A MERICANS F ACE H ARD T IMES 21.2

O BJECTIVES Examine the spread of unemployment in America’s cities. Discuss the impact of the depression on rural America. Explain the human and geographical factors that created the Dust Bowl.

K EY P ARTS Misery and Despair Grip America’s Cities Poverty Devastates Rural America Few Americans Escape Hard Times

I NTRODUCTION Read section 21.2 Answer critical thinking questions 4-5.

M ISERY AND D ESPAIR G RIP A MERICA ’ S C ITIES The Great Depression had a deep and lasting impact on the lives of the people who lived through it. For many Americans their lives would never be the same. The Great Depression affected every single American to some degree.

C ONT. Between 1921 and 1929 the annual average unemployment rates had never risen about 3.7 percent. Once the depression hit the number climbed to 24.9 percent by Even the ones that still had jobs their wages and hours were cut dramatically. Many workers pay cuts were around 30 percent.

C ONT.. Many families had to rely on bread lines for food, people lined up for handouts from charities or public agencies. Hunger began to spread rapidly in the United States. Once people lost their jobs, and went through all of their savings they had to sell furniture, pawned jewelry and moved to cheaper lodging.

C ONT … Many even were evicted and left homeless on the street. Many began to group together in Hoovervilles, makeshift shanty towns of tents and shacks built on public land or vacant lots. One of the largest Hoovervilles was sprang up in the middle of Central Park in New York.

P OVERTY D EVASTATES R URAL A MERICA In cities and towns across the nation Americans faced a terrible plight. The number of unemployed, homeless, and hopeless increased severely. Farmers during this time continued in their downward spiral along with the industries. Also the great plains hit a unbelievable drought to make matters even worse. This drought lasted for years.

C ONT. In 1919 a bushel of wheat sold for $2.16, and in 1932 it only sold for.38 cents. This decrease was consistent with every farm products. Many farmers began to buckle under the severe stress of diminishing returns for their labor. By 1934 nearly one million farmers lost their farms.

C ONT.. Some farmers became tenant farmers on their own land that the banks now owned. Part of the drought had to do with the surface level farming that the farmers practiced during the war. Winds would kick up in the plains and would cause dust storms that would reach 8,000 feet in the air.

C ONT … This time period was known as the dust bowl. The dust storms effected Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, New Mexico, Colorado, Nebraska, South Dakota, and North Dakota. Some people even suffocated during the dust storms because the dust was so thick. Roughly 800,000 people from Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas migrated away from their homes.

F EW A MERICANS E SCAPE H ARD T IMES The Great Depression was intense for families all across America. Many men were victims of severe depression because they were unable to provide for their families, many men starved themselves to death so that they could give every last piece of their food to their wives and children. Birthrates also plummeted during this time, as well as education.