Grapes of Wrath
 
(Essay #6)
 
Though most Americans are aware of the Great Depression of
1929, which may well be "the most serious problem facing
our free enterprise economic system,"( ) few know of the
many Americans who lost their homes, life savings and jobs.
This paper briefly states the causes of the depression and
summarizes the vast problems Americans faced during the
eleven years of its span. This paper primarily focuses on
what life was like for farmers during the time of the
Depression, as portrayed in John Steinbeck's The Grapes of
Wrath, and tells what the government did to end the
Depression.
 
In the 1920's, after World War 1, danger signals were
apparent that a great Depression was coming. A major cause
of the Depression was that the pay of workers did not
increase at all. Because of this, they couldn't afford
manufactured goods. While the factories were still
manufacturing goods, Americans weren't able to afford them
and the factories made no money (Drewry and O'connor 559).
Another major cause related to farmers. Farmers weren't
doing to well because they were producing more crops and
farm products than could be sold at high prices. Therefore,
they made a very small profit. This insufficient profit
wouldn't allow the farmers to purchase new machinery and
because of this they couldn't produce goods quick enough
(Drewry and O'connor 559).
 
A new plan was created called the installment plan. This
plan was established because many Americans didn't have
enough money to buy goods and services that were needed or
wanted. The installment plan stated that people could buy
products on credit and make monthly payments. The one major
problem with this idea was that people soon found out that
they couldn't afford to make the monthly payment(Drewry and
O'connor 559). 

In 1929 the stock market crashed. Many Americans purchased
stocks because they were certain of the economy. People
started selling their stocks at a fast pace; over sixteen
million stocks were sold! Numerous stock prices dropped to
fraction of their value. Banks lost money from the stock
market and from Americans who couldn't pay back loans. Many
factories lost money and went out of business because of
this great tragedy (Drewry and O'connor By the 1930's,
thirteen million workers lost their jobs which is 25
percent of all workers. The blacks and unskilled workers
were always the first to be fired. Farmers had no money and
weren't capable of paying their mortgages. Americans
traveled throughout the country looking for a place to work
to support themselves and their family (Drewry and O'connor
560-561).
 
John Steinbeck, born in 1902, grew up during the Depression
near the fertile Salinas Valley and wrote many books of
fiction based on his background and experiences during that
time and area of the country. One of his great works would
be the Grapes of Wrath In this book, Steinbeck describes
the farmers plight during the Great Depression and drought.
 
When the rains failed to come, the grass began to
disappear. As the farmers watched their plants turn brown
and the dirt slowly turn to dust they began to fear what
was to come.
 
In the water-cut gullies the earth dusted down in dry
little streams. As the sharp sun struck day after day, the
leaves of the young corn became less stiff and erect; then
it was June and the sun shone more fiercely. The brown
lines on the corn leaves widened and moved in on the
central ribs. The weeds frayed and edged back toward their
roots. The air was thin and the sky more pale; and every
day the earth paled.
 
(qtd. Steinbeck 2-3). 

The farmers worst fears were realized when their corn and
other crops began to die. The dust became so bad they had
to cover their mouths with handkerchiefs so they could
breath (Steinbeck 3- 

When the drought hit the Great Plains and the soil turned
to dust, many farmers moved to California because they
could no longer farm their land(Drewry and O'Connor 561).
The drought began to affect other parts of the country. 

In 1930, Virginia's belt of fertile land dried up. Ponds,
streams, and springs all dried up and the great Mississippi
River water level sank lower than ever recorded. Small
farmers every-where began to feel the drought. Their small
gardens were ruined and their corn crop was cut almost down
to nothing. The hay and grass needed to feed their
livestock was no longer available. They now faced a major
problem -how to feed their livestock. The silos were
rapidly emptying and the barns in many cases were empty.
The farmers were terrified that the government feed loans
wouldn't be available to keep the livestock from dying. In
many cases, the Red Cross was making allowances for feed to
keep alive livestock (Meltzer 121). 

The small farmers of fruit trees and vegetable plants
depended on others who ran canneries to bottle and can
their produce. The people they depended upon were the same
people that hired scientists to experiment on the fruits
and vegetables to come up with better tasting and yielding
produce. Thus the small farmers were dependent on these
same rich landowners for almost everything. They couldn't
harvest their produce on their own so they sold it to the
rich landowners and thus made very little money on their
produce (Steinbeck 444-447).
 
The farmers found themselves in debt caused by the purchase
of land, tools, animals and other items bought on credit.
This credit was due to the bank and when the farmers found
them-
 
selves unable to repay the debts the bank took away
everything they had - their land, homes, animals and
equipment. When the banks took over, they went in with
tractors and destroyed everything on the farms which
included their homes and barns. This is best portrayed in
Steinbeck's description of how the tractors destroyed
everything in its way. "The iron guard bit into the house
corner, crumbled the wall, and wrenched the little house
from its foundation, crushed like a bug (50). 

"In the little houses the tenant people sifted their
belongings and the belongings of their father and of their
grandfathers" 

(Steinbeck 111). This describes how after many generations
of farming on their land these people had to gather their
property and memories and then try to sell whatever they
could. The farmers were so desperate for money that they
had to sell for literally pennies.Steinbeck describes the
desperate conversation of a farmer to a persepective buyer
"Well, take it-all junk-and give me five dollars. You're
not buying only junk, you're buying junked lives"
 
(Steinbeck 112). The desperation for work and money became
so bad that they were willing to work for as little as was
offered just so they could have some sort of job and make
any amount of money. Soon it was a fight for life or death
(Steinbeck). In a desperate search for a job farmers moved
themselves and their families all over the country. As
people wandered the country looking for work they were
unable to live in one place. Large numbers of homeless
people led to Hoovervilles. The farmers and their families
had to build homes out of anything that they could acquire
as Steinbeck describes "The south wall was made of three
sheets of rusy corrugated iron, the east a square of moldy
carpet tacked between two board, the north wall a strip of
roofing paper and a strip of tattered canvas, and the west
wall six pieces of gunny sacking"(Steinbeck 310-311). The
homes were usually near water source so they could have
water to drink from, cook and wash their clothing
(Steinbeck 311).
 
To cut down the number of people seeking jobs or needing
help, the government decided to try to come up with some
sort of relief. Among other things, they limited
immigration, returned hundreds of Mexicans living here,and
sought other methods to help the farmers. 

Hoover's Federal Farm Board urged farmers to plant less so
that prices would go up but there was no encouragement to
do so.From 1920 to 1932 farm production did drop 6 percent
but prices fell ten times as much-by 63 percent. Farmers
watched prices hit new lows-15 cents for corn, 5 cents for
cotton and wool, hogs and sugar 3 cents, and beef 2.5
cents(Meltzer 123). 

With farm prices so low, most farmers, living under the
fear of their mortgages, knew that sooner or later they
will lose everything.
 
In 1932 the farmers declared a holiday on selling. They
picketed roads asking people to join the. They gave away
free milk to the poor and unemployed rather then let it
spoil because they refused to sell it. A thirty-day holiday
on farm selling was begun August 8 and extended
indefinitely(Meltzer 125).
 
In December 1932, 250 farmers from twenty-six states
gathered together for a Farmers National Relief Conference.
They announced that they demand relief from creditors who
threaten to sweep them from their homes and land(Meltzer
126). 

In May 1933, the Agricultural Ajustment Act was passed. The
aim of this act was to raise the farm prices by growing
less. The farmers were paid not to use all the land to
plant crops. The money came from tax on millers, meat
packers, and other food industries. In June of that same
year the Farm Credit Act was passed. This act helped
farmers get low interest loans. With this act, farmers
wouldn't lose their farms to the banks that held the
mortgages. The farmers who lost their farms already would
also receive low interest loans(Drewry and O'connor 569).
The Great Depression was the end result of World War I. It
affected the rich and poor alike, factory workers and
farmers, bankers and stockbrokers. In short, it affected
everyone; no one was left untouched. But of all the people
hurt, farmers were the worst off. John Steinbeck chose to
write about farmers hoping that Americans would recognize
their plight and correct the situation. The Great
Depression is known to be the worst economic disaster in U.
S. history. For this reason, the Depression caused many
people to change their ideas about the government and
economy.