Nick and Misha's Padlet for English by Misha Reswick

Why did the Dust Bowl come about; what were its consequences?

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Info on the Dust Bowl

Before the Dust Bowl:

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The southern plains was a new region for settlers, one that held great potential. While the rest of the nation was in The Great Depression and hungry, the southern plains would be pumping out a seemingly limitless amount of food.

Hordes of Farmers Coming to the Southern Plains

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The nation was in despair; no one had enough food, and no one certainly had enough money. But the Southern Plains seemed to be the perfect solution to all those problems. The land was good, excellent for farming, and provided an excellent way to keep one's family full and from starving. The crops that the farmers could grow in the Southern plains also supplied a good income for the farmers. The Southern Plains seemed like paradise to people of The Great Depression, and the race was on to make every inch of the Southern Plains profitable. Farmers came by the masses. Even businessmen from the East came to plant their crops and turn it into profit.

1931: Rain in the Southern Plains Stopped

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Right at the most prosperous stage of the Southern Plains during the summer of 1931, the rains that kept the plants growing came to a crashing halt; the dust storms began. Yet dry seasons were normal, so nobody took too much notice, at first.

The Effect of the Dust Storms

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Crops began to die from the lack of rain. The wind became relentless, as the fields that were once full of crops became completely bare. The farmers started feeling the effects of the dust storms, as everything died; not even a field mouse was left living. The red cross came out to help and administer dust masks, as the dust was making breathing difficult, but it wasn't much help; the dust was everywhere, even in the food. The topsoil that had once made the Southern Plains such a great place to farm and had taken thousands of years to settle was all blown away within minutes. Shoveling dust away from the front yard and door became a common chore. People had to climb out through their windows in order to get out of their houses, as the front door would be blocked by mounds of dirt and dust. The Southern Plains became a desolate wasteland, even comparable to World War One. Yet people stayed, believing that this disaster would soon come to an end.

Where Did The Dust Bowl Happen?

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The region that was effected by these dust storms was known as "The Dust Bowl". This area included the ring at which Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, and New Mexico meet.

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Relentless Beating of the Dust Storms

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In 1932, 14 major dust storms were reported.

In 1933, 38 major dust storms were reported.

1934, the dust storms just kept on coming, without any rain. The drought continued.

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Little Help Comes

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The severity of the dust storms wasn't really recognized, and was only seen as another depression area. However, Franklin Roosevelt did start delivering relief checks and food hand outs, which kept the population of the dust bowl alive. The government then decided to buy thousands of starving cattle (in the fall of 1934) from the farmers and destroy them (started killing them). This act further diminished the amount of food that the farmers had. Life as a farmer in the Southern Plains was rugged, and many fled to the west, hoping to escape the dust bowl.

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1935: Additional Problems Arise

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During 1935, thousands of starving jackrabbits came down from the hills, devouring every little last living thing on the plains. Nothing was left. The farmers knew they wouldn't survive if with the jackrabbits, so drives were held to exterminate the rabbits. Farmers formed lines with clubs, and started killing every jackrabbit they could find.

Farmers Exterminating the Jackrabbits

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Black Sunday

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Black Sunday, April 14, 1935, was known as the worst day of the entire dust bowl disaster. The storms rolled in, covering everything in a black darkness. Thousands of birds were seen flying away, attempting to survive the dirt avalanches. During Black Sunday, the wind blew so strongly that the frames of people houses moved back and forth up to six inches; houses seemed like they might collapse. Everyone tried to escape the dust and dirt that fell; many went for their cars. But not everyone escaped Black Sunday, as in incident, where a man driving his car lost control and crashed his car. He suffocated to death before he could get out of his car.

Dust, Dirt, and Filth

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Sickly Dirt

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With the dirt, came illness and disease; especially pneumonia. The pneumonia epidemic spread across the plains like a wildfire, and begun to be known as "dust pneumonia". Animals died, with a 2 inch layer of sand in their stomachs. In 1935, one in three deaths in For County, Kansas, resulted from pneumonia.

Dust Pneumonia

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1935: Farmers Begin to Leave

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Food has become scarce, and the farmers can't make a living if they can't even grow any crops. So one quarter of the farmers decided to leave, attempting to escape the dust bowl and live a better life in the west. As a result, businesses, churches, and even schools began to shut down. Yet the majority of the farmers dragged on in the dust bowl.

Tex Thornton and his TNT

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Tex Thornton believed that explosions would excite the atmosphere, and cause the rain to finally come. The locals paid three hundred dollars to Text, who went out and bought TNT among other explosives. Later on, a small snow storm was accredited to Text Thornton, but in reality, Text Thornton was just a spoof, looking to earn money, as the following summer, in 1936, happened to be one of the hottest summers that the dust bowl had had yet.

Huw Bennett, The Father of Soil Conservation

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Huw Bennett was the leader of a new group of agriculture experts, who argued that new conservation techniques could bring back farming to the Southern Plains. The Federal Government didn't listen to Huw Bennett, until a dust storm dropped 12 million tons of dirt on Chicago. Huw Bennet now had Capitol Hill's attention, and now the Federal Government was finally realizing what a disaster the dust bowl really was. Washington now put its full force behind soil conservation.

Huw Bennett

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The Push to Help

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Huw Bennett how had Washington's help, and it only took a short while for changes to start being made. First of all, the government funded a motivation film of the dust bowl, and in 1936, was released across the whole country. Then in 1937, Washington releases an aggressive campaign to encourage dust bowlers to use plowing/planting methods that conserve the soil. By 1938, the new campaign had massively reduced the amount of blowing soil by 65 percent. But the drought still dragged on, while the farmers relied on the government to survive.

Heaven Finally Comes in 1939

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In 1939, the skies finally open up and rain begins to fall. The drought has finally come to an end.

The Rain Finally Comes

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Dorothea Lange

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Dorothea Lange was a photography of the 30s-40s, who was supported by the government to take intimate photos of The Great Depression. A collection of 25,000 negatives and 6,000 field notes and vintage prints of hers now resides in The Oakland Museum of California.

The Bubble of the Great Depression

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A bubble, as we know it, occurs when prices inflate beyond the value of the product. The Great Depression, among many other reasons, was started by one of these bubbles "bursting", as the stock market crashed due to the overpricing of stock.

Dorothea Lange

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The Dust Bowl Begins

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What did Franklin Delano Roosevelt do to help with the Dust Bowl? What was controversial about his actions?

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Roosevelt introduced a few programs to help support farming during the Dust Bowl

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Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933 (AAA)
•Civilian Conservation Corps Act of 1933 (CCC)
•Farm Security Administration Act of 1935 (FSA)
•Soil Conservation Service Act of 1935 (SCS)
•Farm Security Administration Act of 1937 (FSA)
•Rural Electrification Administration (REA)

FDR introduced a Program to shelter farms from winds and dust

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A “shelter belt” was built from the Texas Panhandle to the Canadian border. The shelter belt consisted of 220 million trees, creating over 18,000 miles of windbreaks on some 30,000 farms

FDR gave a speech regarding the drought and the Dust Bowl

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http://www.authentichistory.com/1930-1939/2-fdr/3-dustbowl/19360906_FDR_On_The_Drought_And_The_Dust_Bowl.mp3

FDR's Speech

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In his Speech he says,

"Yet I would not have you think for a single minute that there is permanent disaster in these drought regions, or that the picture I saw meant depopulating these areas. No cracked earth, no blistering sun, no burning wind, no grasshoppers, are a permanent match for the indomitable American farmers and stockmen and their wives and children who have carried on through desperate days, and inspire us with their self-reliance, their tenacity and their courage."

Agriculture Adjustment Act of 1933

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The AAA provided relief to farmers by paying them to reduce production; this also helped to reduce crop surpluses and increase prices for crops

FDR giving his speech

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When FDR was elected he made it clear that he was a president for the people

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Farmers were growing more crop than necessary, so FDR introduced the AAA

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The Supreme Court put an end to the AAA in 1936 by declaring it unconstitutional

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The Federal government told farmers to begin to farm differently

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Farmers did not appreciate the government telling them how to farm.

FDR spent a large sum of money on the programs he intoduced

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Controversy

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Many consider FDR telling the farmers how to farm and spending lots of money during the Dust Bowl to be controvesial.

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