{"id":663,"date":"2021-06-18T17:17:28","date_gmt":"2021-06-18T17:17:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/?page_id=663"},"modified":"2025-02-28T02:32:55","modified_gmt":"2025-02-28T02:32:55","slug":"the-dust-bowl","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/the-dust-bowl\/","title":{"rendered":"The Dust Bowl (c. 1930-1940)"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>What happened?<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Several social factors exacerbated the impact of the drought known as the Dust Bowl in the Great Plains region of the United States during the 1930s:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><b style=\"font-size: 1rem\">Manifest Destiny<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">: Manifest Destiny, a phrase coined in 1845, was the belief that white Americans were called by God to expand the United States and spread democracy and capitalism across North America. This belief drove much of the US territorial expansion during the 19th century and led to a large influx of inexperienced farmers who engaged in poor land management practices to the Great Plains.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div id=\"attachment_664\" style=\"width: 943px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-664\" class=\"size-full wp-image-664\" src=\"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/2021\/06\/Manifest-Destiny.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"933\" height=\"693\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/2021\/06\/Manifest-Destiny.png 933w, https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/2021\/06\/Manifest-Destiny-300x223.png 300w, https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/2021\/06\/Manifest-Destiny-768x570.png 768w, https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/2021\/06\/Manifest-Destiny-624x463.png 624w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 933px) 100vw, 933px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-664\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">American Progress<\/span> (1872) by John Gast. This painting symbolizes the belief of Manifest Destiny. Columbia, the female figure of America, leads Americans into the West. She is carrying the values of republicanism, as shown by her Roman garb, and progress, as shown by technological innovations like the telegraph and trains. In front of her, Indigenous Peoples and animals are forced into the darkness.<\/p><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none\">\n<ul>\n<li><b>The Homestead Act of 1862: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">During the American Civil War, a series of federal acts encouraged people to move west. One such act was the Homestead Act, which provided settlers with 160 acres of public land, most of which was west of the Mississippi River, on the condition that they would improve and farm it. 10% of the area in the United States was claimed and settled under this act, which also contributed to inexperienced farmers flocking to the Great Plains region.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div id=\"attachment_665\" style=\"width: 924px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-665\" class=\"size-full wp-image-665\" src=\"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/2021\/06\/Homestead-Act.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"914\" height=\"674\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/2021\/06\/Homestead-Act.png 914w, https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/2021\/06\/Homestead-Act-300x221.png 300w, https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/2021\/06\/Homestead-Act-768x566.png 768w, https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/2021\/06\/Homestead-Act-624x460.png 624w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 914px) 100vw, 914px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-665\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The homestead certificate of Daniel Freeman, the first American to file a homestead claim for land under the Homestead Act of 1862 (from The National Archives, n.d.).<\/p><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none\">\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cRain Follows the Plow\u201d: Many people believed that establishing farming would bring about a permanent increase in rainfall. An unusually wet period in the Great Plains during the first half of the 19th century helped perpetuate this belief, creating further misunderstanding of the region\u2019s climate and ecology and encouraging more people to take up unsustainable agricultural practices.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Rising prices of wheat from Europe: An increase in the prices of wheat imported from Europe before and during World War I (1914-1918) encouraged farmers to plow up native grasslands and plant wheat in the Great Plains. This was extremely detrimental to the land, as it created a layer of loose topsoil that could be easily eroded.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b><a id=\"greatdepression\"><\/a>The Great Depression: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic crisis that began with the stock market crash in 1929. Wheat prices in the United States plummeted, so farmers in the Great Plains had to plow up more grassland and plant more wheat just to make a profit. This further contributed to the environmental degradation brought on by the Dust Bowl.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div id=\"attachment_666\" style=\"width: 941px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-666\" class=\"size-full wp-image-666\" src=\"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/2021\/06\/Great-Depression.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"931\" height=\"633\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/2021\/06\/Great-Depression.png 931w, https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/2021\/06\/Great-Depression-300x204.png 300w, https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/2021\/06\/Great-Depression-768x522.png 768w, https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/2021\/06\/Great-Depression-624x424.png 624w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 931px) 100vw, 931px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-666\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Two men who became unemployed in the Great Depression walking towards Los Angeles, California in search of work (from Amadeo, 2021).<\/p><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Dust Bowl caused social and economic consequences beyond just the Great Plains:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><b><a id=\"okiemigration\"><\/a>The Okie Migration: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Throughout the 1930s, 2.5 million people fled the Dust Bowl states (map below). Most traveled west, especially to California, looking for work in one of the largest migrations in United States history. The people who migrated, called \u201cOkies\u201d regardless of whether or not they were from Oklahoma, had lost everything, so most were poor. They faced discrimination, menial labor and poor wages in the places they moved to. Without a workforce, the economies of the states they left behind were completely devastated. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/the-grapes-of-wrath\/\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Grapes of Wrath<\/span><\/i><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> (1939) by John Steinbeck tells the story of the Joad family, who flee Oklahoma during the Dust Bowl.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>The New Deal: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The New Deal was a series of economic and social programs and projects enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt between 1933 and 1939 to rescue the United States from the Great Depression. Several such programs included the Soil Erosion Service, which is now known as the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), and the Prairie States Forestry Project, both established in 1935. These projects planted windbreaks, or swaths of trees that protect soil and crops from wind, to restore the grassland destroyed by the Dust Bowl.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>How is this related to climate?<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Dust Bowl was one of the worst droughts and perhaps the worst and most prolonged disaster in United States history. It affected Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and Colorado, known as the Dust Bowl states, as well as parts of other surrounding states (map below), covering a total of 100 million acres.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div id=\"attachment_667\" style=\"width: 1447px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-667\" class=\"size-full wp-image-667\" src=\"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/2021\/06\/Dust-Bowl-Map-1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1437\" height=\"1070\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/2021\/06\/Dust-Bowl-Map-1.png 1437w, https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/2021\/06\/Dust-Bowl-Map-1-300x223.png 300w, https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/2021\/06\/Dust-Bowl-Map-1-1024x762.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/2021\/06\/Dust-Bowl-Map-1-768x572.png 768w, https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/2021\/06\/Dust-Bowl-Map-1-624x465.png 624w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1437px) 100vw, 1437px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-667\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A map of the United States showing the area affected by the Dust Bowl (from Moore, 2020).<\/p><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Great Plains, a flat expanse of land east of the Rocky Mountains, are prone to dust and sand storms during periods of drought because air flows down the side of the mountains and rushes across the plains, creating high winds. The most severe dust storms were called \u201cblack blizzards.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">There were 14 dust storms in 1932 and 38 in 1933. Some carried topsoil from the Great Plains all the way to Washington DC and New York City.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The worst dust storm occurred on April 14, 1935, a day that was nicknamed \u201cBlack Sunday.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">When a dust storm hit, drifts of dirt buried pastures and barnyards, piled up at doors, came through window cracks and sifted down from ceilings. Static charges in the air shorted-out automobiles on the road. Children had to wear dust masks while walking to school. It is estimated that 7,000 people died from \u201cdust pneumonia,\u201d or from inhaling dust in the air.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Great Plains region of the United States has a naturally dry climate. It is categorized as a semi-arid or steppe climate, which is the next driest climate category to deserts, and receives less than 50 cm of rainfall per year. However, the 1930s was an exceptionally dry period. Several reasons for this have been proposed:\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Precipitation in the Great Plains is sensitive to global sea surface temperatures (SSTs), which were highly variable during the 1930s.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The drop in rainfall was triggered by random atmospheric variability between 1932 and 1939.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Regular rainfall returned to the region by the end of 1939, bringing the Dust Bowl to a close. <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>References and additional resources<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cAbout the Homestead Act.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">National Park Service. <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">n.d. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nps.gov\/home\/learn\/historyculture\/abouthomesteadactlaw.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">https:\/\/www.nps.gov\/home\/learn\/historyculture\/abouthomesteadactlaw.htm<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Amadeo, K. \u201cGreat Depression Pictures.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">ThoughtCo. <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">2021. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thoughtco.com\/photos-of-the-great-depression-4061803\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">https:\/\/www.thoughtco.com\/photos-of-the-great-depression-4061803<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">History.com Editors. \u201cDust Bowl.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">History. <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">2009. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.history.com\/topics\/great-depression\/dust-bowl\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">https:\/\/www.history.com\/topics\/great-depression\/dust-bowl<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">History.com Editors. \u201cManifest Destiny.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">History. <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">2010. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.history.com\/topics\/westward-expansion\/manifest-destiny#section_3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">https:\/\/www.history.com\/topics\/westward-expansion\/manifest-destiny#section_3<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cManifest Destiny Painting, 1872.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The American Yawp Reader. <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">n.d. <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.americanyawp.com\/reader\/manifest-destiny-2\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">http:\/\/www.americanyawp.com\/reader\/manifest-destiny-2\/<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Moore, G. \u201cBlack Blizzards.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Friday Footnote. <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">2020. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/footnote.wordpress.ncsu.edu\/2020\/07\/23\/black-blizzards-7-24-2020\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">https:\/\/footnote.wordpress.ncsu.edu\/2020\/07\/23\/black-blizzards-7-24-2020\/<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oblack, R. \u201cThe 1930\u2019s Dust Bowl Drought.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">ThoughtCo. <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">2019. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thoughtco.com\/1930s-dust-bowl-drought-3444382\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">https:\/\/www.thoughtco.com\/1930s-dust-bowl-drought-3444382<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. \u201cDust Bowl.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Encyclopedia Britannica. <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">1998. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/Dust-Bowl\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/Dust-Bowl<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cThe Homestead Act of 1862.\u201d <i style=\"font-size: 1rem\">The National Archives. <\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">n.d. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.archives.gov\/education\/lessons\/homestead-act\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.archives.gov\/education\/lessons\/homestead-act<\/a>.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>How to cite this page<\/h3>\n<p><em>The Dust Bowl (c. 1930-1940)<\/em>. (2023, June 21). Climate in Global Cultures and Histories: Promoting Climate Literacy Across Disciplines. Retrieved Month Date, Year, from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/the-dust-bowl\/\">https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/the-dust-bowl\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What happened? Several social factors exacerbated the impact of the drought known as the Dust Bowl in the Great Plains region of the United States during the 1930s: Manifest Destiny: [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":308,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-663","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Dust Bowl (c. 1930-1940) - Climate in Arts and History<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/the-dust-bowl\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Dust Bowl (c. 1930-1940) - Climate in Arts and History\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What happened? 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This painting symbolizes the belief of Manifest Destiny. Columbia, the female figure of America, leads Americans into the West. She is carrying the values of republicanism, as shown by her Roman garb, and progress, as shown by technological innovations like the telegraph and trains. 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Several social factors exacerbated the impact of the drought known as the Dust Bowl in the Great Plains region of the United States during the 1930s: Manifest Destiny: [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/the-dust-bowl\/","og_site_name":"Climate in Arts and History","article_modified_time":"2025-02-28T02:32:55+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/2021\/06\/Manifest-Destiny.png","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/the-dust-bowl\/","url":"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/the-dust-bowl\/","name":"The Dust Bowl (c. 1930-1940) - Climate in Arts and History","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/the-dust-bowl\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/the-dust-bowl\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/2021\/06\/Manifest-Destiny.png","datePublished":"2021-06-18T17:17:28+00:00","dateModified":"2025-02-28T02:32:55+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/the-dust-bowl\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/the-dust-bowl\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/the-dust-bowl\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/2021\/06\/Manifest-Destiny.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/2021\/06\/Manifest-Destiny.png","width":933,"height":693,"caption":"American Progress (1872) by John Gast. 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