Introduction
The decade from 1930 to 1940 was the hardest time for Americans. The economic prosperity that started after World War I led to overproduction though the purchasing power did not increase. The excess of the supply over the demand caused the bankruptcy of factories, private companies, and the collapse of the Federal Reserve System. Also, terrifying consequences were brought by the natural disaster called the Dust Bowl. Farmlands were destroyed; people lost their houses and were left under the open sky without any means of livelihood. During the 1930s, one tragedy followed the other. But Americans did not lose hope and were optimistic. Only due to their selfless work and perseverance America has recovered so fast.
The Dust Bowl
I was born in 1905 in Johnston city, Texas, in the farmer’s family in the fourth generation. In the 1920s, a Farm Depression took place and negatively affected many households including mine. “Many farmers had added fixed costs while expanding production. After the war, they felt trapped: their fixed costs remained, but there was no longer a market for their expanded production” (Greenberg et al. 18). Over the next ten years, my father was working hard to pay back the loans and the land mortgage but another disaster happened.
Staying on the Farm during Dust Storms
The extended drought of 1930 seared the grass and plants which served as an anchor holding the topsoil. The land used by four generations was completely drained and needed profound erosion control. But the lack of money became the reason for the inability of its implementation. The constant movement of the sand and the topsoil caused the dust storms generation. Initially harmless, soon they turned to the environmental cataclysm called the Dust Bowl. The static electricity formed between the earth and the dust worked as a magnet pulling the dust and creating a strong magnetic attraction which has been causing powerful winds. “Strong winds blew away an average of 480 tons of topsoil per acre, degrading soil productivity, harming health, and damaging air quality” (Hansen and Libecap 666). Because of zero visibility and cyclones, people were tying themselves with the ropes before going outside. The dust was everywhere: on the table, in lockers, and inside dishes. “One storm in April lasted twenty-four hours” (Duncan 49). All neighborhood farms were in a distressful situation, they lost their crop and cattle. These squalls caused calamity and devastation of the farmlands for hundreds of miles away. Later, territories affected by storms got their names, Dust Bowls.
Our family remained in place although the majority of farmers left for California. We could not leave our homestead because we did not have money for resettling. Since leaving was not an option we made the decision to fight. “Now the dust storms were more frequent: instead of the fourteen storms of 1932 classified as the worst, there were thirty-eight in 1933” (Duncan 49). The crop was totally destroyed and we were half-starving. But soon we got a glimmer of hope.
Roosevelt’s Agricultural Reforms
In 1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt became the president of America and held essential reforms in the agricultural sector along with others. For many people, Roosevelt became a national hero, and his New Deal program seemed like a magic panacea. Unluckily, even the president could not bring the rain. Due to his employment reforms, some farmers could get steady work in big cities and earn some money. The ones, who were not so lucky to be employed, were served with the food. Many people were ashamed to take handouts but they did not have another choice. Roosevelt found a way to recover the land by providing Soil Conservation Services (Heinrichs, Rogers and Kesselring 37). As a holding technique of moisture and topsoil, farmers were highly encouraged to grow trees and grass in their fields. Unfortunately, these measures brought results only from the long-term perspective. By 1936, the majority of families lost their farms and so did we.
“Hoovervilles”
The Great Depression hit the banking system and lenders had no other choice except to foreclose on our farm. My father applied for a loan, but few banks which survived were too concerned with the deteriorating economic situation and rejected his application. Furthermore, we could not provide any mortgage as we already lost our devastated farm. Many people who had bank deposits failed to withdraw them as they were uninsured. We have lost our house and joined the migrants headed to the West. Our family appeared to be in the same situation as 25 percent of people who have lost their jobs and houses.
Leaving to the West
The shantytowns arose in various districts along America giving refuge to the homeless and jobless people. They were called “Hoovervilles” after President Herbert Hoover who was blamed for the economic activity cutback. Seattle’s shantytown was one of the biggest. There were no equal shanties as they were built independently by every family with the available materials. Nevertheless, few masons’ huts were constructed with bricks and stones. Most shanties were made from paperboard, glass, and used boxes.
When we arrived at the West, my father got the seasonal work but our condition was worse than before. An obvious hostility of the local population made our life complicated. The Great Depression that became the reason for the high unemployment level provoked unprecedented competition in the labor market. Sometimes, up to a thousand people were pretending to the one position. “Both events [the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression] revealed fundamental weaknesses in the traditional culture of America, the one in ecological terms, the other in economic” (Worster 5).
The End of Dust Storms
For six years we lived on the West, moving from one place to another, following job opportunities. However, in 1939 we decided to return to Texas, as we heard that “the long dry spell ended in the autumn of 1939. Rain drenched the plants for two days and nights. Rainfall returned to normal, and farmers enjoyed “heavenly rains” in the early 1940s” (Heinrichs, Rogers and Kesselring 39). Due to Roosevelt’s effective reforms, my family could get a piece of land and we started farming again.
In 1941, America declared war after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Thus, factories began working at full capacity, production surplus was fully paid off by the military needs and the long-awaited economic growth began.
Lessons for Future
The Dust Bowl appeared to be the worst environmental cataclysm of the 1930s. Roosevelt’s New Deal provided ranchers with crucial information on how to increase soil fertility and avoid dust storms in the future. Unfortunately, the voracious appetite of the military needs to be drained the soil again. Farmers were growing the plants and could not perform the soil conservation services. In the 1970s, dust storms repeated again, though not so destructive, they showed the necessity of erosion control once developed.
Works Cited
Duncan, Dayton. The Dust Bowl: An Illustrated History. San Francisco: Chronicle Books LLC, 2012. Print.
Greenberg, Brian, et al. Social History of the United States. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO, 2009. Print.
Hansen, Zeynep, and Gary Libecap. “Small Farms, Externalities, and the Dust Bowl of the 1930s.” Journal of Political Economy 112.3 (2004): 665-694. Print.
Heinrichs, Ann, Alan Rogers, and Susan Kesselring. The Dust Bowl. Minneapolis: Compass Point Books, 2005. Print.
Worster, Donald. Dust Bowl: The Southern Plains in the 1930s. 25th Anniversary ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004. Print.