Madison Sayre
THE DUST BOWL
1934-1941
Histor y Major
College of Ar ts
and Sciences
OUTLINE OF DISCUSSION
Introduction of the Dust Bowl
 Description
 Two Major Causes
The Effect of the Dust Bowl
 Short Term Effects
 Large Term Effects
A Historical Analysis of the Dust Bowl
A Drought that occurred
between the years of
1934 and 1941,
accompanied by dust
storms
WHAT
WAS
THE
DUST
BOWL?
DUSTERS
“A windstorm kicked up dust…the
weather bureau people didn’t know
what to make of it or how to define it.
Wasn’t a sandstorm…And it wasn’t a
hailstorm, though it certainly brought
with it a dark, threatening sky…it rolled
like a mobile hill of crud, and it was
black. When it tumbled through, it
carried static electricity, enough to short
out a car. And it hurt, like a swipe of
coarse sandpaper on the face. The first
black duster was a curiosity.”
Largest Duster
200 miles wide
Moved North to South
The Temperature in Denver
dropped 25°F within an hour
Utter Darkness
Couldn’t use lamps
No shelter
People believed it was the
end of the world
BLACK
SUNDAY
April 14,
1935
MAJOR CAUSES OF THE DUST BOWL
FA C T O R # 1 : W E AT H E R
 National Drought
 Covered 2/3 of the country
 Two of the driest years on
record- 1934 and 1936
 NASA’s Model
 Lower than normal Pacific
Ocean temperatures
 Higher than normal Atlantic
Ocean Temperatures
 Weakened Jet Stream travelled
farther South than normal
MAJOR CAUSES OF THE DUST BOWL
FA C T O R # 2 : H U M A N S
 Farming Practices
 Stripped Land of all nutrients
 Continued to till over and over
 Exhausted the former grass
lands
 The Shear Number of
Farmers
 The “Bread Basket” acted as a
safety valve
Dust
Pneumonia
SHORT
TERM
EFFECTS
SHORT TERM EFFECTS
 Poverty
 Failed Crops
 Dying Livestock
 Depression
LONG TERM EFFECTS
More Dust Pneumonia
Inability to plant
 Ghost Towns
 Environmental Realization
 Hugh Bennett- head of the Soil Erosion Service
 Saved the land by having the Civilian Conservation
Corporation plant grass
 More conscious farming methods
 No Till Farming still exists in areas today
 Alternating fields
HISTORICAL ANALYSIS
The Individuals in the lower class were most
effected by the dust bowl and saw FDR as their
only beacon of hope, but he couldn’t do it alone
1. “Suitcase Farmers” could bare the first bad crop
2. Franklin Roosevelt’s “Common Man” Speech
• Opportunity brings equality
• An Enlightened Administrator would re-establish
foreign markets and maintain resources
3. The personification of this “Enlightened Administrator”
was so complex, that he needed others
• i.e. Bennett
SUMMARY
The Dust Bowl existed due to:
Extreme Weather Conditions
Human Actions
There were both short and long term
effects of the Dust Bowl
It effected poor people most and FDR
had a great impact
WORKS CITED
 http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/depression/ dustbowl.ht
m
 http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/res/div/ocp/drought/images/
dustbowlfollett.jpg
 http://capita.wustl.edu/namaerosol/Dust%20Bowl%20map_fi
les/dbmapfinal.jpg
 http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/news/topstory/2004/
0319dustbowl.html
 http://www.weather.com/news/dust -bowl20120718?pageno=6
 http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/phot
o-gallery/dustbowl/