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The New Deal was a series of programs and projects instituted during the Great Depression by President Franklin D. Roosevelt that aimed to restore prosperity to Americans. When Roosevelt took office in 1933, he acted swiftly to stabilize the economy and provide jobs and relief to those who were suffering. Over the next eight years, the government instituted a series of experimental New Deal projects and programs, such as the CCC, the WPA, the TVA, the SEC and others. Roosevelt’s New Deal fundamentally and permanently changed the U.S. federal government by expanding its size and scope—especially its role in the economy.
Roosevelt’s quest to end the Great Depression was just beginning, and would ramp up in what came to be known as “The First 100 Days.” Roosevelt kicked things off by asking Congress to take the first step toward ending Prohibition – one of the more divisive issues of the 1920s – by making it legal once again for Americans to buy beer. (At the end of the year, Congress ratified the 21st Amendment and ended Prohibition for good.)
Roosevelt worked hard during his time in office to get the economy stabilized.

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Radio broadcasts were a popular form of entertainment for Americans during the Great Depression and many families owned at least one radio by the time the Great Depression was over. You can listen to one of these such broadcasts below by clicking the link.

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Jessie Owens won his 4th Gold Medal in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. He broke the 4X100 record with 39.8 seconds and held the position for 20 years.

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Bonnie and Clyde, in full Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow,  were a  robbery team that became notorious in the United States through their flamboyant encounters with police and the sensationalization of their exploits by the country’s newspapers. Bonnie and Clyde mainly robbed "Mom and Pop" stores. Bonnie and Clyde mostly stole only $5-$10 worth of stuff at each site they visited. Bonnie and Clyde's reign of terror came to an end when a police unit shot throughout their entire car and instantly killed them.

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The Dust Bowl of 1930 affected all sorts of farmers across the U.S.

Click below to watch a video on how the Dust Bowl affect the United States...

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The Dust Bowl

Imagine a huge dust cloud swallowing up your home to the point that it can barely be seen. This was the grim reality for many Midwestern Americans between 1930 and 1940 during a catastrophic event known as the Dust Bowl. The Dust Bowl was a series of periodic dust storms in the Midwestern prairies created by wind erosion of the soil. The Dust Bowl severely destroyed the ecology of the Midwest, while at the same time forcing a massive migration out of the Dust Bowl states, including Oklahoma, New Mexico, Kansas, Colorado, and Texas.

In this lesson, we'll consider some basic facts about the Dust Bowl and then consider the different arguments about why the Dust Bowl occurred. Was this an unusual natural disaster, or was it a man-made phenomenon like global warming?

Dust Bowl Facts

Rather than attempting to offer a lengthy history of the Dust Bowl, here are some important facts concerning this catastrophic event:

Several Oklahomans and other Midwesterners migrated to California as a result of the Dust Bowl. These migrants were called Okies.

An estimated 3.5 million people moved out of the Midwest because of the Dust Bowl.

It's estimated that 1 in 8 Californians today are of Okie heritage.

The Dust Bowl coincided with the Great Depression in America, essentially hurting those affected by the Dust Bowl even more.

Author John Steinbeck used the Dust Bowl as the historical background in two of his novels, The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men.

Causes of the Dust Bowl

Prior to the Dust Bowl, Oklahoma panhandle resident Caroline Henderson described the Midwest this way, 'Little towns have sprung up with attractive homes, trees, flowers, schools, churches, and hospitals. Automobiles and trucks, tractors and combines have revolutionized methods of farm work and manner of living. . . It seemed as if our dreams were coming true.' This optimistic picture greatly changed when the Dust Bowl happened, which Caroline Henderson drearily described this way, 'We are in the worst of the dust storm area where 'dust to eat' is not merely a figure of speech, but the phrasing of a bitter reality.'

So, what caused this change? There are three main explanations that have been put forward by historians:

The first explanation is simply that the Dust Bowl was the result of a heavy drought that hit the Midwest really hard. According to this explanation, the Dust Bowl was simply an unfortunate natural disaster, just like an earthquake or a hurricane. There was nothing that could have prevented the event from occurring.

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facts & causes - video & lesson transcript | study.com

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What Was the Dust Bowl? - Definition, Facts & Causes - Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.com

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Imagine a huge dust cloud swallowing up your home to the point that it can barely be seen. This was the grim reality for many Midwestern Americans between 1930 and 1940 during a catastrophic event known as the Dust Bowl.

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Even the affluent faced severe belt-tightening.
Potlucks and ‘thrift gardens’ were the norm.
Board games and miniature golf courses thrived.
Women entered the workforce in increasing numbers.
Families on government support were less stigmatized.
Economic hardship caused family breakdowns.
Crime was mythologized, but this was largely hype.

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The Great Depression began with a huge stock market crash in 1929 & was worsened by the Dust Bowl in the 1930s. President Franklin D. Roosevelt instituted government-run systems that would help the economy pick back up, but his efforts wouldn't be able to bring the economy back up until years later. The Great Depression was by far the worst depression that America has seen, but there have been minor drops in the stock market since then.

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