The Migrant Experience

1. The Migrant Experience The Migrant Experience was about the migration to The west. The reason people did this, is because people ran out of money to pay for homes and crops.

2. Moving West • The Migrant Experience happened in the 1930s. • The idea was to move west to start a new life. • The migrants were heading towards California • Following World War I, there was a recession led to a drop in the market price of farm crops. • This caused Great Plains farmers to increase their productivity through mechanization and the cultivation of more land.

3. The Drop in the Stock Market • The stock market crash in 1929 • Many independent farmers lost their farms when banks came to collect on their notes • The attempts of these displaced agricultural workers to find other work were met with frustration due to a 30 percent unemployment rate. • At the same time, the increase in farming activity placed greater strain on the land. • The strain on the land caused the rich soil to slowly erode.

4. The Down fall of the land • a seven-year drought began in 1931 • The coming of dust storms was in 1932 • Many of the farms literally dried up and blew away • This period of time is known as the dust bowl • The dust bowl was driven by the great depression.

5. Hopes for a better life in California • Many of the migrants that were heading west were going towards California. • They were hoping for a better life • Work was one of the things that the migrants were looking for • Another thing was the growing seasons were longer in California • There was a better climate in California.

6. The Mexican migrants • Most of the Mexican migrants that were in California were living in El Rio farm security administration camp. • Mexican immigrants had long been an integral part of agricultural production in the United States • living and working conditions of agricultural migrant laborers have changed little in the intervening half century.