Depression+Era+Letters+Assignment

**Depression Era Letter Assignment **

 * There are 3 parts to this assignment. Please follow the directions to complete each part to the best of your ability. **


 * Using the four letters below, you must consider which letter is the most effective at portraying the economic, social and cultural hardships Canadian families endured. ****You are to read the letters and decide which letter most effectively represents the hardships endured, and agree on the criteria for a ‘good’ historical letter. **

**Part A: **

 * The 5 questions below will help you judge which letter you feel is best. Complete these questions for EACH letter, unless your teacher tells you otherwise. **
 * 1. What does the letter tell us about the event? **
 * 2. What evidence does the letter contain about the period of time? **
 * 3. What does the letter reveal about the person who is writing it? **
 * 4. What does this letter tell us about their personal response to the event? **
 * 5. How does the letter make you feel? **

**Letter #1 **

 * Schomberg, Jan13/33 **
 * Dear Mr. Henry. **
 * Just a line to say that I have some money from the Bank. I paid them $140 on principal and int. and paid the interest all along and still they are not satisfied. They think I should I should sell my stock and pay it all. You know those manager’s (sic) know nothing about farming and they would put you on the road. I have a good tested herd of cows which if sold now would bring nothing to what they should and it would leave me without a cent and I do not think they should have this power, when a man is doing all he can as things in a year or so may be a lot better. I hope you can do something to help me out for awhile, please do not overlook this for I am in need. **
 * Yours Truly, [Name Omitted for Protection of Privacy] Schomberg, Ont. **

**<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 27px;">Letter #2 **

 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 27px;">Jan 18, 1933 **
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 27px;">Hon. G.S. Henry Prime Minister Toronto, Ont. **
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 27px;">Dear Prime Minister, ****<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 27px;">I am a young married man, and a Canadian, greatly in need of help. The House of Industry, at Toronto, is supplying me with food, but as you know it is not the ambition of any red-blooded human being to spend his best years living on charity. I prefer to work. While I am staying here I have not much chance of getting it for some time. I know that you are doing a lot for people out of work, so I am turning to you for assistance. ****<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 27px;">My wife is a Maltese girl and I have been assured by her family in Malta, of getting work there, because I have a working knowledge of a few trades and some education in English. Now the problem is how to get there. I have no money or decent clothing. If you could help us to get passage to Malta we would be greatly indebted to you and appreciate it as long as we live. ****<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 27px;">Trusting you will give our case a little of your valuable attention, I remain, **
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 27px;">Very sincerely yours [Name Omitted for Protection of Privacy] Toronto **

**<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 27px;">Letter #3 **

 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 27px;">Toronto February 14, 1933 **
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 27px;">Hon. George S. Henry Premier of Ontario Toronto **
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 27px;">Dear Mr. Henry: I take the liberty of writing you to appeal to you to do something for my father. ****<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 27px;">I am the oldest of the family + am the only one working + we have only $8 coming into the house per week. My Mother + Father are greatly worried and are getting into debt and we can scarcely get the necessities of life and my brothers + sisters need things shoes etc. and we have not the money to get them with. Father has always been good in doing what he could for anyone + has done much for the Conservative Party + mother has told me that he left her many nights to help you and entertain the North Toronto Conservative Association. He has tried and tried to get a job and met with no success and is just wearing himself out + looking old with worry. He has been a good father to us + if he cannot get anything to do it means the breaking up of our home + we all have been so happy until things became bad with Dad. ****<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 27px;">I appeal to you to do something for him as he has always spoken highly of you. Trusting you will for mysake + for my sisters + brothers. **
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 27px;">Yours Faithfully [Name Omitted for Protection of Privacy] **

**<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 27px;">Letter #4 **

 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 27px;">Cache Bay, Ontario February 25/33 **
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 27px;">Dear Sir Henry:- ****<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 27px;">To-day I am writing you these couple of line (sic) to ask you a great favour. Because it’s a week that I have been not able to go to school because I have no shoes. Will you will really say that I am a great pest but I am really writing in crying to see that here we have so much trouble with relief while other in other place (sic) have no trouble. Now they say the government has took (sic) the place but the man who tooke (sic) stop the school supplies and says that we can have no clothes anymore but I would have love to sometime (sic) my school because it is the only think (sic) that would help me is to be well educated and if I pass my entrance I will try to apply for a job. And if I earn money I will repay you all this. So please try to send a couple of dollars to help a poor cripple little girl and I am sure that god would repay you all this. And I do pray god to preserve such a man like you are and may you live long years again. You know that god as said “The one who helped the poor, the suffer, the cripple would have a great reward after life.” Please you wont refuse to send a couple of Dollars to get myself a pair of shoes and rubbers because that money wont make you poorer or wont be lost instead of $5.00 God will send you $10. So please in your honour do your best and I know that will answer because you are not as selfish as Premier Ferguson because before I wrote to you I had written to Premier F and he did not even write but you are not as self-fish as he is. So I close for now hoping to receive a letter from you as soon as possible. **
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 27px;">God bless you from [Name Omitted for Protection of Privacy] Cache Bay, Ontario **
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 27px;">P .M. Excuse the writing because I have no ink and pen to write To get this letter address I will have to go to the second neighbour **

**<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 27px;">Part B: **
<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold','sans-serif'; font-size: 27px;">Using the data categories analyse the historical letter using the criteria provided. For each criteria point find evidence from the letter to support your position. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold','sans-serif'; font-size: 27px;">Detailed <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold','sans-serif'; font-size: 27px;">Revealing <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold','sans-serif'; font-size: 27px;">Empathetic <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold','sans-serif'; font-size: 27px;">Overall Strengths and Weaknesses of the letter <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold','sans-serif'; font-size: 27px;">REMEMBER, provide evidence for each category (hint-you'll only find evidence IN the letter! Provide at least 1 piece of evidence for each category, as well as at least 1 strength and 1 weakness. Do you want a higher grade? If you do, you'll work hard to provide more evidence, and to make sure your writing is clear and easy to read.
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 27px;">Use the following criteria to judge the effectiveness of the letter from Part A you feel is the best: **

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold','sans-serif'; font-size: 27px;">Part C:
<span style="font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold','sans-serif'; font-size: 27px;">Now write your own depression era letter to the government in the 1930s using the 4 letters from part A as examples for you. Create a person, think of where they are writing it from and how that would effect what is being written and think about what you know about the hardships of the depression and their causes and effects. We'll go over this in class as a group.