The Dust Bowl: An Economic Disaster

1051 Words5 Pages

The Dust Bowl is considered to be the worst economic disaster in United States history. The Dust Bowl negatively affected people in an economic way.The dust bowl was so devastating that it ruined the U.S. economy, destroyed homes and farms, and forced people out of their homes and the only life they ever knew.

The Dust Bowl ruined the U.S economy.The 1988–89 drought was the most economically devastating natural disaster in the history of the United States (Economics of the Dust Bowl).The U.S has had many economic disasters and if the dust bowl was considered the worst of those disasters that means the economic effects were devastating. Even though the exact economic losses are not known for this time period, they were substantial enough …show more content…

The frontiers of farming made the area more susceptible to soil erosion which blew dust that made people sick from dust pneumonia (Noel Sander).Illnesses would often last for a long time because there was no one there to treat the sick.Wind driven dust storms had appeared in a large number of counties in western Kansas and the. Dust storms had arisen in Oklahoma and Texas panhandles on several occasions between 1933 and 1935, each time filling the air with millions of tons of …show more content…

Carloads, caravans, homeless and hungry; twenty thousand and fifty thousand and a hundred thousand and two hundred thousand. They streamed over the mountains, hungry and restless--restless as ants, scurrying to find work to do--to lift, to push, to pick, to cut--anything, any burden to bear, for food.”(John Steinbeck).This quote written by author John Steinbeck described the flight of families from the Dust Bowl and further proved the point that the Dust Bowl forced people out of their homes making them start their lives over.Initially, the depression hit the state hard. 29% of the workforce was unemployed by 1933—same as Oklahoma. California has made significant improvements after President Roosevelt’s New Deal in 1933.It wasn’t long until unskilled laborers in the Midwest heard about a daily earning of $3 to $4 (Noel Sander).$3 to $4 still isn't much but it more than most laborers had seen in a long time.Thee extra funds helped families grow and

More about The Dust Bowl: An Economic Disaster

Open Document