Hector St. Jean De Crevecoeur, a Frenchman living in America, wrote many letters to Europeans telling them of the great opportunities for immigrants to America and its generous, welcoming, paternal government. However, a study of the farm workers' experiences in America does not always paint a rosy picture. In particular, John Steinbeck and Cesar Chavez portrayed the dire circumstances of farm workers during the Great Depression (1930's) and the 1960's.
To begin, Crevecoeur states in his letters that there's opportunity for everyone in America. Those who were sober and hard working were quickly given jobs. All men who were hired were given secured jobs with good pay and were treated with respect by their employers. Crevecoeur promises everyone …show more content…
The Joad family and several others were forced off their land by banks because of the Dust Bowl, which caused poor crops and low prices year after year. With the Joad family having no land to plant crops it left them with no money. The family decided to migrate to California because there was a need for pickers and were given good pay.
During their passage to California the Joad family suffered a lot of adversity. Tom Joad's grandpa and grandma passed away, several times they had to push the car due to running out of gas and had limited food. When they arrived in the towns and gas stations they were treated with disrespect and often times we're told not stay in town. People looked down upon them simply because they were Okies.
Upon the families' arrival in California it ended up being the complete opposite of what they expected it to be. The Joad family was left with no work and were forced to live in camps with terrible living conditions. The family did eventually did find work picking peaches, but were treated more like prisoners than free workers. People weren't allowed to walk around freely in the campsite and were paid poorly. Okies weren't allowed to stand up for themselves and those who did were quickly threatened by law …show more content…
He started picking strawberries at the age of 14 in Fresno, California and migrated several times around California looking for work with his family. I asked him if his employer's treated him fairly. He said he had a lot of luck in his life because in all the jobs he had, he never had an employer who treated workers unfairly. He was always given the pay that was promised, but it was a low wage and if he worked over time he would receive overtime pay. In every job he had he was given fresh water and the appropriate rest break. One thing he didn’t have luck in was equipment. There were times where he had to use broken equipment that were extremely dangerous. Lepe says him and his family never received any government assistance even after being extremely
To begin, Crevecoeur states in his letters that there's opportunity for everyone in America. Those who were sober and hard working were quickly given jobs. All men who were hired were given secured jobs with good pay and were treated with respect by their employers. Crevecoeur promises everyone …show more content…
The Joad family and several others were forced off their land by banks because of the Dust Bowl, which caused poor crops and low prices year after year. With the Joad family having no land to plant crops it left them with no money. The family decided to migrate to California because there was a need for pickers and were given good pay.
During their passage to California the Joad family suffered a lot of adversity. Tom Joad's grandpa and grandma passed away, several times they had to push the car due to running out of gas and had limited food. When they arrived in the towns and gas stations they were treated with disrespect and often times we're told not stay in town. People looked down upon them simply because they were Okies.
Upon the families' arrival in California it ended up being the complete opposite of what they expected it to be. The Joad family was left with no work and were forced to live in camps with terrible living conditions. The family did eventually did find work picking peaches, but were treated more like prisoners than free workers. People weren't allowed to walk around freely in the campsite and were paid poorly. Okies weren't allowed to stand up for themselves and those who did were quickly threatened by law …show more content…
He started picking strawberries at the age of 14 in Fresno, California and migrated several times around California looking for work with his family. I asked him if his employer's treated him fairly. He said he had a lot of luck in his life because in all the jobs he had, he never had an employer who treated workers unfairly. He was always given the pay that was promised, but it was a low wage and if he worked over time he would receive overtime pay. In every job he had he was given fresh water and the appropriate rest break. One thing he didn’t have luck in was equipment. There were times where he had to use broken equipment that were extremely dangerous. Lepe says him and his family never received any government assistance even after being extremely