Causes Of The Great Depression In The 1930's

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Nature against humankind One of the most tragic aspects of Depression in 1920s was the weather working against people. Floats and wind storms battered the North area and the eastern section of the country. In the 1930s most of major rivers rose over their banks and floated the streets and towns in the East. In 1937 the Ohio River flood was one of the worst in the history. All in all, it destroyed the homes of half million people. Floats and windstorms in 1930s took life of 3678 people in the eastern part of the USA alone. The weather was a major problem in the North and the East. Throughout the entire USA, the summers were unusually hot and the winters unusually cold. In the summer of 1936, the temperature in Kansas rose up to…show more content…
That is 40 million hectares destroyed. Another 100 million acres were annihilated – so much land was doomed by this misuse. Severe draught came over The Plains Area and no rain started coming. The amount of precipitation fell drastically. The Dust Bowl of the 1930s lasted about a decade and spread from 100 counties to 756 counties, from 10 states to 19 states. The Great Plains suffered the same like Ireland in the 1800s with The Great Famine. People suffered from starvation. Along with draught and heat, the dust storms what we call “Black Blizzards” came. In November 1933 in South Dakota, the first appeared. The top soil was totally removed, the farm soil blew away. By noon the sky was blacker than night. When the sun appeared, the farm fields had been replaced by sand. The sand was everywhere, even great hills disappeared under dunes of sand. The dust clouds were even 9 kms…show more content…
The farms were changed into deserts. Houses were shut tight, cloth was wedged in the cracks of the doors and windows but still the fine silt forced its way into houses. The sand penetrated and lied on the floors. The third storm reached Oklahoma. For three weeks they had to keep street lights during the day. Inhabitants of Oklahoma had to wear dust masks, the temperature stayed on 42,2°C. Because of this devilish combination many farmers were ruined, especially small farmers. The Dust Bowl meant the beginning of migration. 60% of population left this area, in Texas the population dropped from 40000 to 1000 people. Oklahoma farmers – “Okies” were forced to abandon their farms. This misfortune and hardship was described by John Steinbeck in his novel “The Grapes of Wrath”, where he portrayed the misery of those people. Many “Okies” moved to California, which was at this time “The Promised Land”. They hoped for better life and work, but what they actually found, was more drudgery, misery, hardship and incredible poverty. It is important to point out that many Americans suffered, not just “Okies”. It was an economic hardship that strived the country. The years of natural and economic disaster throughout the country
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