The Dust Bowl Ruined American Society During The Great Depression

After the stock market crash of 1929, America went into a period of economic crisis known as the Great Depression. During this time, the political, economic and social institutions of America were disturbed. The young and the old suffered. Adults could not provide basic necessities for their children and themselves because no employer could hire since no one had any money. Even those who were in the high class were suffering. During this economic crisis farmers were also suffering because of the dust bowl. Across America about 600 banks were closing every year, houses were being taken away from people because they could not pay their mortgages, factories started closing because of the increasing percentage of unemployment. The government, many …show more content…
Just when it seemed that the American society could not suffer anymore, a terrible dust storm devoured the Great Plains on April 14th,1935. A dark wall of blowing sand emerged in Oklahoma and Texas. The sun and sky were completely blacked out by the storm. The Dust Bowl was a tragic event that ruined many lives. The Dust storms only took place in the Midwest states like Montana, North Dakota, Wyoming, South Dakota, Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico , and Texas. The dust bowl was created mostly by farmers. Farmers used the Lister Plow or the One-Way Plow to plow the land which destroyed the soil. The Lister Plow made the soil very loose. The loose soil had nowhere to go therefor it dried up and turned into sand. The One-Way Plow made lots of crops. The more crops produced the more nutrient were taken from the soil. Not only were dedicated farmers were affecting the soil, suitcase farmers also affected the soil negatively. Suitcase farmers were urban men who planted their crops during the summer and returned to the city but returned to harvest their crops before winter. This hurt the soil because no one was there to take care of the