the great depression and dust bowl essential questions: –analyze the political, economic, and...
TRANSCRIPT
The Great Depression and Dust Bowl
• Essential Questions:– Analyze the political,
economic, and social impact of the Great Depression on Texas
– Explain how the Dust Bowl affected the political, economic, and social development of Texas
Dorothea Lange’s haunting portrait of a migrant worker
cradling her two young children.
The Great Depression Begins
• Herbert Hoover became President of the U.S. in 1929.
• He had been in office for only 7 months when Wall Street stock market prices fell sharply—culminated on Oct. 29, aka “Black Tuesday”.
Stock Market Crash of 1929 • Many investors, hoping
to make quick fortunes, drove up the price of stock.
• Some investors borrowed money heavily to buy stocks, and when stock prices fell, those investors and the banks that loaned them money were wiped out.
The Great Depression Expands Nationwide
• Factories closed• Widespread unemployment• Low morale• Hoover greatly
underestimated the severity of the crisis and believed that relief efforts should begin at the state and city levels.
• “Hoovervilles” emerge—shanty towns built by homeless people
Too Much Oil• Ross Sterling elected
as governor in 1930 • Wildcatter, Columbus
Marion “Dad” Joiner, drilled an oil well in northern Rusk County.– First well of the East
Texas Oil Field; largest ever at the time
– Provided jobs for farmers and timber workers
Oil Overproduction
• Overproduction caused oil prices to drastically drop.
• 1931 - TRC issued an order for operators to limit production, but they still pump oil anyway
• Governor Sterling declared martial law and sent Texas National Guard to enforce it
• 1935 - oil prices stabilize
Crisis for Cotton Farmers
• 1920s – Price of cotton declines
• 1930s – Stored cotton created large surpluses and drops price even lower
• Texas Dep’t. of Agriculture urged farmers to reduce number of acres planted in cotton.
Wheat Overproduction
• After World War I, when wheat prices were high, farmers tried to earn more money by planting more crops.
• But, during the 1920s, wheat prices dropped drastically from overproduction.
Dust Storms Blanket the High Plains
• Farmers plowed under the grasses of the plains to plant crops, but nothing could hold the soil down from strong winds.
• A severe drought occurred in the 1930s and dust storms made the area into a “Dust Bowl”.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/dustbowl/player/
• Lasted for seven years• Generally covered a five-state area:
Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas
• Motorists often could not see 20 feet down the street
• People became ill from lung diseases• Many families lost their farms because of
the difficult economic times