Dust Bowl Research Paper

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The Great Depression in the United States began with the stock market crash in 1929. The crash affected everyone, putting many out of jobs and scaring many others. Fearing the loss of their wealth, people took their money out of the banks. Eventually the banks were forced, to close, eliminating yet more jobs. The economic situation continued to decline until President Franklin Delano Roosevelt took office in the spring of 1933. Immediately, Roosevelt began to address the problems and reassure the nation saying his famous words, ‘“the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”’ Although unemployment rates were high for nearly a decade, the economy began to recover, despite the recession in 1937. The economy, however, did not fully recover until…show more content…
Between the 1910s and the 1920s, settlers populated central and western United States, applying the agricultural methods they had previously used. They purchased large plots of land and used high quality farm machinery to handle the area. Farmers began to plant more wheat than other crops. As a result of extensive planting, the farmers uprooted the protective buffalo grass. The grass roots held moisture and kept the soil from being destroyed by wind, without them the soil was subject to erosion. All the wheat was swept away by the wind and the fields were left unable to provide crops. What followed, beginning in 1931, was a severe drought that immediately led to the Dust…show more content…
During the most serious storms, both car and railroad traffic ceased, and people were employed to clear the railroad areas of dust. Travelling during storms was very dangerous because dim light and dust blowing everywhere made it difficult to see. People covered windows with wet sheets, used adhesive materials like putty or tape to seal them, and stuffed rags under doors to purify the air and protect themselves from inhaling too much dust. Eating dust was unavoidable because most all kitchenware was covered in dust. When it was necessary to go outside, citizens donned masks to protect themselves. Dust proved catastrophic to the area and families, leaving the region dead agriculturally, and causing many people to suffer from “dust pneumonia”, which was fatal in some

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