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American history chapter 13 the great depression
American history chapter 13 the great depression
The great american depression 1930
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However, this economic growth came to an end in 1929 when the stock market crashes, resulting in billions of dollars to evaporate. The roaring 20's twenties were met with the great depression. The 1930's was a challenging time in American history. Not only was this the time of the great Depression but also the Dust Bowl that occurred in the Central Plains, which caused large numbers of Americans to evacuate which led millions of refugees to move to California to look for work. The book Harvest Gypsies
Government policies and their lack of intervention are also responsible for the strike of disaster. A report sent to Roosevelt by the Great Plains Drought Area Committee about the causes of the dust storm disasters concluded that the public homesteading act was greatly at fault (267). The homesteading policy and the stimulation of war time demands “led to over cropping and over grazing, and encouragement of a system of agriculture which could not be both permanent and prosperous “ (Egan, 267). War time demand was sought to drive up prices that stimulated record production. But by 1930 prices plummeted and led farmers to plow even more land in attempt to break even.
People suffered from hunger and depression in the 1930s because it revealed that Progressive leaders had built the prosperity of the 1920st on weak foundation. Even though Great depression last ten years, President Coolidge Hoover signed the Emergency
Dust Bowl: The Southern Plains in the 1930’s Donald Worster’s Dust Bowl: The Southern Plains in the 1930’s was written by a Kansas Native who demonstrates the horrendous plague that destroyed the once prosperous plains in the American West. Worster depicts the primary reasons of the economical and agricultural struggles that generated the ‘Dirty 30’s’. In the Preface of the book Worster explains his reasoning for writing his book as ‘selfish’, due to the fact that he wrote it for himself in remembrance of the plains where he grew up. He explains the derivation of his information as so, “It is, however, based on not only on extensive library research, but on conversations with farmers, agronomists, and storekeepers;...”
During the Dust Bowl some people made the decision to stay at their farms. Huge drifts of dirt piled up on homesteaders’ doors, came in the cracks of windows and came down from the ceilings. Barnyards and pastures were buried in dirt. After about 850 million tons of topsoil was blown away in 1935 alone. The government responded to this by saying “Unless something is done, the western plains will be as arid as the Arabian desert.”
Simple necessities such as cooking, eating, bathing, and even walking to a neighborhood store became difficult. In the eight years of the dusty drought, the soils that farmers valued most were depleted and damaged. Here’s why. The Dust Bowl occurred in the Great Plains of America, specifically harming Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, Texas, and New Mexico. There were four waves of droughts, but often times the people did not have healing time to recover for their losses.
Dust Bowl and Economics of the 1930s The Dust Bowl was a very desperate and troublesome time for America. The southwestern territories were in turmoil due to the arid effect of the drought causing no fertile soils. As the rest of America was being dragged along with the stock market crash and higher prices of wheat and crops since the producing areas couldn't produce. This was a streak of bad luck for the Americans as they were in a deep despair for a quite some time.
The vegetation that was there were short grasses with roots that went 5 feet down forming dense sod (The Dust Bowl). These grasses could withstand the region’s periodic droughts and extreme weather conditions (The Dust Bowl). The farmer’s actions caused nature push back.
In the 1930s, drought covered most all of the Great Plains for nearly a decade. “At one time the Great Plains were some of the most fertile grasslands on Earth, with topsoil reaching as deep as six feet. Overtime though, farmers had dug up the topsoil for agricultural uses, and eventually the sun dried it all up.” Around this time, rainfall had become an issue seeing as there wasn't very
The Black Blizzards sweeping the plains of the 1930’s, better known as the Dust Bowl contributed to the extreme economic downturn of its time. These giant dust storms were caused mainly by a combination of environmental factors and human actions. In turn, these oversized storms caused many people to suffer from loss of crop, and eventually, forced innovation of farming techniques. Back in the “dirty thirties”, years 1934 to 1937, an extreme drought and the lack of strong root systems in the soil, causing wind storms, and the loss of crops. Dirt swirled into dense dust clouds, so dark you couldn't see through them.
The drought and dust destroyed a large part of agricultural production, worsening The Great Depression.(http://useconomy.about.com/od/criticalssues/p/The_Dust_Bowl.htm).” The Dust Bowl was widespread and caused many problems in the US. According to Jess Porter, The removal of native grasses to pursue riches from the cultivation of wheat set the stage for the disaster. Only the expertise of the government could hope to salvage the plains (Porter). Many people say it was the farmers fault who farmed on the plains.
As the drought began, prices of crops were decreased. This desperately caused farmers to start purchasing more and more crops, which then led to more soil being destroyed (17 Interesting Facts). The prices of crops were lowered, which allowed the farmers to add more acres, thinking they would produce more crops (Drought Basics). As the Dust Bowl proceeded, the farmers did not just watch their crops blow away, but their jobs as well (17 Interesting Facts). The farmers were not reeling in much money as they are used to, which inspired farmers to cultivate their fields (Drought Basics).
The life of American people changed in the Depression-ravaged 1930s because they had to change their living style/standard of living. Most people lost their jobs, houses, and sometimes everything they owned. Some families were separated, where one or both of the parents had to leave. Also, some people thought that this was the end of their freedom in America because the Depression seemed to never end.
The Dust Bowl is an area that was devastated by extreme drought, soil erosion, and economic depression during the 1930’s. The worst of it struck 50 million acres , mainly in Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. The Dust Bowl did a lot of destruction to farm land and caused a lot of problems for farmers. Some farmers called “suitcase farmers” are people who lived and only visited during harvesting time. About 40 big storms swept through the Dust Bowl in 1935.
According to Spross (2013), “The Texas drought began in 2010 and is now the third-worst the state has seen since 1895, when record-keeping first began” (para. 8). The 2011 drought exceeds the 1950-1957 drought in strength but not duration. It has also beaten the 1924-1925 drought by all measures, and is most strongly rivaled by the 1915-1918 drought. This 2011 drought is also one of two to have ever reached extreme status in all ten climate divisions of the state.
