Map

Sometimes charts, maps, and statistics can improve your understanding of events like the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression. Examine the map and answer the questions that follow.

Image of a map of the United States; labeled are the following states and their capitals: Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Colorado. The area where the Dust Bowl occurred is shaded and it touches parts of the labeled states.

Source: The Dust Bowl, University of Illinois at Urbana.

  1. What area did the Joads come from if they were called "Okies"?

    Interactive popup. Assistance may be required.

    Check Your Answer

    Oklahoma Close Pop Up


  2. Besides crops, what else would farmers raise or grow in the Dust Bowl region?

    Interactive popup. Assistance may be required.

    Check Your Answer

    Cattle Close Pop Up

  3. Why were these dust storms called “black blizzards”?

    Interactive popup. Assistance may be required.

    Check Your Answer

    The dust storms were so thick and they blew so quickly, they resembled blizzards made of dirt. Close Pop Up

Charts and Statistics

Sometimes, instead of a map, a timeline such as the one below is very helpful in understanding “cause and effect” about events that lasted a long time, such as a war or the Dust Bowl. Examine the timeline below and answer the questions that follow in your notes.

Timeline of the Dust Bowl

YEAR EVENT EFFECT
1931
  • Severe drought hits the Great Plains.
  • “Black Blizzards” begin.
  
1933
  • Farm foreclosures rise.
  • Emergency Farm Mortgage Act allots $200 million for refinancing.
    Agricultural Administration Act - crops and animals are destroyed to stabilize prices while people starve.
  • Workers go on strike in California.

Migration to California begins for farmers to seek work.

People object and relief organizations distribute some excess crops and animals.
1934
  • Drought spreads to cover 75% of country.
  • Banks are limited in foreclosures, but too late.
 More migrant workers go to California.
1935
  • Emergency Relief Appropriation Act provides $525 million for drought relief.
  • April 14 – Black Sunday – worst “black blizzard” of the Dust Bowl occurs, causing extensive damage.
 Congress declares soil erosion a “national menace” and pays farmers to practice “soil conservation farming”.
1936
  • LA Police Chief Davis sends policemen to patrol the borders of Arizona and Oregon to keep out “undesirables.”
 The ACLU sues the city.
1937
  • FDR begins Shelterbelt Program – planting trees from Canada to Texas to protect the land from erosion.
 Erosion rates fall.
1938
  • The drought continue.s
  
1939
  • Fall – rain comes finally.
The drought ends.

Answer the following questions about the timeline.

  1. Why would the government wait so long to do anything about the drought?

    Interactive popup. Assistance may be required.

    Check Your Answer

    your opinion Close Pop Up


  2. What year did the drought finally end?

    Interactive popup. Assistance may be required.

    Check Your Answer

    1939 Close Pop Up


  3. What year did the migration to California begin?

    Interactive popup. Assistance may be required.

    Check Your Answer

    1933 Close Pop Up


  4. What three programs did the federal government do to assist farmers like the Joads? Were they successful or not?

    Interactive popup. Assistance may be required.

    Check Your Answer

    Emergency Farm Mortgage Act, Emergency Relief Appropriation Act, Sunbelt Program. Your opinion. Close Pop Up


  5. When was the worst “black blizzard?”

    Interactive popup. Assistance may be required.

    Check Your Answer

    April 14, 1935 Close Pop Up