Unit 7: The Great Depression  New Deal The Dust Bowl

 Was an Economic and environmental disaster  Caused due to Overproduction, (monocrops—focus of farmer on producing only one crop. No crop rotation.  Plowed up grasses for farms to meet the needs of a booming wheat market  Soil exhaustion, soil erosion  Drought and winds  1935: Blew winds from CO and NE, blackened the sky across the plains, into the East and Atlantic Ocean

What was life REALLY like? Dry! Very little rain fell after The first great dust storm was in Dust storms continued until 1941.

What caused the Dust Bowl disaster? SSevere drought (no rain) OOvergrazing by cattle OOver plowing by farmers HHigh winds All these conditions destroyed the grasses that held the soil in place These storms were called “Black Blizzards” Parts of the Great Plains became known as the Dust Bowl

Responses  Killed millions of animals, burned millions of tons of food  Taylor Grazing Act Federal control of grazing

Who did the drought hit the hardest? MMigrant workers Poor farmers from Oklahoma and Arkansas headed west to escape the Dust Bowl Many moved to the west coast (california) to find jobs on farms They were not welcomed by locals Locals feared that the migrants would take local jobs Migrant workers lived in poor conditions (tents, no water or electricity )

Unemployment

Migrants: Okies  Poor whites and sharecroppers  Evicted from OK, TX, MI, ARK  Going to CAL In response to the mass exodus fleeing the dust bowl/Great Deprsession the L.A. Police Chief created the “bum blockade”

Mexican and Okie Farmworkers

Mexican Repatriation  Mexican & Mexican Americans sent to Mexico  Nearly 1 million were sent back  L.A. County deported 12,000  Colorado deported 20,000

The Indian New Deal  Created by: John Collier  Progressive  Dealt with Pueblos  Meant to Preserve cultures

The Indian New Deal  Multi-faceted legislation that affected: Education Politics Religion Land Culture Language

Indian Reorganization Act  IRA, 1934 Economic & political assistance Business Councils Tribal Constitutions BIA, Interior (Bureau of Indian Affairs) Over half rejected it

African Americans  Jobs in gov’t  Sharecropping  100,000 blacks evicted by AAA  No loans from FHA  Mary McCloud Bethune  om/watch?v=Gk0SpT Oi9Aw om/watch?v=Gk0SpT Oi9Aw

“Share the Wealth”  Huey Long  Populist Gov. in LA  Use of radio and sensational claims  Rhetoric of poverty / class tensions  Senator  Share the Wealth  Social Justice 

Conclusion: How did drought, and dust storms compound depression era problems for farmers? FFarmers were already struggling through the economic depression (due to overproduction of crops) LLack of rain and the overuse of land made farmers problems worse CConditions forced farmers of the Great Plains to migrate west where they were unwelcome and faced an even harder life MMany were left displaced/homeless as farm land became useless