The Great Depression The Dust Bowl - 984 Words

The Great Depression was a horrible time in American history, with as much as one-fourth of the population out of work. One of the hardest hit areas of the population was the agricultural center of the United States in the area that would come to be known as the Dust Bowl. The problems that the people of the Dust Bowl dealt with however were not a result of the Depression as a whole but instead were the result of a combination of bad farming decisions and a horrible drought. Even though the timing makes it seem like the Dust Bowl experience in the 1930’s was a part of the Great Depression as a whole it was a totally different disaster that was occurring at the same time. The experience of the families that lived in the Dust Bowl during the 1930’s cannot be described in any way but as horrible, depressing, and almost hopeless. The causes of the Dust Bowl were two fold. The first cause was the misuse of the land by farmers for generations. When American settlers moved in to the land of Middle America they were approaching something that none of them was familiar with. The immense grasslands were unlike anything that they had ever seen before. As they started to try to tame the land they did what they thought was the most effective thing and removed all of the natural and native plants and animals to make way for something similar that they were familiar with. The prairie grasses gave way to wheat, barley, and corn. The wild herds of buffalo were replaced by cattle. ThisShow MoreRelatedThe Great Depression And Dust Bowl1165 Words   |  5 PagesThe Great Depression/Dust Bowl The ‘Dirty Thirties’ is perhaps one of the most known time periods in American History. During the 1930s, the worst and longest drought occurred in the United States, this was also know as the Dust Bowl. According to Christopher Klein, the Dust Bowl is considered both a man-made and natural disaster. In fact, many events contributed to the Dust Bowl such as poor farming techniques, a severe drought, and economic depression. One of the main causes of the Dust BowlRead MoreThe Great Depression And The Dust Bowl1197 Words   |  5 Pages The New Deal In the year following the Roaring 20s, the United States had a major economic crisis along with the Dust Bowl that affected many of the american people, but if Franklin D. Roosevelt had not saved the economy with the New Deal, the economy would have never truly recovered. The Great Depression and The Dust Bowl The Great Depression was the longest economic recession in the history of the United States. The recession started in the summer of 1929 when stock prices began to rise and alsoRead MoreThe Great Depression And Dust Bowl2250 Words   |  9 Pagessome of the best times in history. However, later in the decade, devastation came in the form of the Great Depression and Dust Bowl. These two factors left a sour taste in the mouthes of Americans as they moved into the thirties. The drastic difference between the economic high and low of the 1920s are due to a combination of the economic boom at the beginning of the decade and the Great Depression at the end, with numerous factors in between these two bookend events. During the best of the decadeRead MoreThe Dust Bowl Effect On The Great Depression1032 Words   |  5 PagesThe Dust Bowl’s Effect on the Great Depression The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck, pays homage to the critical impact the Great Depression had on dust bowl farmers. The growing demand for wheat products forced farmers to overgraze their property. This reduced the overall usefulness and biodiversity of the land, and attributed to the desertification of their establishments. With this, the once lush fields turned to dust, which blew away with the commencement of the severe drought in the earlyRead MoreThe Grapes Of Wrath By John Steinbeck1190 Words   |  5 Pageswith selling over 428,900 copies. Steinbeck, who lived through both the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl, sought to bring attention to how families of Oklahoma outdid these disasters. Steinbeck focuses on families of Oklahoma, including the Joads family, who reside on a farm. The Joad family is tested with hardship when life for them on their farm takes a corrupt turn. Steinbeck symbolizes the Great Depression and Dust Bowl, as the monster, by focusing on bringing attention to how the families inRead MoreDust Bowl of the 1930s911 Words   |  4 PagesThe Dust Bowl of the 1930’s had such an antagonistic effect on the United States economy that was already plummeting. The Dust Bowl affected the U.S economy in just about every way possible ranging from agriculture to finances including government expenses to population changes. This phenomena can be considered as one of the worst natural disasters that has affected the United States. The â€Å"Dust Bowl† was the name given to the Great Plains region that was greatly affected by drought in the 1930’sRead MoreFarming During The Great Depression1210 Words   |  5 PagesNovember 2015 Farming During the Great Depression There were many factors that caused the Great Depression. But one of the main causes of the Great Depression was the farming conditions. Before the Great Depression life was great! The American life was starting to get better and better. But In the early 1930 s soil was reduced to dust and eroded, because of drought and improper farming practice. This period of long, stressful farming conditions was known as the Dust Bowl. It led to the increased numberRead MoreThe Struggle Of The 1920s1322 Words   |  6 PagesWhat the Great Depression Did to America During the decades of the 1920s and 1930s, the United States underwent a series of changes that had a drastic effect on people across the nation. As the economy began to slow to a halt, millions of people were left broke and without jobs. As the country’s farmers were paralyzed with debt, food prices increased radically (McElvaine). During the mid-1930s, a series of droughts coupled with poor agricultural methods led to years of soil erosion and dust stormsRead MorePresident Hoover s Impact On The Great Depression910 Words   |  4 PagesDuring 1929, The Great Depression changed the shape of America and how many people would struggle during this time. The Great Depression had many issues happen that hurt many people and their jobs. President Hoover had a major impact during this time. The Great Depression started after the Stock Market Crash of 1929. The economy during this time was in a world of hurt and people in the economy were going through a rough time. Many farmers dur ing this time lost money to pay for their jobs and couldRead MoreThe Dust Bowl Of The Great West1172 Words   |  5 PagesLucia Martinez Professor Kim Wombles English 1302 September 21, 2015 The Dust Bowl Imagine a great wall closing in on you with nowhere to run. Imagine sweeping a floor of sand that will never go away. Imagine having a terrible cough that leaves your throat irritated and raw to the point where you are coughing up blood. Imagine the disappointment of realizing a possible rain cloud is really a wall of dust rushing your way. For people living in the Midwest during the 1930s this was