History - The Great Depression

source analysis

The Dust Bowl - causes

• overgrazing by cattle and plowing by farmers destroyed grasses that once held down soil

• loose soil, 9 year drought in wheat and corn belts and high winds

The Dust Bowl - effects

• farmers could barely make a living, “migrant farmers,” evacuated areas - 500 000 left homeless, 1932 - 1940 → 2.5 million left region.

• Arkies and Okies → people left south and Great Plains

• end of decade → 4 million migrants still on road

• farmers topsoil blew away

• farm foreclosures

The Dust Bowl - overview

• kansas, oklahoma, colorado, texas

• ‘migrant mother’ → famous

The Dust Bowl - improvements

• New Deal → Farm Security Administration est. 1937 → provided temporary camps and some support for rural communities

• Civilian Conservation Corps → founded after Dust Bowl disaster, increase focus on environmental management. CCC carried out rehab work (e.g. soil conservation) ~ 220 million trees were planted over 7 years, creating 18000 wind breaks, helping stop dust storms.