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The beginning of the end!
Severe drought hit the midwest & southern plans. Crops began to die- leading to the "Black Blizzards" Oh No! Dust blew all over because of over-plowed & grazed lands. -
Period: to
Dust Bowl
It was a very sad time:( People choked to death on dust! -
Golllllly!
In 1932 a total of 14 dust storms had been reported! -
EBA
Roosevelt is elected into office... Shortly after the Emergency Banking Act (EBA) comes about(: The EBA is a stabilized banking industry & it restored the people's faith in the banking system. The Federal Government was out behind the EBA. -
EFM & FCA
In May the Emergency Farm Mortgage Act is brought up. $200 million was used to refinance mortgages and help farmers face foreclosure.
The Farm Credit Act established local banks and set up local credit associations. -
Oink Oink(:
In September 6 million baby pigs were slaughtered to stabilize prices of meat. Eww. Federal Surplus Relief Corp- Meat went to waste- diverted agricultural commodities to relief organizations... -
CAWIU
More than 18,000 cotton workers with the Cannery and Agricultural Workers Industrial Union (CAWIU) went on strike for 24 days. During the strike, 2 men and a woman were killed and hundreds injured. The union was recognized by growers, and workers were given a 25 percent raise. -
Great Dust Storms!
Great dust storms spread from the Dust Bowl area. The drought was the worst ever in U.S. history. It covered over 75 percent of the country and affecting 27 states severely. -
Frazier-Lemke Farm Bankruptcy Act & Taylor Grazing Act
The Frazier-Lemke Farm Bankruptcy Act is approved. This act restricted the ability of banks to dispossess farmers in times of distress. Originally effective until 1938, the act was renewed four times until 1947, when it expired.
Roosevelt signs the Taylor Grazing Act, which allows him to take up to 140 million acres of federally-owned land out of the public domain and establish grazing districts that will be carefully monitored. -
Yearbook of Agriculture
The "Yearbook of Agriculture" announced, "Approximately 35 million acres of formerly cultivated land have essentially been destroyed for crop production. 100 million acres now in crops have lost all or most of the topsoil. 125 million acres of land now in crops are rapidly losing topsoil." -
DRS
The federal government forms a Drought Relief Service to coordinate relief activities. The DRS bought cattle in counties that were designated emergency areas, for $14 to $20 a head. -
ERA Approved
FDR approves the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act, which provides $525 million for drought relief, and authorizes creation of the Works Progress Administration, which would employ 8.5 million people. -
Black Sunday
Black Sunday- The worst "black blizzard" of the Dust Bowl occurs, causing extensive damage. -
SCS
Congress declares soil erosion a national menace in an act establishing the Soil Conservation Service in the Department of Agriculture. Hugh H. Bennett, the SCS developed conservation programs that retained topsoil and prevented irreparable damage to the land. Farming techniques such as strip cropping, terracing, crop rotation, contour plowing, and cover crops were advocated. -
Resettlement Administration
At a meeting in Pueblo, Colorado, 850,000,000 tons of topsoil was assumed to be blown off the Southern Plains during the course of the year. If the drought continued, the total area affected would increase from 4,350,000 acres to 5,350,000 acres in the spring of 1936. C.H. Wilson of the Resettlement Administration proposes buying up 2,250,000 acres and retiring it from cultivation. -
LA gets sued
Los Angeles Police Chief James E. Davis sends 125 policemen to patrol the borders of Arizona and Oregon to keep undesirables out. As a result, the American Civil Liberties Union sues the city -
SCS Law
The SCS publishes a soil conservation district law, which, if passed by the states, allows farmers to set up their own districts to enforce soil conservation practices for five-year periods. -
Shelterbelt Project
Roosevelt addresses the nation in his second inaugural address. FDR's Shelterbelt Project begins. The project called for large-scale planting of trees across the Great Plains, stretching in a 100-mile wide zone from Canada to northern Texas, to protectthe land from erosion. Native trees were planted along fence rows separating properties, and farmers were paid to plant and cultivate them. The project was estimated to cost 75 million dollars over a period of 12 years. -
Re-plowing
The extensive work re-plowing the land into furrows, planting trees in shelterbelts, and other conservation methods has resulted in a 65 percent reduction in the amount of soil blowing. -
Happi]y Ending!(:
In the fall, the rain comes, finally bringing an end to the drought. During the next few years, with the coming of World War II, the country is pulled out of the Depression and the plains once again become golden with wheat.