HOMEWORK FOR CHAPTER 2
After reading each section, take time to reflect on the two sets of Questions for Discussion.
Chapter 2: A Nation Adrift Part II
Chapter 2: A Nation Adrift Part II
Woody Guthrie, who went on to become a famous song-writer concerned about the working conditions facing working-class people, joined the "Okies" with his wife and three children to migrate to California. He left his wife and children in Texas.
Heavy black clouds of dust rising over the Texas Panhandle, 1936
Heavy black clouds of dust rising over the Texas Panhandle, 1936
Photo: Arthur Rothstein
Photo: Arthur Rothstein
https://thegreatdepressionphotos.wordpress.com/photographers-2/arthur-rothstein/#jp-carousel-73
"By mid-morning a gale was blowing, cold and black. By noon it was blacker than night, because one can see through night and this was an opaque black. It was a wall of dirt one's eyes could not penetrate, but it could penetrate the eyes and ears and nose. It could penetrate the lungs until one coughed up black. If a person was outside, he tied his handkerchief around his face, but he still coughed up black..." Since Yesterday ," 1939, by Frederick Lewis Allen, page 196.
"By mid-morning a gale was blowing, cold and black. By noon it was blacker than night, because one can see through night and this was an opaque black. It was a wall of dirt one's eyes could not penetrate, but it could penetrate the eyes and ears and nose. It could penetrate the lungs until one coughed up black. If a person was outside, he tied his handkerchief around his face, but he still coughed up black..." Since Yesterday ," 1939, by Frederick Lewis Allen, page 196.
"...The worst drought in modern American history struck the Great Plains in 1934, and windstorms stripped the topsoil from millions of acres, destroying crops and livestock. Some 2.5 million people left the states of Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas, most heading to California – the Dust Bowl ‘Okies’ taking to the road form another indelible image of 1930s....Even before the ‘Dust Bowl’, the average per capita income of a farm household in 1933 was just $167 per year; and having borrowed money to mechanize their operations, indebted farmers faced banks foreclosing on them at the rate of 20,000 per month."
"...The worst drought in modern American history struck the Great Plains in 1934, and windstorms stripped the topsoil from millions of acres, destroying crops and livestock. Some 2.5 million people left the states of Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas, most heading to California – the Dust Bowl ‘Okies’ taking to the road form another indelible image of 1930s....Even before the ‘Dust Bowl’, the average per capita income of a farm household in 1933 was just $167 per year; and having borrowed money to mechanize their operations, indebted farmers faced banks foreclosing on them at the rate of 20,000 per month."
In keeping with an exploration of salient events and issues, we have linked the Dust Bowl and the Supreme Court, not because they were truly connected, but more to make the point that the recovery was difficult and incomplete. And in both situations, the solutions were neither immediately obvious (better farming techniques) nor practicable (packing the Supreme Court with more than nine justices.) Your SGL
HEADWINDS: Nature and The Supreme Court
HEADWINDS: Nature and The Supreme Court
DESCRIPTION OF DUST BOWL: Excerpts from "Since Yesterday" by Frederick Lewis Allen. After opening, click on the "+" sign at the bottom of pdf pages to increase font size to make text more easily readable.
DESCRIPTION OF DUST BOWL: Excerpts from "Since Yesterday" by Frederick Lewis Allen. After opening, click on the "+" sign at the bottom of pdf pages to increase font size to make text more easily readable.
1b.1) DUST BOWL excerpts from "Since Yesterday" by Frederick Lewis AllenQUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
What frame of mind encourages seeing the dust storms as brought on by "an omnipotent power.... the very land itself had risen in revolt?"
What frame of mind encourages seeing the dust storms as brought on by "an omnipotent power.... the very land itself had risen in revolt?"
What is our reaction to Allen's description: "violence by bands of vigilantes, to whom these ragged families... were not fellow-citizens who had suffered in a great American disaster but dirty, ignorant, superstitious outsiders, failures at life, easy dupes for 'red' agitators?"
What is our reaction to Allen's description: "violence by bands of vigilantes, to whom these ragged families... were not fellow-citizens who had suffered in a great American disaster but dirty, ignorant, superstitious outsiders, failures at life, easy dupes for 'red' agitators?"
Based on the song by Woody Guthrie (see video at top,) in what ways were we or are we a compassionate people?
Based on the song by Woody Guthrie (see video at top,) in what ways were we or are we a compassionate people?
How vulnerable are today's farmers to creditors or the "stronger hands" of businessmen farmers?
How vulnerable are today's farmers to creditors or the "stronger hands" of businessmen farmers?
What planning might protect farming from climate change, decline in crop prices, or other economic disaster?
What planning might protect farming from climate change, decline in crop prices, or other economic disaster?
THE CHIEF JUSTICE HUGHES SUPREME COURT
THE CHIEF JUSTICE HUGHES SUPREME COURT
COURT PACKING EXPLAINED (7 minutes)
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
How does FDR's criticism of the Court in 1935 compare with today?
How does FDR's criticism of the Court in 1935 compare with today?
How has our continued rigid interpretation of the Constitution, a document written over two hundred years ago, weakened our democracy?
How has our continued rigid interpretation of the Constitution, a document written over two hundred years ago, weakened our democracy?
What would have happened if Roosevelt had exercised far greater executive authority, even to the extent of being authoritarian as some suggested?
What would have happened if Roosevelt had exercised far greater executive authority, even to the extent of being authoritarian as some suggested?
What is the defense for providing a social safety net, as in Social Security?
What is the defense for providing a social safety net, as in Social Security?
What resonates for you in Perkins recognition that: community values; keeping the economic playing field level; and taking care of everyone... were at least as deeply seated in our political philosophy as the idea of every man for himself?
What resonates for you in Perkins recognition that: community values; keeping the economic playing field level; and taking care of everyone... were at least as deeply seated in our political philosophy as the idea of every man for himself?
What do you make of Roosevelt's reluctance to confront white supremacist Southern Democrats (over minimum wage, right to vote, unionization, lynching?)
What do you make of Roosevelt's reluctance to confront white supremacist Southern Democrats (over minimum wage, right to vote, unionization, lynching?)