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DUST BOWL AND GRAPES OF WRATHDUST BOWL AND GRAPES OF WRATH Mr. Goddard | PLUSH | March 2009Mr. Goddard | PLUSH | March 2009 Slide 2 WHAT YOU ARE STUDYINGWHAT YOU ARE STUDYING California Content Standard 11.6.3 Describe the human toll of the Depression, natural disasters, and unwise agricultural practices and their effect on the depopulation of rural regions and on political movements of the left and right, with particular attention to the Dust Bowl refugees and their social and economic impacts in California. Slide 3 STOCK MARKET CRASH OF 1929 Black Thursday, October 24, 1929 Black Tuesday, October 29, 1929 Slide 4 STRUCTURE OF AMERICAN SOCIETY DISINTEGRATES Factories and mines close Banks are worthless Consumer buying comes to a standstill Brother can you spare a dime? Slide 5 1932 AMERICAN DREAMS ARE SHATTERED 14 million Americans are jobless (almost 1/3 the workforce) Banks foreclose on houses and farms No food, no clothes, no jobs Recycled lifestyle Slide 6 IN THE CITIES - HOOVERVILLE, 1933 A squatter settlement built by Seattle, Washingtons homeless. Slide 7 DUST BOWL REVIEW PART 1DUST BOWL REVIEW PART 1 To Grow more crops, farmers removed grass and trees from huge areas of the Great Plains fro Canada to Mexico. The land was quickly exhausted and because useless for much farming. A drought for several years in the 1930s turned soil to dust. High winds blew dust for hundreds of miles. Slide 8 DROUGHT BEGINS TO PLAGUE THE MIDWEST 1931- Severe drought hits the midwestern and southern plains. As the crops die, the 'black blizzards" begin. Dust from the over-plowed and over-grazed land begins to blow. 1932 The number of dust storms is increasing. Fourteen are reported this year; next year there will be 38. Slide 9 1934 THE DROUGHT WORSENS 1934 May Great dust storms spread from the Dust Bowl area. The drought is the worst ever in U.S. history, covering more than 75 percent of the country and affecting 27 states severely. Slide 10 DUST BOWL (DUST STORMS) OF THE SOUTHERN PLAINS 1934-1935 Slide 11 BLACK SUNDAY APRIL 14, 1935 24 hours of a blinding dust storm Dreaded black- blizzard covers entire disaster area Drought adds further devastation Slide 12 MAP OF EROSION AND DUST ON THE PLAINS The "Yearbook of Agriculture" for 1934 announces, "Approximately 35 million acres of formerly cultivated land have essentially been destroyed for crop production.... 100 million acres now in crops have lost all or most of the topsoil; 125 million acres of land now in crops are rapidly losing topsoil. Slide 13 THE VICTIMS OF THE DUST BOWL Colorado Kansas Oklahoma New Mexico Texas Devastation of their cropland Respiratory health issues Unsanitary living Rampant crime Debt-ridden families Slide 14 DUST BOWL REVIEW PART 2DUST BOWL REVIEW PART 2 Many Farmers lost farms because of low crop prices and huge debts. Hundreds of THOUSANDs of people packed their belongings and left for California to look for work. Lets look at some pictures. Slide 15 DUST BOWL ORPHANS Mass exodus to California Migrant workers become source of cheap labor Slide 16 TRAVELING FROM SOUTH TEXAS TO THE ARKANSAS DELTA, 1936 Slide 17 Slide 18 Slide 19 Slide 20 Slide 21 Slide 22