Harper Lee wrote that Maycomb was a “tired old town...there was no hurry, for there was nowhere to go, nothing to buy and no money to buy it with, nothing to see...” To Kill a Mockingbird is a story that is placed around the late 20’s or early 30’s, and it focuses on a small town called Maycomb that is in the grips of a national crisis known as the Great Depression and a restrictive set of segregation laws called the Jim Crow Laws. The Great Depression started affecting the country in 1929 and left America in a state of bankruptcy and debt. The Great Depression's impact was felt everywhere. People who seemed unassailable were torn down and left penniless. In addition to this, the Jim Crow laws were terrible laws that forced a wide division between white and colored people. The Great Depression had been coming for awhile. Many events took place to lead up to it. It really started with the introduction of the credit system. It allowed people to buy things immediately and pay it back later. Though the idea was entertaining, the reality was that people ended up not being able to pay for the things they bought. This led to the accumulation of debts. The Stock Market was another reason. Also, people would invest lots money in stocks and shares. …show more content…
Although imaginary, the culture and ways of Maycomb encompassed and mirrored all the towns and counties in the South. The town is described as “tired,” and due to the time period created by the Great Depression. There was “nothing to buy and no money to buy it with.” This line describes how people suffered from the loss of financial security, which was caused by the overuse of credit. America was barely holding on to what it could. Along with the Jim Crow laws dividing the country into a racial dispute, it seemed as if there would be no end to this tragedy. These events affected the country to an alarming degree, but, ultimately, it left them better than
Why was the Great Depression such a hard time for Americans? In 1929 the stock market crashed in America. Which resulted in massive amounts of disarray, and caused Nine Thousand U.S. Banks to Fail. During the Great Depression of the 1930’s, African Americans were hit the hardest by the scarcity of jobs and money. During the Great Depression almost all of the blacks were fired from their jobs and had no way to sustain themselves or their families due to the loss of food and money. After being fired it was nearly impossible for them to get another job, and if they did happen to be hired they received almost no pay. John Hardman wrote, “The Great Depression of the 1930s worsened the already black economic situation of black Americans. African
There are many things that factor in as causing The Great Depression. I believe the biggest factors to be money and confidence. Even though by year end of 1930 the stock market had recouped some of the money lost in the previous years’ loss with the devastating Black Tuesday. The US and the rest of the world would continue to feel the devastating effects of banks failing, high unemployment rates, reduced trade and purchasing of over produced goods, and a negative impact to agricultural. This would not only put a dent in the people’s confidence with the stock market and banks but also government would need to step up in a big way to get things somewhat back on track.
The community of Maycomb, Alabama, as described in the book was not a wealthy area. Families such as the Cunningham’s and Ewell’s made up the lower-class of the community based on the conditions they had to endure. Harper Lee describes the Ewell residence in detail: "Maycomb’s Ewells lived behind the town garbage dump in what was once a Negro cabin” (170). In the 1930s, African Americans were not treated very fairly in American society. They had to face racism and discrimination on a daily basis. Many families had to live in poverty due to the disenfranchisement of the African American community. The problem all began as a result of classism which all ultimately stemmed from the Great Depression.
Maycomb was a slow poor town. Harper Lee made it seem like this was a town full of nothing, people move slow and just mumbled around everywhere. At this time everyone was struggling with the great depression and racism colored people were referred to as niggers because people didn't know better they thought it was weird that they weren't the same as everyone else and i think that scared them. Maycomb county had nothing to fear but itself (pg7). Kids didn't go to school back then they had to stay home and help their families survive the long summer days on the farm. Most kids went to school the first day so the sheriff wouldn't come to the front door of their homes. But that is the setting of Maycomb county. My name is Dawson Creasey and im currently reading To Kill A Mockingbird. I think it’s a wonderful adventure book and you can learn many things from
The Great Depression was caused by the stock market crash in 1929. The Great Depression was very sad time for Americans, who faced many adversities which ultimately changed the way they lived. During this period of time unemployment rose to nearly 25% of the population, those who did not lost their job saw a dramatic decrease in their pay.
Second cause of the great depression is the uneven distribution of wealth. Business owners made huge profit from the beginning of the Roaring Twenties. These business owners did not deal with the low wages of their workers. As a result, the workers were not able to afford goods as these companies produced them. Also, after the world war one, the European nations owed America billions of dollars. The economy of these European countries was devastating; thus, there was no way for these countries to repay.
After the Roaring 20s an Economic Disaster struck which is well known as the Great Depression. This made struggles for thousands of people and put them out of work , money, and at the very least food. All though the Great Depression was rarely mentioned in Harper Lee’s, To Kill a Mockingbird, there are multiple instances stating economic trouble throughout the novel. A tumultuous event such as the Great Depression exacerbated tensions in the novel much like socio economic divides influences conflicts today; this is revealed through the analysis of events in the novel as well as present-day issues.
Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is set in the sleepy, southern Maycomb, Alabama. A small town in the grips of 1930’s depression, To Kill a Mockingbird spans a period of three years following young Scout Finch and her family through their experiences with racism and prejudice. Jim Crow laws were a series of ordinances the prevented equal treatment of African-Americans. Beginning with the end of Reconstruction in 1877 and remaining in effect until the Civil rights movement of the 1950s, Jim Crow laws governed where colored people could live, work, eat, enter and exit a building, and use public services. “Jim Crow laws grew from theories of white supremacy and were a reaction to Reconstruction,” explained Andrew Costly of the Constitutional Rights Foundation, “In the depression-racked 1890s, racism appealed to whites who feared losing their jobs to blacks.” Ensuring that freed slaves remained weak and inferior, Jim Crow laws revoked black freedom’s and crippled their rights. And while not explicitly stated, evidence of Jim Crow Laws appears methodically throughout To Kill a Mockingbird. Strongly influenced by elements of racism, the story paints a vivid picture of life in the era of Jim Crow, for both colored and white.
The Great Depression was the result of life during the Roaring Twenties. People heavily valued materialism and hedonism which in-turn made many people try to find a way to gain a large amount of money in a short period of time. As more and more people were intoxicated with greed and selfishness, they became more careless through their actions and made many mistakes. These mistakes led to the
The Great Depression was a huge economic downfall in North America and involved many other industrialized countries of the world. The Depression began in 1929 and lasted for about ten years. Millions of people lost their jobs along with many businesses going bankrupt. The common misconception of the Great Depression is people think that the stock market crash was the main cause for it. There were many causes for the Depression; unequal distribution of money during the 1920’s was the main cause of the Depression. This unequal distribution happened on many different classes of people. The imbalance of money is what created such an unstable economy. The stock market was doing much worse than people thought
During the Great Depression, racism was a common practice in the southern states of the US. Negros and those who opposed the intolerance were often discriminated by the rest of the bias and ignorant society, who believed in white supremacy and superiority over the other races. Maycomb, a racist town, exemplify this discrimination, imperiously judging others they view as being dissimilar from themselves. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee, the author, weaves a brilliant story of prejudice, discrimination, and racism shown through the novel’s several characters and events, producing a mirror reflection of America’s racist society in the 1930’s.
Many people think that the Great Depression was caused solely by the stock market crash. Anybody who tells you this probably didn’t pass U.S. History in high school. The fact is, the Great Depression was caused many different factors. Four of which were overproduction, uneven distribution of wealth, protective tariffs, and the four “sick industries” of the 1920’s.
Outside the town limits, across the old sawmill tracks, lies a building with old paint crumbling off the sides and a cemetery lying right beside it. The brick-hard clay covered the land underneath both the churchyard and the cemetery. There lied crumbling tombstones and some new ones as well. Each one having an assortment of shattered coca-cola bottles, colorful glass, and dozens upon dozens of burnt out candles surrounding them. This was a happy place. The sweet aroma of Negro blossomed in the air, curating a scent of peppermint, snuff, and sweet lilac. It felt welcoming and homely. During the mid-1920s, in the darling town of Maycomb, Alabama, not all people had such a humbleness to them. Many people were not treated with the same respect and kindness as others, as shown in the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird. Throughout the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, shows concerns about social class and how it affects everyone around them. Being different during the mid-1930s was excruciating, even though they were factors that can’t be controlled, and Lee wanted to make a point about that.
It got so bad due to a misunderstanding of a slump by American policymakers. This became a problem.
There are various factors that led to the Great Depression. To begin, the lack of bank regulation was a big factor. The Federal Reserve Act which made banks have money on reserve, was not enforced. Another big factor was easy credit, Easy credit made it easy for people to get money out the bank without having the money to pay it back. Furthermore, the reduction in purchasing across the board can easily be said to be another key factor. With the stock market being down many people within every social class stop purchasing items. Which would cause a decreased not only the number of items being purchased but also the loss of people jobs. Many people had thing on layaway, so usually they would just pay for it monthly. However once they lost their