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Background of the Dust Bowl: The Great Depression

Background of the Dust Bowl: The Great Depression. Causes: Lack of economic regulation

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Background of the Dust Bowl: The Great Depression

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  1. Background of the Dust Bowl: The Great Depression • Causes: • Lack of economic regulation • Stock Market Speculation – Those on Wall Street anticipated a increase in economy (which was a Roaring Twenties mindset) and invested big: as our economy got shaky, the investors got scared and sold out. All stock value crashed, and our economy fell to pieces. • Unequal distribution of wealth – “The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.” • Overproduction of agricultural goods – Supply-and-demand dictates that overproduction will make prices drop. • Trade problems – Tariff of 1930 – tax put on imported goods, which cause foreign nations to not send us as many goods. • International debt

  2. The Dust Bowl

  3. Overview • What is it? • Refers to a large area on the Great Plains that was subjected to severe drought and dust storms in the 1930s, rendering the land barren. • This caused a mass migration to better land • When did it happen? • From 1930- • Where did it happen? • It touched in Texas, Colorado, and New Mexico, but it occurred mainly in Kansas and Oklahoma (especially in the panhandle).

  4. Causes of the Dust Bowl • 1)Poor farming techniques • The families that settled used traditional farming techniques: • No crop rotation, which stripped soil of nutrients • Plowed deeply, which stripped soil of natural grasses • Overgrazing of land took away the vegetation that held down the soil

  5. (Causes Cont.’d) • 2) Drought • An extended drought occurred, starting in 1930 and lasting for 8 years. • 3) High winds • Severe high winds occurred, which picked up the topsoil and blew it all around in dust storms • “Black Sunday” - a day where there were 20 black blizzards around the dust bowl. • Killed crops (what was left was ate by locusts) • Results: Topsoil was robbed of nutrients, dried from lack of water, and was picked up by high winds. Severe dust storms ripped through the land, rendering land useless and farmers with no way of making money.

  6. Results • The people had no way to make money, so they left their farms and headed West. • They had little money or food, and packed what they could fit on the back of their cars: some walked! • The migrants were accepted as cheap labor, and living conditions were very poor. • The government set up some camps for the people, but they were not well-funded and were too few.

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