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Dust Bowl Dbq

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In the 1930s, there was a period of time known as the Dirty Thirties, or in other words the Dust Bowl. This period of time consisted of severe dust storms that significantly damaged the economy and agriculture of the U.S and Canadian prairies. The many causes of this crisis is one that has been discussed and debated for many years. However, the main cause of this entire debacle is indeed due to the horrendous drought that destroyed everything in sight. In addition, the other causes included overproduction and improper farming by farmers, high heat and winds, and lastly the unfortunate plague of grasshoppers.

To initiate, the Dust Bowl began during the 1930s. It took place in an area in the Midwest that was severely affected …show more content…

New mechanized farming techniques led farmers to be able to increase their profits (Document C). With the help of the new technology for farming, farmers produced more crops than ever. However, the overproduction of wheat and the Great Depression is what unfortunately led to the reduced market prices. As a result, the wheat market was swamped, and people were too poor to buy. Furthermore, due to the great loss, farmers were unable to earn back what they produced, so instead they expanded their fields in an effort to turn their unfortunate circumstance into a profit. However, the prairies they covered with wheat caused the grass to slowly disappear and the fields were left bare (Document …show more content…

For instance, high heat and the plague of grasshoppers are two of the last topics that are part of what created this crisis. The unusually hot summers of that period of time were responsible for creating the horrendous heat. The mixture of the heat and the powerful winds that the dust storms created, it all came together to destroy everything that was in its way. On the other hand, the plague of grasshoppers is one of the many causes that were a part of this occurrence. Grasshoppers tend to relish hot, dry weather, and due to the heat waves that were occurring at that time, swarms of hoppers would eat entire fields. Fields of corn and other crops would be destroyed in terms of hours. Overall, the grasshoppers would literally eat anything, which was made things worse and more difficult to solve. Not only did farmers had to find a way to benefit from their crops but they had to deal with these grasshoppers that would eat their hard

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