The Dust Bowl as a Result of Economical Fall

The Dust Bowl happened in the 1930s due to a lack of moisture in the air and the ground. It covered 3,000 square miles of territory. Places like the panhandle of Texas, Kansas, Southeastern Colorado, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. It was 400 miles long and 300 wide. It was also during The Great Depression that the dust bowl occurred. The Great Depression was a large worldwide economical fall. The Dust Bowl was a result of this. Farmers trying to redeem their soil by tearing up the ground mixed with the lack of moisture in the air due to lack of rain.

In the 1910s and 20s, the crop demand increased and cause farmers to dig and plow more. But when the Great Depression hit all the stock marketing died down. People went broke and it wasn’t just the United States it was the whole world. This started in 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s.

Farmers believed that, while the wet season was in effect, that plowing would bring the rain. This superstition was no help at all to the need for the crop. The farmers would plow the fields and usually, the water droplets stay in the ground because it isn’t compact and there are air bubbles. But with the technology, such as tractors, would do the opposite. It compacted the soil making it so water could not enter the ground. And it became dry and unfertile earth.

Eventually farmers couldn’t grow crops anymore. They couldn’t provide for their families. Not only that but the wind picked up around this time. The wind would catch the dust and dirt and keep it in the air. This is when it happened. Black Sunday was the beginning of the worst years of some people's lives. Breathing became hard on people as they would inhale the dirt and grime from the earth and it would turn to mud in their lungs.

When the farmers were no longer able to provide for their family they would leave do to the shame they felt. Leaving their son and daughters behind to suffer from only their mothers. And during that period in time, the mothers might die leaving the children to fend for themselves. There were little food and lots of families starved or suffocated.

The winds headed east after not too long causing families to have to move and leave their beloved homes and go west. There had been whispers about gold in the west and families needed it to survive. They were strangers in a new land, refugees if you would say. Most people that experienced the Dust Bowl dead and those who survived, left in hopes to make it to the promised land.

The Dust Bowl was an economical rock that wouldn’t move for 10 years. It caused grief and pain throughout American citizens. It was an accident built on superstitions and could have been avoided. But through that experience came understanding and an appreciation for those around us that we care about. It was a tragedy, yes but it also helped us to move to better places and meet new people.