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The United States got through multiple challenges throughout history; however, one episode was extremely dark. Indeed, the combination of natural disasters and national economic crises in the 1930s, called the Dust Bowl, disrupted wheat manufacturing, killed the livestock, and resulted in childrens diseases and early deaths (The DBQ Project Document A). This paper aims to discuss that the Dust Bowl was caused by policies to expand wheat production, over-plowed farmlands, and unpredicted droughts.
Farming and wheat production was a significant part of the American economy, and policymakers developed regulations to encourage people to use public lands for it. In 1909, the Homestead Act provided 320 acres to any individual who would use it, and by the 1920s, the prices blew up as Europe needed to recover after World War I (The DBQ Project 3). Although the government strategies were reasonable, the innovations developed by the new farmers to produce more wheat with less time and labor caused the abnormal use of natural sources.
Consequently, the over-plowed farmlands began losing their fertility, enabling farmers to create ways to squeeze more rather than letting nature restore. By the 1930s, tractors became the efficient technology for harvesting a lot more acres per division, and farmers drained lands natural recourses faster (The DBQ Project Document D). These over-plowed farmlands reacted to drought by producing dust storms, and if the process had been more gentle, the consequences would not be severe.
In the 1930s, the Great Depression coincided with the unpredicted droughts that caused the dust storms in wheat-producing states. For instance, in Texas, the precipitation was uncommonly low from 1934 to 1936, and this period is described as the worst of the Dust Bowl (The DBQ Project Document E). The drained farmlands were severely affected by the lack of rain and, combined with human intervention such as over-plowing, caused the dust storms.
The Dust Bowl was a dark historical period because it disrupted peoples lives, farming, and livestock. Over-plowing, excessive use of land sources, and attempts to produce more wheat in a short period were made to achieve prosperity but resulted in a disaster as unpredictable droughts occurred. The Dust Bowl was caused by human and natural factors and is a valuable lesson for farmers nationwide.
Works Cited
Peters, Gerhard and John T. Woolley. Roosevelt, Summary of the Great Plains Drought Area Committees Preliminary Report and Conclusions Submitted during Drought Inspection Trip The American Presidency Project, Web.
The DBQ Project. What Caused The Dust Bowl? 2009. Web.
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