Effects Of The Dust Bowl On The Southern Plains - 1809 Words

The Dust Bowl lasted for eight years. The Dust Bowl made simple acts of life hard. Breathing, eating, drinking, and going outside were no longer simple tasks. Children had to wear dust masks to prevent from inhaling the dust. Women hung wet sheets up over the windows to try and stop dirt, to no avail. Farmers just watched as their crops were buried or even flew away. They had no choice in the matter. The Dust Bowl occurred in the 1930s and lasted roughly eight years. The main area of impact was the Southern Plains. The Northern Plains were not affected as much. However the north did receive some dust and droughts. The Dust Bowl did not help the Depression either. It actually lengthened it. The effects of the Depression were felt worldwide. `Many farmers settled in the Southern Plains and started to grow their crops their. The were prosperous for decades. The crops grew extremely well, and the farmers prospered. However when the 1930s hit, so did droughts and clouds of dust. They plag ued nearly seventy-five percent of the U.S. America was already suffering the Great Depression, this played a role in the causing but it was not one of the main reasons. An extended and severe drought dried up all the water in the soil. When the soil was all dried up the dirt became weak and dry. This results in dust. Unusually high temperatures also played a role. The high temperatures contributed in the dry soil creating the dust. Poor agricultural practices and then the resulting windShow MoreRelatedThe Dust Bowl Essay1038 Words   |  5 PagesThe Dust Bowl The Dust Bowl was the darkest moment in the twentieth-century life of the southern plains, (pg. 4) as described by Donald Worster in his book The Dust Bowl. It was a time of drought, famine, and poverty that existed in the 1930s. Its cause, as Worster presents in a very thorough manner, was a chain of events that was perpetuated by the basic capitalistic societys need for expansion and consumption. 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The catastrophic effects of the Dust Bowl took place most prominently around the Great Plains, otherwise known as the farming belt, including states such asRead MoreWhat Caused The Dust Bowl? Essay2374 Words   |  10 Pagesthe Dust Bowl? One of America’s most beloved books is John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath. The book portrays a family, the Joads, who leave Oklahoma and move to California in search of a more prosperous life. Steinbeck’s book garnered acclaim both from critics and from the American public. The story struck a chord with the American people because Steinbeck truly captured the angst and heartbreak of those directly impacted by the Dust Bowl disaster. To truly comprehend the havoc the Dust Bowl wreaked