ipl-logo

How Did The Great Depression Affect Mexican Americans

852 Words4 Pages

As the stock market plummeted and banks failed, millions of Americans found themselves out of work and struggling. Mexican Americans especially felt this era of economic struggle. The Great Depression negatively impacted Mexican Americans in several ways, as they faced increased discrimination which limited economic opportunities, furthermore worsening economic hardships, compounded by the vulnerability of migrant workers to deportation and exclusion from New Deal benefits. Mexican Americans faced increased discrimination which limited economic opportunities and worsened financial struggles during the Great Depression, when many businesses failed and less work was available. Since everyone in the U.S. was looking for work, it was seen as …show more content…

In a letter from A.G. Arnoll, secretary and general manager of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, to G. J. Brunske, A.G. states "During the first years of the depression we lost about 160,000 of our Mexican people. They were frightened out of the state, mostly by the cry of the vast increase in population which had within recent years come into California from temperate region areas and unfamiliar with the fact that the Mexican laborer was an older citizen as a rule than himself, yet adhered the sogan 'do not hire a Mexican if a white man is out of work...'" With the increase in white population, racial motivations and decrease in Mexican Population of the region, this examplifies that the discriminitory beliefs caused difficulty for Mexican Americans when searching for …show more content…

Many of the Mexican population in the U.S. were migrants, which restricted certain freedoms. In "Mexican Americans and the Great Depression," Steven Mintz wrote "The New Deal offered Mexican Americans a little help... Many, however, did not qualify for relief assistance because as migrant workers they did not meet residency requirements. Furthermore, agricultural workers were not eligible for benefits under workers' compensation, Social Security, and the National Labor Relations Act." This information is valuable because it informs us that New Deal benefits excluded Mexicans due to residency requirements and agricultural worker eligibility. The system in place showed descriminatory behaviour, targetting to help those not Mexican. Mexican migrants faced descrimination in other areas as well. "Mexican American women on the bottom rung of the economic ladder faced similar conditions, but with an added dimension: the threat of deportation back to Mexico because of fears about competition for jobs and relief. In the depths of the Depression, perhaps one-third of the Mexican American population returned to Mexico, straining family ties and causing extreme financial hardship," Susan Ware states in "Women and the Great Depression." This quote highlights the impact of deportation on the Mexican American population during the Great Depression, with one third having to

Show More
Related
927 Words | 4 Pages

But unfortunately the reality was that the minorities had much harder times than white Americans. In 1933, the general unemployment rate in the United States was over 25 percent; at the same time, unemployment rates for various American minorities ranged up to 50 percent or more (“Great Depression and the New Deal Reference Library”1). Racial discrimination was high and minorities were the first to loose their jobs during the Great Depression. They were denied to work. They were often denied employment in public works programs, they were sometimes threatened at relief centers when applying for work or assistance, and even some charities refused to provide food to needy minorities, especially to blacks in the South.

Read More
141 Words | 1 Pages

The Great Depression affected millions of American financially. After the stock market crash in 1929 and particularly after the banking crisis of late 1930, many Americans lost their jobs and were living in poverty. Herbert Hoover was the president of the United States at the beginning of this Great Depression. During the beginning of Hoover’s presidency most Americans supported a laissez-faire system as did Hoover . In a laissez-faire system the market dictates the economic prosperity of the country.

Read More
1510 Words | 7 Pages

A lot of immigrants were recruited by farm owners to work for them on their farms and lands. Many of these Mexicans also worked in non-agricultural jobs, such as factories and other shops. When the Great Depression

Read More
599 Words | 3 Pages

From our textbook we are able to learn the base information of the depression and migrant workers. The document provides a deeper insight with first hand views on the mistreatment of workers by wealthy landowners. First hand photographs allow a real view of how the impoverished migrant camps actually looked. The photos, along with Steinbeck's firsthand observations and genuine concern for the human suffering that was taking place allows for students to be further engaged into the topic. Our Texbook, Give Me Liberty, describes how the depression transformed American life.

Read More
1279 Words | 6 Pages

The Great Depression was a devastating period in United States History, the economy collapsed, and a staggering 25% of the population was unemployed. During this time, there were large wage disparity gaps that were very prevalent, there was no middle class, you were either wealthy or you were poor. It was hard for family life to continue, parents had to take up two and three jobs to make sure their kids were staying safe, and well. Most of these jobs were odd-jobs, and were temporary with no sense of security. It was a struggle to find work, and no job was too demeaning for you to do, because you may not find work again.

Read More
1139 Words | 5 Pages

The New Deal may have been developed with good intentions, but it hadn’t done enough for a massive part of American minorities. Mexican-Americans (MAs) experienced extreme discrimination from governmental programs, such as the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and the Works Progress Administration (WPA). These programs had hardly helped to improve lives of MAs because they had discriminated against them by disqualifying migrant MAs for not having a permanent residence. FDR’s New Deal also did not support civil rights or African Americans (AAs) out of fear that FDR would lose the white southern democratic vote.

Read More
979 Words | 4 Pages

The percentage of Americans that were losing jobs was outrageous “25 percent of all workers and 37 percent of all nonfarm workers were completely out of work. ”(Great Depression) and that only increased. The people moved and were kicked out of their lands feed to find work elsewhere but work was scarce and was no where to be found. The african americans also had a harder time finding work as the whites were given unfair priority. Their was a substantial gap between the rich and the poor and the poor was the lowest percentage of people in the Americas.

Read More
1164 Words | 5 Pages

Meanwhile, the Great Depression caused overproduction as well as poverty. During the Great Dust Bowl years and through the Great Depression, the terrible weather and severe poverty led to a large number of migrants; in the meantime, they upheld justice, struggled a lot for food and freedom, and they also tried their best to fight for their

Read More
736 Words | 3 Pages

“When the Great Depression collapsed the U.S. economy in 1929, America's black population had already been living with harsh economic conditions, discrimination, and gross exploitation” (Bush). After the stock market crashed things only got worse for African Americans. During the 1930's African Americans faced discrimination, such as not having equal opportunities for jobs. Employment, when it could be found, was usually accompanied by racism and lower wages than their White Counterparts. New deal programs implemented by the government were suppose to help the entire unemployed population of the United States.

Read More
888 Words | 4 Pages

The program's aspects of wages, labor conditions, and living conditions were designed to put laborers at a disadvantage. Mexican laborers were paid below the minimum wage, subject to long work hours and hazardous working conditions, and forced to live in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions. While some Mexican laborers were able to improve their lives through the program, an overwhelming majority were not. It is important to learn about the Bracero Program because it precedes several immigrant labor civil rights movements in the United States, which continue to this

Read More
733 Words | 3 Pages

They were affected by mass migrations, increased crime rate and the devastating effects of the dust. The Great Depression caused mass migrations of the American people. In text 1, the second picture depicts many people in the back of a truck, presumably because they are migrating to the west. The

Read More
992 Words | 4 Pages

In what ways did the Great Depression affect the American people? After a decade of economic prosperity, what seemed like an era that defined the concept of the American dream, quickly came to an end when the stock market on Wall Street collapsed in 1929. The aftermath of the events that occurred on Wall Street would put its heavy mark on the years to follow among the citizens of the United States. Banks closed down, unemployment rose and homelessness increased. It was a widespread national catastrophe that had its impacts on both poor and rich.

Read More
765 Words | 4 Pages

The Great DepressionTopic: the great depressionQuestion: How did the great depression affect americans?Thesis statement:The great depression affected americans because it destroyed their economy. Millions of families lost theirs savings as many banks collapsed in the 1930’s. The Great Depression was the worst economic drop of all times in the industrial world1. The Great Depression began because of a stock market crash in 1929 and came to end ten years later in 1939, around 15 million americans were unemployed and about half of the American banks failed. It was one of the darkest era in the United States.

Read More
939 Words | 4 Pages

The problems of the Great Depression affected every group of Americans. In 1933 the unemployment rate in the U.S. was over twenty-five percent. At the same time, unemployment rates for a variety of American minorities exceeded up to 50 percent. (Race During the Great Depression) As much as the Great Depression caused suffering for white Americans, the hardships skyrocketed for racial minorities, including African Americans, Mexican Americans, Native Americans, and Asian Americans.

Read More
924 Words | 4 Pages

This is significant on the basis that the cultural changes that characterized the 1920s were largely based in changing population demographics. With an influx of immigrants from other countries as well, there were restrictions and quotas established pertaining to immigration. Mexicans were not directly impacted by these quotas, but there were barriers existent for Mexican immigrants. While one may inherently believe that the exclusion from these restrictions were created with the intent of providing opportunities for Mexicans, this is not reflective of the economic policy of the 1920s. While farmers across California began to acknowledge the contributions of Mexican labor “…the perceptions of Mexicans as temporary migrants and docile laborers contributed to the fact that they were never included in the quotas”(The John W. Kluge Center at the Library of Congress).

Read More

More about How Did The Great Depression Affect Mexican Americans

Related Topics

Open Document