Dust Bowl Migration

Submitted By waynefindley
Words: 1117
Pages: 5
Open Document
Dust Bowl Migration Wayne Findley HIS/145 August 13, 2013 Allan Fifield Dust Bowl Migration Even though farmers need to keep up their production with the population, farmers need to take measures to protect farm soil. If the farm soil is not protected humanity will have another dust bowl. For farmers to make more profit back in the 1920s, the use of mechanical devices, such as plows and other farming equipment were used by people to farm more in the Heartland of the United States. Farmers were over producing and coupled with the Great Depression the market prices were plummeting. People could not afford to buy the produce, therefore farmers could not make back the money that was put into farming. To make up for this loss farmers were expanding their fields to sell more to make up the loss. Top-soil started blow away in the winds, leaving their fields baron and un-farmable. The rains stopped and the dust storms began. This started to drive millions of people west to California. California was not welcoming to these newcomers (Bidwell, 2008). The newcomers consisted of a variety of people from the mid-west. The people who were hurt the most from the droughts and windstorms were people from the Oklahoma panhandle, western Kansas, eastern Colorado, northern Texas, and northeast New Mexico. Even though Oklahoman’s only made up a small percentage of the people who were migrating to California, welcoming residents labeled migrants as “Oakies.” There were so many people migrating to California, the state decided to close the borders down and try to slow the wave of people. A few migrants had some money and were allowed to pass yet most were turned away be the not so welcoming state. The California Legislature had passed a law to punish anyone who was helping any Okie migrate. This law was later found unconstitutional but people were still subjective to it. There was approximately 2.9 million migrants that entered California. There were so many that they had to start making camps to live in (Ed. Richard, 2013). The State of California was being overwhelmed with migrants. The residents of California were meeting the migrants with roadblocks and hostility. There were signs posted by the residents along the highways into the state that warned migrants to turn around that there was no work for them. The migrants were not used to be being treated in this manner by other people. Many of them came from middle to upper class homes and are very hardworking people. These hardworking people were used to possessing money and not accompanied to the belittling that was in store for them. Most were farmers that lost their houses and farms because of the dust bowl, so there was nothing left to do but move. There were many jobs in California but not near enough to sustain the millions of migrants. California residents were growing very angry with the flood of migrants because they believed their jobs were being taken from them by the migrants. The State also suffered because of the increase in welfare that was being given by the State to the migrants. The story was similar for most migrants, they entered California with little or no money. The migrants made their way through southern, central, and northern California, only stopping if they ran out of money or could find work. Once the migrants got settled, as best they could and could sustain themselves by getting jobs in shipyards and factories during the war. Some also joined the military and left for war, which was better than starving to death (Jones, 1989). Some migrants could assimilate into California but not all. Dealing with the prejudicial treatment and hostile environment of California at the time was tough. Those who were lucky, could find steady work and started saving their money,
Show More

Related Documents: Dust Bowl Migration

Dust Bowl Dbq

The dust bowl was the hardest to overcome. There are still two massive event’s still going today on the challenge with poverty and north Korea and there was the dust bowl the hardest to overcome was the dust bowl. The dust bowl was an event in the 1930s to 1940s. The dust bowl lasted 12 years. Furthermore there was no way to exaggerate the massacre that was the dust bowl. Also it was so big that it could block the sun. Along with the massacre that the dust bowl is it made you feel like it would run…

Words 378 - Pages 2

Dust Bowl Dbq

First things first, the Dust Bowl was a huge disaster in the Midwest in the 1930s. Big dust storms wrecked farms, and people had to leave because they couldn't grow anything. Lots of families moved, and California was one of the places they went. Now, did the Dust Bowl not affect California? Well, here's the deal. When all these people moved to California, things changed. The population grew fast, and that meant there was more demand for jobs and resources. Farms in California had to adapt to this…

Words 248 - Pages 1

The Dust Bowl

John Steinbeck uses the setting of the Dust Bowl in the novel The Grapes of Wrath to show the major effects the awful conditions have on both individuals and families. He is able to describe how inhumane men can act to one another but counter that with the inability of some to lose hope and break up a family. The Joads refuse to give up and break apart in the journey to the west. Other such as Joe Davis’ son succumb to the bank and betray their own in order to survive. Joe Davis’ boy’s change…

Words 1071 - Pages 5

Dust Bowl Drought

sections of Kansas, Colorado, and New Mexico were greatly affected by this ("Dust Bowl."). In 1931 the rain stopped and the “Black Blizzards” known as the dust storms began. The dust bowl was caused by little rainfall, light soil, and extremely high winds. There was not enough water to keep the dirt wet and free from blowing away. Since there was no anchor to catch the root the wind would take the topsoil and create giant dust blizzards ("American Experience: TV's Most-watched History Series."). “ Three…

Words 181 - Pages 1

Dust Bowl Dbq

Miller Farmers in the dust bowl had a very hard time. All of their crops and livestock were ruined because of the drought. They couldn't sell any livestock for money. They didn't have any work to provide for their families because they had no crops or livestock to sell. All of their farming land was covered with dust that made it hard to grow anything. To begin, farmers in the dust bowl had no work and it all was a horrible experience for them. In fact, the brought dust that covered up the farmland…

Words 403 - Pages 2

Life In The Dust Bowl

The Dust bowl was tragic for farmers. It caused many or all the crops, that the farmers had planted, to die. This left the farmers in terrible positions. Many farmers relied on their crops not only as a good source of food but also for a good source of money; income. In the picture, there is an abandoned farm that is in a barren area, almost like a desert. Signs of the abandonment are shown in the windows. One of the windows is blockaded with wood, and another window is showing signs of age due to…

Words 514 - Pages 3

Dust Bowl Dbq

may ask is where,when,and what was the dust bowl? How did it happen and who was responsable and its a good thing I have a few answers to those questions. The dust bowl was a drought with dust storms that covered many deserts and it all took place in 1931. It caused many people to lose everything they had and it was a messy situation with deadly weather and homes,farmland,cars and other transportation destroyed and covered in sand. The impacts from the dust bowl were property damage,loss of homes decrease…

Words 185 - Pages 1

Dust Bowl Effects

have choosen the Dust Bowl as my topic.Due to this, I will be talking about the cause and effect of the Dust Bowl; after the Dust bowl, and the effect it had on the Agriculture of that area. Now, the Dust bowl was a massive Drought that occured throughout the 1930s. This drought effected most of the Great Plains, or what we call Tornado Alley today. Some sources say that the Dust Bowl also effected Canada and Mexico; but that is divided among researchers. However, the Dust Bowl happened in between…

Words 677 - Pages 3

Essay On The Dust Bowl

The dust bowl was responsible for one of the worst economic disasters in U.S. history. The dust bowl negatively affected people in an economic way. It made the farmers lose their jobs which messed up the agriculture, it made the period of the Great Depression even worse, and it made many people go on Federal Emergency relief. The Dust bowl made the farmers lose their jobs which messed up the economy in an agricultural way.“The massive dust storms forced farmers out of business. They lost both their…

Words 856 - Pages 4

Dust Bowl Essay

Cesar Serpa 6/23/13 Per. 2 Surviving the dust bowl essay Surviving the Dust Bowls is the frightening story about the drought that lasted for almost a decade and its impact on the life of the thousands of the people who were affected by it. Before the 1930s, farmers flocked to the Southern States as they were attracted by the vast tracts of land that were more than suitable for farming. The land was so rich that migration continued to the Southern States. Thinking that the…

Words 524 - Pages 3