Dust Bowl Crisis: Hard Times and Efforts to Help Farmers

1. Chapter 25, Section 3“Americans Face Hard Times”

2. Dust Bowl(Story of US: 19:00-29:30) • Massive dust storms that swept through the Great Plains caused by severe droughts in the early 1930s • The top soil literally blew away which destroyed farms • Farmers already struggling with low crop prices often lost their farms to the banks

3. Efforts to Help Dust Bowl Farmers • New Deal programs tried to help them by offering them low-interest loans (FCA) and by stabilizing crop prices (AAA) • Efforts to prevent future Dust Bowls by growing grass and planting trees near fields to prevent wind erosion

4. “Okies” and “Arkies” Head West • 2.5 million people left the Great Plains after they lost their farms • Most headed west looking for work, particularly in California • They struggled when they got there as there were too many looking for work and too few jobs

5. Great Depression Hit Some Groups Harder Than Others • Children – many dropped out of school to work to help support their families, and many left home to fend for themselves • Hispanics – had a harder time getting jobs and many were deported back to Mexico • African Americans – faced discrimination and many lost jobs to whites

6. Mary McLeod Bethune • Started a school for African American girls in Daytona Beach, Florida (a school that started with 6 girls, but eventually grew to become Bethune-Cookman University) • She was appointed Director of the Division of Negro Affairs (with-in the National Youth Admin.) which trained young African Americans for jobs • This made her the first African-American female federal agency head

7. The “Black Cabinet” • A group of African American leaders (such as Mary McLeod Bethune) who were appointed to positions within the FDR’s administration • They advised the president on issues relating to race • Why was FDR unwilling to sign a bill outlawing lynching? Eleanor Roosevelt and Mary McLeod Bethune

8. FDR Fails to Fully Support Civil Rights • Despite his efforts to help minority groups, FDR was never committed fully to civil rights • He was afraid of upsetting Southern Congressmen and white Democratic voters in the South • He needed them to win elections and to get more New Deal legislation passed • For this reason he did not support a federal anti-lynching law nor an end to the poll tax • Many New Deal programs also discriminated against minorities by giving lower wages in them and favoring whites in hiring • Still, the African American community supported him as they believed his programs offered them some help, and they believed it was more help than they would have received from the Republican Party

9. Mexican-Americans During the Depression • Mexican Americans also tended to support the New Deal even though they received even less help than African Americans • Large numbers of Mexican people came to the US in the 1920s looking for work • When farm prices and wages fell, they suffered badly • When Mexican farm workers tried to unionize they faced violence fro employers and gov’t authorities • 400,000 Mexicans (including US citizens) were deported to Mexico during the 1930s

10. Native Americans During the Depression • Native American received citizenship and the right to vote in 1924, but they struggled economically and many resisted attempts to assimilate them into US culture • Indian Reorganization Act (1934) – guaranteed that reservation land would stay in the control of the individual tribes, reduced the number of boarding schools trying to assimilate the young, and gave tribes the ability to elect their own tribal councils to govern • Despite this New Deal help, Native Americans lagged behind the rest of the population economically and faced discrimination

11. New Deal Coalition • New Deal Coalition – an alignment of diverse groups dedicated to supporting the Democratic Party following the election of Franklin Roosevelt in 1932 • The coalition included: • Southern whites • Various urban groups • African Americans • Unionized industrial workers • This block of voters helped Democrats to dominate national politics throughout the 1930s and 1940s

12. Entertainment in the Depression Era • Swing Music – fast-paced rhythms that young people could dance to • Radio – shows like Little Orphan Annie and the Lone Ranger entertained • Movies – comedies, dramas, and musicals entertained and were very inexpensive to see • Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in “Follow the Fleet”

13. Movie Stars of the 1930s • Silent movies gave way to “talking” pictures • Clark Gable (“Gone with the Wind”), Marlene Dietrich, and James Cagney were top movie starts of the decade • Marx Brothers with their zany comedy were popular

14. Radio in the 1930s • Radio had even more of an impact because people tuned in daily • Families spent time together listening to the radio • Radio shows then mirrored what is on television now – dramas, news, game shows, soap operas, sports, kids shows, etc.

15. Art, Music, and Literature of 1930s • Radio and movies often were upbeat to take people away from their problems • The opposite was often true of art, music, and literature • Common themes were ones where the difficulties of the depression were portrayed, or scenes from everyday life

16. WoodieGuthrie • Oklahoma-born folk singer who crossed the country singing his songs about loss and struggle • “Dust Bowl Blues” From 1976 movie “Bound for Glory” about Woody Guthrie

17. John Steinbeck • Famous author who described life in the Great Depression in many of his novels • “Grapes of Wrath” described the struggles of Dust Bowl farmers who moved to California looking for work

18. The New Deal and Art, Theater, and Literature • The New Deal benefitted many artists and writers by providing them jobs • The Federal Art Project (a branch of the WPA) paid artists a living wage to create public art • Projects included creating posters for New Deal agencies, painting public murals, and teaching art in schools • The Federal Theater Project (also part of the WPA) performed plays around the country

19. Effects of the Great Depression and the New Deal • Provided hope and relief to many Americans during the depression • Expanded the role of the federal gov’t • Created major programs such as Social Security, FDIC, and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) which monitors the stock exchange • Created belief that the federal gov’t is responsible for people’s well-being

20. Full Recovery from the Depression • After the U.S. enters WWII • When gov’t begins buying massive amounts of war supplies the problem of unemployment finally subsides Pearl Harbor attacked by Japan

21. Deficit Spending and Unemployment During the New Deal