Capitalism In The Dust Bowl

1363 Words6 Pages
The Dust Bowl: A Perfect Storm of Drought, Capitalism, and Poor Planning One of the worst man-made ecological disasters in American history is known as the “Dust Bowl.” It was caused by a capitalist economy, commercial farming, poor land use, and atmospheric conditions that literally created a climate for disaster in the country’s Great Plains region. The free market economy of the U.S. has historically placed economic importance and fiscal growth above environmental conservation. During the late 1800s, America’s industrial appetite for consuming raw materials was raging. It took innovative production methods like the factory line and steam-powered machinery to satisfy America’s corporate gluttony. New advances in science and technology, along…show more content…
Under this model, private or corporate businesses can use any means necessary to make a profit, even if the means are detrimental to the environment or the national economy. Nature was used as capital within these bounds of economic ambiguity for commodities in the Great Plains, which ultimately resulted in many dust storms that terrorized millions of people (Worster 20). The laissez-faire capitalist economy of America encouraged farmers to plow massive portions of the Plains in order to maximize profits (Worster 21) During the late nineteenth century, farmers experienced considerable financial losses due to over-production and competition from an emerging global market (Montgomery 87). The ideology behind capitalism focuses on consistently accumulating more wealth by using natural resources in an unsustainable way (Worster 20). The Dust Bowl can be seen as a natural penalty for commercial farming’s disregard of the ecosystem. At the time, agrarian communities of the Midwest were obviously not aware of the repercussions that years of over-production and…show more content…
The region has mostly flat grasslands and rolling hills within the landscape. Vigorous farming practices decimated the Midwest's native grasses that protected the soil from erosion with its ruggedness (Worster 123). In 1880, ranchers were backed by foreign capital and motivated to over-stock there land with cattle at an unsustainable rate, which with the help of a harsh winter in 1886, led to a massive reduction in the area’s buffalo grass (Worster 141). For the last decade of the 19th century, arid conditions troubled the Plains region and a new farming method that promoted drought resistant crops called “Dry Farming” became so popular that the federal government passed the Enlarged Homestead Act in 1909 which granted each settler 320 acres in order to promote the new farming method (Worster 148). Slowly, the prairie and its grasslands were becoming a desert wasteland, and this did not stop the agricultural ambitions of the farmers pushing full steam ahead. A diary entry reflecting the conditions of the Plains written by a young woman living in the Plains named Anne Marie Low states, “The meadows have no grass except in former slough holes, and that has to be raked and stacked as soon as cut or it blows away in these hot winds.” The onset of World War I drove the demand for wheat upwards both in and out of America, causing bushel prices to gain significant value and also
Show More
Related

  • Response To Hardship In The 1920's

    1582 Words  | 7 Pages

    Response to Hardship Within the confines of the city of Chicago, the Depression sparked a sudden shift in focus toward policy-making; this was a communal response to shared hardship endured by many—if not all—residents of Chicago at the time. In the early 1920’s most immigrants and first generation Americans lacked interest in political matters. General disregard for political activity was attributed to the fact that citizens’ immediate needs were addressed at the local level. That is

    Read More

  • Summary: The Grapes Of Wrath

    986 Words  | 4 Pages

    In Steinbeck's book The Grapes of Wrath, self-interest prevents the formation of a utopian society. The book takes place during the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression, where farming families lost their property to capitalists seeking profit. Capitalists are people who use self interest, competition, supply and demand, free markets, etc., to earn money, or capital. Families found themselves without a home or a job, and in order to make a living, they had to migrate west. However, the people who already

    Read More

  • Grapes Of Wrath Research Paper

    1172 Words  | 5 Pages

    The Grapes of Wrath The Grapes of Wrath was written and published during the time of an America still healing from the devastating impact of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. John Steinbeck wrote The Grapes of Wrath to help heal this country. Creating a fictional family, the Joads, Steinbeck allows the nation to follow them on their journey from the drought-plagued state of Oklahoma to California, otherwise known as the Promised Land to the Joads. On their trip, they soon learn that they were

    Read More

  • Oppression In John Steinbeck's The Grapes Of Wrath

    535 Words  | 3 Pages

    John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath illustrates the hardships and oppression suffered by migrant laborers during the Great Depression through Tom Joad and his family. The novel starts with Tom Joad being released from a prison and returning to his hometown. He is on his way to his family and home – the place where his farm awaits. On his way to the farm, Tom encounters Jim, a former preacher, and takes him to his house. Yet when the two arrive, his family farm is gone; everyone has been tractored

    Read More

More about Capitalism In The Dust Bowl

Open Document