building a dream, and so I followed the mob,
When there was earth to plow, or guns to bear, I was always there right on the job.
They used to tell me I was building a dream, with peace and glory ahead,
Why should I be standing in line, just waiting for bread?
Once I built a railroad, I made it run, made it race against time.
Once I built a railroad; now it's done. Brother, can you spare a dime?
Once I built a tower, up to the sun, brick, and rivet, and lime;
Once I built a tower, now it's done. Brother, can you spare a dime?
Once in khaki suits, gee we looked swell,
Full of that Yankee Doodly Dum,
Half a million boots went slogging through Hell,
And I was the kid with the drum!
Say, don't you remember, they called me Al; it was Al all the time.
Why don't you remember, I'm your pal? Buddy, can you spare a dime?
Once in khaki suits, gee we looked swell,
Full of that Yankee Doodly Dum,
Half a million boots went slogging through Hell,
And I was the kid with the drum!
Say, don't you remember, they called me Al; it was Al all the time.
Say, don't you remember, I'm your pal? Buddy, can you spare a dime?
Source: Songs of the Great Depression http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/dept/history/lavender/cherries.html
Georgia Council on Economic Education © 2008
Lesson 10
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Economic Music Chart
Worksheet
Major economic events are often immortalized in song. Listen to the following songs
written about major economic events and fill in the chart below.
Artist/Title Date
Written
Initial
Thoughts
What
Economic
Event is
Discussed?
What was
the Writer
Trying to
Imply about
the Event?
Adapted from a lesson plan by Elly L. Frachiseur and Derek N. Tuthill under the supervision of Scott L. Roberts
Georgia Council on Economic Education © 2008
Lesson 10
page 15 of 18
Primary or
Secondary
Source?
Economic Music Chart
Worksheet
Major economic events are often immortalized in song. Listen to the following songs
written about major economic events and fill in the chart below.
Artist/Title
Date
Written
Initial
Thoughts
What
Economic
Event is
Discussed?
Brook
Benton
1961
Answers
will vary
Boil Weevil
destruction
of the cotton
plant in the
1920’s and
1930’s
1931
Answers
will vary
The Great
Depression.
“The Boll
Weevil
Song”
Yip
Harburg
“Brother
can you
Spare a
Dime”
A former
WWI soldier
and hard
worker is
“down on
his luck”
because of
the
depression.
What was
the Writer
Trying to
Imply about
the Event?
The Boil
Weevil was
destructive,
people
should have
sympathy for
farmers
People who
work hard
are also
affected by
the
depression
and people
should have
sympathy for
them and
not treat
them poorly
for being
unemployed.
Adapted from a lesson plan by Elly L. Frachiseur and Derek N. Tuthill under the supervision of Scott L. Roberts
Georgia Council on Economic Education © 2008
Lesson 10
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Primary or
Secondary
Source?
Secondary,
recorded
after the
event
Primary,
written
during the
event