Folk musician Woody Guthrie’s semi-autobiographical first album Dust Bowl Ballads in 1940, told stories of economic hardship faced by Okies in California. It began after the stock market crash of October 1929, which sent Wall Street into a panic and wiped out millions of investors. [28] The severe drought and dust storms had left many homeless; others had their mortgages foreclosed by banks, or felt they had no choice but to abandon their farms in search of work. PNAS. The combination weakened and changed the direction of the jet stream. [19] When severe drought struck the Great Plains region in the 1930s, it resulted in erosion and loss of topsoil because of farming practices at the time.
Accessed June 9, 2020. [20] The persistent dry weather caused crops to fail, leaving the plowed fields exposed to wind erosion. It successfully increased prices by at least 20%. A hungry nation protested the waste of food. The economic effects persisted, in part, because of farmers' failure to switch to more appropriate crops for highly eroded areas.
Sess. The worst dust storm occurred on April 14, 1935. In the aftermath of Black Tuesday, America and the rest of the ...read more.
The Homestead Act of 1862, which provided settlers with 160 acres of public land, was followed by the Kinkaid Act of 1904 and the Enlarged Homestead Act of 1909. FDR and the New Deal Response to an Environmental Catastrophe.
Accessed June 9, 2020. Between 1930 and 1940, approximately 3.5 million people moved out of the Plains states; of those, it is unknown how many moved to California. 1935-1945.” Accessed June 9, 2020. In 1941, a Kansas agricultural experiment station released a bulletin that suggested reestablishing native grasses by the "hay method". [3] The widespread conversion of the land by deep plowing and other soil preparation methods to enable agriculture eliminated the native grasses which held the soil in place and helped retain moisture during dry periods. Patrick Allitt recounts how fellow historian Donald Worster responded to his return visit to the Dust Bowl in the mid-1970s when he revisited some of the worst afflicted counties: In contrast with Worster's pessimism, historian Mathew Bonnifield argued that the long-term significance of the Dust Bowl was "the triumph of the human spirit in its capacity to endure and overcome hardships and reverses. Over the next several ...read more, The New Deal was one of President Roosevelt’s efforts to end the Great Depression. Rising wheat prices in the 1910s and 1920s and increased demand for wheat from Europe during World War I encouraged farmers to plow up millions of acres of native grassland to plant wheat, corn and other row crops. [35] The poor economy displaced more than just farmers as refugees to California; many teachers, lawyers, and small business owners moved west with their families during this time. But those refugees weren’t from other countries, they were Americans and former inhabitants of the Great Plains and the Midwest who had lost their homes and livelihoods in the Dust ...read more, The Great Depression was the worst economic downturn in the history of the industrialized world, lasting from 1929 to 1939. 1935-1945, Research Bulletin Relief and Rehabilitation in the Drought Area, Recharge Rates and Chemistry Beneath Playas of the High Plains Aquifer—A Literature Review and Synthesis, Tapping Unsustainable Groundwater Stores for Agricultural Production in the High Plains Aquifer of Kansas, Projections to 2110, The Ogallala Aquifer: Saving a Vital U.S. Water Source, The Dust Bowl worsened the Great Depression by wreaking havoc on U.S. agriculture and livestock, Severe drought and bad farming procedures eroded the topsoil, The Great Plains could turn into a Dust Bowl again if the Ogallala Aquifer is drained dry. It reached as far east as the mid-Atlantic region and hit eight Southern states. On rare occasions when the wind did subside for a period of hours, the air has been so filled with dust that the town appeared to be overhung by a fog cloud. Accessed June 9, 2020. By 1938, the massive conservation effort had reduced the amount of blowing soil by 65%. The massive dust storms caused farmers to lose their livelihoods and their homes. © 2020 A&E Television Networks, LLC. Estimates range from hundreds to several thousand people. Population declines in the worst-hit counties—where the agricultural value of the land failed to recover—continued well into the 1950s. The Soil Erosion Service, now called the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) implemented new farming techniques to combat the problem of soil erosion.
For example, in the Llano Estacado of eastern New Mexico and northwestern Texas, the area of farmland was doubled between 1900 and 1920, then tripled again between 1925 and 1930. https://www.history.com/topics/great-depression/dust-bowl. The federal government encouraged settlement and development of the Plains for agriculture via the Homestead Act of 1862, offering settlers ”quarter section” 160-acre (65 ha) plots. They occurred in 1930-1931, 1934, 1936, and 1939-1940, but it felt like one long drought. Some people developed “dust pneumonia” and experienced chest pain and difficulty breathing. Thomas Brock is a well-rounded financial professional, with over 20 years of experience in investments, corporate finance, and accounting. By 1940, counties that had experienced the most significant levels of erosion had a greater decline in agricultural land values. This catastrophe intensified the economic impact of the Great Depression in the region. More than two-thirds were farmers. Total assistance was estimated at $1 billion in 1930s dollars. The Dust Bowl worsened the effects of the Great Depression. ...read more, 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. AWS.
This false belief was linked to Manifest Destiny—an attitude that Americans had a sacred duty to expand west. Accessed June 9, 2020. Dust Bowl Migration.
"Red Cross Timeline." It is now known as the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).[37]. About one-eighth of California's population is of Okie heritage. [46] In addition, profit margins in either animals or hay were still minimal, and farmers had little incentive in the beginning to change their crops. The land and revenue began increasing again in 1940, and has been increasing since then. He also addressed the environmental degradation that had led to the Dust Bowl in the first place. Agribusiness is draining the groundwater from the Ogallala Aquifer at least six times faster than rain is putting it back. Land degradation varied widely.
...read more, On October 29, 1929, Black Tuesday hit Wall Street as investors traded some 16 million shares on the New York Stock Exchange in a single day. “Farm Foreclosures.” Accessed June 9, 2020. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
NASA. Accessed June 9, 2020.
Accessed June 9, 2020.
The American Presidency Project. For instance, the Farm Security Administration hired numerous photographers to document the crisis. As part of New Deal programs, Congress passed the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act in 1936, requiring landowners to share the allocated government subsidies with the laborers who worked on their farms. Artist Alexander Hogue painted Dust Bowl landscapes.
Allitt p 211, paraphrasing William Cronin's evaluation of Mathew Paul Bonnifield, Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act, Learn how and when to remove this template message, "What we learned from the Dust Bowl: lessons in science, policy, and adaptation", "Did dust storms make the Dust Bowl drought worse? “Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Herbert Hoover,” Page 16. [32], Historian James N. Gregory examined Census Bureau statistics and other records to learn more about the migrants. Eroding soil led to massive dust storms and economic devastation—especially in the Southern Plains. [29] Many Americans migrated west looking for work. NOAA.
Furthermore, cotton farmers left fields bare during winter months, when winds in the High Plains are highest, and burned the stubble as a means to control weeds prior to planting, thereby depriving the soil of organic nutrients and surface vegetation.
[41][42] In 1937, the federal government began an aggressive campaign to encourage farmers in the Dust Bowl to adopt planting and plowing methods that conserved the soil.
Google Books. Deflation during the Depression drove cotton prices down from $0.18 per pound in 1928 to $0.06 per pound in 1931. It cost farmers more to plant cotton than they could get selling it. [26] The abandonment of homesteads and financial ruin resulting from catastrophic topsoil loss led to widespread hunger and poverty. [49] She captured what have become classic images of the dust storms and migrant families. “NASA Explains ‘Dust Bowl’ Drought.” Accessed June 9, 2020. Today, the "Bakersfield Sound" describes this blend, which developed after the migrants brought country music to the city. Interior Secretary Harold L. Ickes established the Soil Erosion Service in August 1933 under Hugh Hammond Bennett. [28] Terms such as "Okies" and "Arkies" came to be known in the 1930s as the standard terms for those who had lost everything and were struggling the most during the Great Depression. Roosevelt Institute. Kimberly Amadeo has 20 years of experience in economic analysis and business strategy. "[57], The change in the total value of agricultural land and revenue was quite similar over the twentieth century. Those who remain will switch to wheat, sorghum, and other sustainable, low-water crops. Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).