How did The New Deal relieve some of the problems associated with The Great Depression? Productivity had increased due to modernization of factories and methods of production. Local police in cooperation with industry security forces were willing to use violence or the threat of it to stop organizing, picketing, boycotts and strikes. What specific themes are common in these songs? The problems in the agricultural sector had a large impact since 30% of Americans still lived on farms [7]. Watkins, The Great Depression: America in the 1930s (New York: Little, Brown and Company, 1993) 190 Doris Ullman Collection, University of Oregon Library •Nebraska – in the heart of “Dust Bowl” country – typically averaged 20 inches of rain per year. project that inspired Woody to write so prolifically and passionately? As more dustbowl refugees poured into the state, ditch camps consisting of makeshift shelters constructed of cardboard boxes and crates began to spring up alongside the road. Explore newspaper articles, headlines, images, and other primary sources below.

Investors were willing to take large risks, especially with respect to trying to predict the future; gambling in the hopes of making quick, large gains in the stock market. Exacerbating the economic hardship was the phenomena of the Dust Bowl, the most persistent drought in recorded history. •During the worst of the Dust Bowl days, students were sometimes sent home to prevent “dust pneumonia.” Other times, they were kept at school overnight, because it was too dangerous to walk home in such harsh conditions and low visibility. Without the ability to organize unions, workers were unable to pressure their employers to pay wages commensurate with the increased profits that came with higher productivity [8].

The United States instituted high tariffs on foreign goods to discourage imports. •Poor farming practices contributed to the Dust Bowl of the Great Depression. Because it spanned the 1930s, the Dust Bowl is sometimes called the “Dirty Thirties.” The term “Dust Bowl” may also be used to collectively refer to the states hit hardest by the event: Colorado, Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and New Mexico. The next day, which came to be known as Black Tuesday, a record number of 16.4 million shares changed hands and stocks fell so precipitously that no buyers were available at any price [13]. Poor management in the form of risky, unethical lending practices, and the promotion of speculative enterprises led to a large increase in the number of bank failures [10]. In April of 1931 a storm blew dust to the Pacific Coast. Here are some interesting facts about the Dust Bowl: •In 1932, there were 14 dust storms recorded on the Plains (an area that included the panhandle of Oklahoma and Texas, southwest Kansas, southeastern Colorado, and Nebraska). Starting in 1930, the eastern third of the country experienced a long, dry spell. The heavy demands placed upon the soil depleted it to the point that by 1934 ,125 million acres of land had lost most of the topsoil to erosion [3]. If a new electric substation were to be erected and dedicated to Woody Guthrie today, what should the plaque say? Approximately 460,000 people moved to the Pacific Northwest where many eventually found work constructing the Bonneville and Grand Coulee dams. The land was planted and harvested in an endless cycle of production without allowing the land to lie fallow and replenish itself [2]. The Dust Bowl was to last for nearly a decade [1]. The poor and middle class stopped buying things on credit for fear of losing their jobs and not being able to pay the bills. How do you think the "common" people reacted to Woody's songs? The propaganda of the time painted unions as violent, radical organizations of Bolsheviks and other dangerous foreigners. The stock market rocked the confidence of the rich who stopped spending money on luxury items and investing in the stock market.

Farmers plowed a lot of the new land on the prairie during World War I. The Dust Bowl | Discussion Questions | Activities | Resources. Have students read about the actions of the House Committee on Un-American Activities. The growing gap between wages and productivity can also be linked to the decline of labor unions in the 1920's. Then have students imagine that they are Woody Guthrie and have them write the lyrics to a folksong about the House Committee on Un-American Activities. Dust storm in Texas during Dust Bowl, 1935.

(10) Watkins, 195.

Some dust bowl migrants settled in the large cities of Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Francisco where they eventually melded with the urban population [9]. During WW1 the federal government had subsidized farms and encouraged modernization to increase production.

Surviving the Dust Bowl | Article The Works Progress Administration.
Related Features. The most notorious of these dust storms occurred on April 14, 1935, and is known as “Black Sunday.” Dust storms could kill crops, people, and livestock. Have students read some biograpical information on Woody Guthrie.

At the same time that there was an imbalance in distribution of wealth among people, there was also a great disparity in the industrial realm.
Finish the following: This Electric station is dedicated to Woody Guthrie who . (8) Watkins, 195 The United States loaned increasingly higher sums to European countries, and by the late 1920's these countries were struggling to pay back the loans. The Dust Bowl overlapped with the Great Depression, which made conditions for farmers even harder. Because it spanned the 1930s, the Dust Bowl is sometimes called the “Dirty Thirties.” . Department of Agriculture records indicate that nearly two hundred out of every thousand farmers in the Midwest, Central South and Plains States lost their land to foreclosure between 1930-1935 [6]. The views and opinions expressed in these newspaper articles and clippings are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Newspapers.com or Ancestry.

What did most Americans have in common during The Great Depression? Many traveled to California in hopes of a better life, but most only found poorly paid jobs as migrant farm laborers. Despite some partial recovery during the week and an attempt by a group of bankers to stop the crash, on Monday October 28 the market fell 13%. The Great Depression, the Dust Bowl, and New Deal in Oklahoma What was the Dust Bowl? Anyone left outside in a dust storm would be overcome by breathing in dirt. In 1929 the average annual income for an American family was $750, but for farm families if was only $273. Many people decided to leave the dust storms behind and move west to start a new life. Many people began to buy products such as cars and radios on credit. Prices paid for crops dropped sharply and farmers fell into debt. The Dust Bowl was a period when severe drought and dust storms struck parts of the American Great Plains.

top of page. (4) Watkins, 191 As they experience the hardships of the 1930s, players learn about Americans’ strategies for survival – as individuals, communities, and a nation.

What was it about the B.P.A.

•The New Deal programs initiated during the Great Depression included five major farm laws (AAA, CCC, FSA, SCS, and REA) that were designed to get farmers back on their feet. We are adding new topics all the time. The once fertile grasslands of the Great Plains had been overgrazed by cattle. Hoover, fearing for his political life, called for some limited reforms to relieve farmers facing mortgage foreclosures. Even for those who wanted to stay, economic conditions forced many from their farms. Dust Bowl and the Great Depression . Photographs from Appalachia (1920's - 1934). People began to lose their jobs and consequently defaulted on their loans.

1935-1945, Voices from the Dust Bowl: the Charles L. Todd and Robert Sonkin Migrant Worker Collection, 1940-1941, WPA Life Histories In the later 1920's the stock market rose to very high levels.

Between 1925 and 1929 the total amount of outstanding debt from credit more than doubled [5]. During the 1920's Europe was recovering from the effects of WWI. A study by the Brookings Institute indicates that in 1929 the top 0.1% of Americans had a combined income equal to the bottom 42 % of Americans [1].

Watkins, The Great Depression: America in the 1930s (New York: Little, Brown and Company, 1993) 44. (6) Watkins, 194 In 1929, 200 corporations controlled about half of all corporate wealth [6]. (3) Internet: http://lcweb2loc. From the Library of Congress American Memory Project: Documenting America The areas most affected were the panhandles of Texas and Oklahoma, northeastern New Mexico, southeastern Colorado, and southwestern Kansas. Others worked as migrant agricultural workers or lumberjacks in the ancient forests [10]. Check back often or if you have a suggestion, https://www.newspapers.com/topics/great-depression/dust-bowl/, 'Behind The Headlines of History' podcast, Newspapers.com - Millions of historical newspapers. To make things worse, the Dust Bowl started. The Great Depression, the Dust Bowl, and New Deal in Oklahoma The Great Depression is one of the single most-important events to occur in world history during the twentieth century. However, lower and middle class working Americans did not share the rewards of the "Coolidge Prosperity." Those that did manage to find jobs picking crops lived in squalor in camps with inadequate housing and sanitation [8]. In 1933, there were 38 dust storms. In referring to the song, "Pastures of Plenty" Pete Seeger says that, "It was a complaint, and a protest, but an affirmation too." Write the script and act it out.

By the middle of Hoover's term, however, discontent was rising in the country. They were paid a pittance for hard work in the hot sun. Many of these programs still exist today.