Agricultural workers began to unionize in the 1930s. In particular, Filipino workers in Salinas, California formed the Filipino Labor Union in 1933. In 1936 the union went on strike demanding wage increases. Their strike was brutally put down by a vigilante force organized by the local sheriff.
How did the Great Depression affect Salinas Valley?
The setting mainly took place in south of Soledad, California, near the Salinas Valley, during the Great Depression in the 1930’s. Salinas Valley had many substantial farms during the Depression. This was essential because colossal farms employed a massive number of workers, often up to hundreds.
What was the Salinas Valley known for?
The Salinas Valley is located in California. It is known as “the salad bowl of the world” because of its heavy agriculture industry, which supplies most of America with salad greens and other vegetables.
Why was Salinas Valley known as the salad bowl of the US?
Salinas Valley grows almost half of the nation’s lettuce (including head, leaf and romaine) and a third of its spinach, thus its moniker as America’s Salad Bowl. It also produces half the nation’s broccoli and cauliflower and over 80% of its artichokes.
Where is the Salinas Valley and what about it?
Located in the central coast region of California, Monterey county encompasses the fertile, agriculturally important Salinas Valley. The valley, framed by mountain ranges on the east and west, runs the length of the county and is the site of most of the agricultural activities in the county.
What happened in Salinas California in the 1930s?
Agricultural workers began to unionize in the 1930s. In particular, Filipino workers in Salinas, California formed the Filipino Labor Union in 1933. In 1936 the union went on strike demanding wage increases. Their strike was brutally put down by a vigilante force organized by the local sheriff.
What happened to California in the Great Depression?
California was hit hard by the economic collapse of the 1930s. Businesses failed, workers lost their jobs, and families fell into poverty. While the political response to the depression often was confused and ineffective, social messiahs offered alluring panaceas promising relief and recovery.
What is the history of Salinas California?
Named for a nearby salt marsh, Salinas became the seat of Monterey County in 1872 and incorporated in 1874. In the mid-1800s, Salinas’ agricultural industry began to grow. In 1867, several local businessmen laid-out a town plan and enticed the Southern Pacific Railroad to build its tracks through Salinas City.
What does the Salinas Valley symbolize?
The Salinas Valley
Described in such a manner, the mountains symbolize the human struggle to navigate between good and evil. The Salinas Valley between them can be seen as a representation of the lands where the biblical Adam and Eve live after God banishes them from Eden.
How was Salinas Valley formed?
In its earliest existence, millenniums ago, the Salinas wasn’t a river at all, but a commingling of water droplets, part of an enormous sea that covered much of northwestern California. As the Santa Lucia and Gabilan mountains formed, not as many millenniums ago, the Salinas Valley began to take shape.
What kinds of jobs are known for the Salinas Valley area?
The major sectors for employment in Salinas are government, agriculture, trade, manufacturing, healthcare, social assistance and construction. Salinas is home to over 100 manufacturing companies. Also, about 18% of the jobs in the city are in sales and office occupations.
What was Steinbeck’s relationship to the Salinas Valley?
John Steinbeck’s relationship to the Salinas Valley is that it was his childhood home and he lived there until he went to Stanford University in 1919. Who was John Steinbeck? John Steinbeck was a famous author, and Nobel Peace prize winner. He lived in Salinas, California and went to college at Stanford University.
Where does Salinas Valley get its water?
Well, in Salinas it is pretty easy to see. Water flows from the Gabilan Mountains to the northeast of the City through four creeks. Water also flows from the Salinas River past Salinas. All of this water can been easily seen.
What Salinas mean?
Spanish: habitational name from any of numerous places called Salinas from the plural of salina ‘saltworks’ (from Latin salinae a derivative of sal ‘salt’).
What is grown in the Salinas Valley?
Agriculture is the major industry in Salinas, which sits at the north end of the Salinas Valley producing most of the world’s lettuce and other leafy green vegetables. The region also grows strawberries and wine grapes.
What was life like during the Great Depression?
homelessness, and hunger to millions. THE DEPRESSION IN THE CITIES In cities across the country, people lost their jobs, were evicted from their homes and ended up in the streets. Some slept in parks or sewer pipes, wrapping themselves in newspapers to fend off the cold.
Why did Californians hate Okies?
Because they arrived impoverished and because wages were low, many lived in filth and squalor in tents and shantytowns along the irrigation ditches. Consequently, they were despised as “Okies,” a term of disdain, even hate, pinned on economically degraded farm laborers no matter their state of origin.
What happened to most Okies in California?
Predominantly upland southerners, the half-million Okies met new hardships in California, where they were unwelcome aliens, forced to live in squatter camps and to compete for scarce jobs as agricultural migrant laborers.
What caused the Great Depression?
What were the major causes of the Great Depression? Among the suggested causes of the Great Depression are: the stock market crash of 1929; the collapse of world trade due to the Smoot-Hawley Tariff; government policies; bank failures and panics; and the collapse of the money supply.
Is Salinas California a good place to live?
Salinas is a good city to grow up in. I have grown up here my whole life and the people here are great. The crime rates are a little high here, but for the most part, it is a fun city to spend time in. One of the best parts about living in Salinas is the weather.
Where is the last name Salinas from?
Salinas is a prominent surname along the borders of Spain. It evolved from the Germanic word sal, meaning building, and the ending illas, meaning a large place a fort, when that was the largest place in the community. In Spain, the name indicated proprietorship of the estate or place.