The Dust Bowl Elisabeth West CP U.S.History Mrs. Faircloth

What is the “Dust Bowl”? The dust bowl is a reference to a time period beginning in the 1930’s until During this time period peoples in the Great Plains, Oklahoma and Arkansas areas experienced high drought and poverty levels. Throughout this time frame many farmers could not use their lands because it was not fertile enough to support crops. There were terrible dust storms that would remove everything in it’s path.

Before and After the wind/dust storms Oklahoma farm land in 1925Oklahoma farm land in 1936

The Dust Bowl and the fertile land The farmers in the affected areas were not able to produce crops due to the amount of dust. The soil became dust due to the droughts, over plowed land due to World War I and strong wind storms. Some of these storms could travel over 3,000 miles. The most destructive storm was on April 14, 1935 this date became referred to as “Black Sunday”. This storm has wind speeds up to 40 miles per hour and destroyed everything in it’s path. Due to all of the upsets in the lands pH balances the once fertile soil became dust.“Black Sunday”.

Effects of the Dust Bowl Farmers were not able to produce crops. So, in turn could not earn money. Families could not afford to buy food and water. Peoples were forced to leave their homes and move to other locations. Some locations promoted healthy living but, in reality were just empty promises. There was a high demand for jobs but little vacancy’s for jobs. Many felt that there was no hope. Migrants were forced to fend for themselves once at the new locations and were housed in tents with no water.

The Dust Bowl in the News John Steinbeck wrote the novel The Grapes of Wrath, in reaction to the Dust Bowl. Throughout the novel Steinbeck talks about how difficult it was for families who lived in the affected areas. He mentions how big companies would destroy extra crops versus giving it to those in need because the company could not make a profit if they gave the food away for free. Eleanor Roosevelt, after reading the novel went to check things out for herself. She received a first hand eye-witness account of the affected peoples. Mrs. Roosevelt endorsement of the novel helped America see that Steinbeck did not just write a piece of fiction he wrote a novel to help others see the accounts of the effected dust bowl residents.

The Soil Conservation Plan President Roosevelt addressed the Soil Conservation Plan in By 1941 the drought was over and the plan stated working. All of the following ideas were put in place to help the soil in the areas. However, all of the ideas were going to take time to work efficiently. Crop Rotation “The Shelter Belt” – Shrubs were placed to block the wind Some land would go unplowed for some time

Works Cited All pictures have a hyperlink from the website there were chosen from All information was provided by the Discovery video in the Soft Chalk lesson. Except, for the date of “Black Sunday: which has a hyperlink leading to the website used for that information.