3: Historical Context

Historical Context

Morgan Arseneau

 

                The Great Depression began in 1929 and lasted until 1940. Because of this, it would have had a significant effect on a large part of Janie’s life. During this time the stock market value fell by 80% and “during the first 10 months of 1930, 744 banks failed” (Ganzel), these bank failures were due to people worrying about the economy and causing bank runs. The main cause for the economic collapse was an excess amount of products. Producers were creating more products than people wanted to purchase and then because of the excess products companies had to lay off some of their workers. This circular cycle made it hard for people to find enough work. It was especially difficult for African Americans to find jobs at the time.

                After the Civil War and the end of slavery there was a new set of laws put in place, called the Jim Crow Laws, which were meant to keep African Americans as second class citizens. It was thought that if African Americans were treated as equals that it would lead to interracial couples, at the time this was highly frowned upon. The laws included segregation of restrooms and public transportation; they also included several laws for how a black person was supposed to interact around white people. In all black towns such as Eatonville, the town Janie lived in, these laws did not play as much of a role in their day to day lives.

                During the 1920 many African Americans moved to northern cities to escape the brutal Southern racism. Harlem was one of the main gathering points. Harlem was the home of many talented African American writers, artists, and musicians. People became very interested in the African American writers that came out of Harlem, as well as the musicians who played Jazz music. This era, were African American art was all of the rage, was known as the Harlem Renaissance.

 

 Bibliography

"BIO Classroom." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 15 Dec. 2013.

Ganzel, Bill. "Bank Failures during the 1930s Great Depression." Bank Failures during the 1930s Great Depression. Wessels, 2003. Web. 15 Dec. 2013.

 Pilgrim, David. "What Was Jim Crow?" What Was Jim Crow. Ferris State University, Sept. 2000. Web. 15 Dec. 2013.