The arrival of the Dust Bowl migrants forced California to examine its attitude toward farm work, laborers, and newcomers to the state. The Okies changed the composition of California farm labor. They displaced the Mexican workers who had dominated the work force for nearly two decades.
Why did Dust Bowl migrants go to California?
Migrants Were Feared as a Health Threat
Many families left farm fields to move to Los Angeles or the San Francisco Bay area, where they found work in shipyards and aircraft factories that were gearing up to supply the war effort.
Why did so many migrant workers go to California in the 1930s?
Soil conservation practices were not widely employed by farmers during this era, so when a seven-year drought began in 1931, followed by the coming of dust storms in 1932, many of the farms literally dried up and blew away creating what became known as the “Dust Bowl.” Driven by the Great Depression, drought, and dust …
Where did Dust Bowl refugees go?
The press called them Dust Bowl refugees, although actually few came from the area devastated by dust storms. Instead they came from a broad area encompassing four southern plains states: Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, and Missouri. More than half a million left the region in the 1930s, mostly heading for California.
How many people migrated to California Dust Bowl?
The Dust Bowl exodus was the largest migration in American history. By 1940, 2.5 million people had moved out of the Plains states; of those, 200,000 moved to California.
Why did Californians hate Okies?
Because they arrived impoverished and because wages were low, many lived in filth and squalor in tents and shantytowns along the irrigation ditches. Consequently, they were despised as “Okies,” a term of disdain, even hate, pinned on economically degraded farm laborers no matter their state of origin.
What 5 states were affected by the Dust Bowl?
Dust Bowl, section of the Great Plains of the United States that extended over southeastern Colorado, southwestern Kansas, the panhandles of Texas and Oklahoma, and northeastern New Mexico.
What happened socially in the 1930s in California?
California was hit hard by the economic collapse of the 1930s. Businesses failed, workers lost their jobs, and families fell into poverty. … In spite of the general gloom of the decade, Californians continued to build and celebrate their Golden State.
Did the Dust Bowl affect California?
The storms, years of drought, and the Great Depression devastated the lives of residents living in those Dust Bowl states. Three hundred thousand of the stricken people packed up their belongings and drove to California. … The great Dust Bowl migration transformed and reshaped California for years to come.
Why did the farmers go during the Dust Bowl?
The one-two punch of economic depression and bad weather put many farmers out of business. In the early 1930s, thousands of Dust Bowl refugees — mainly from Oklahoma, Texas, Colorado, Kansas, and New Mexico — packed up their families and migrated west, hoping to find work.
Can a Dust Bowl happen again?
More than eight decades later, the summer of 1936 remains the hottest summer on record in the U.S. However, new research finds that the heat waves that powered the Dust Bowl are now 2.5 times more likely to happen again in our modern climate due to another type of manmade crisis — climate change.
What 3 things caused the Dust Bowl?
What circumstances conspired to cause the Dust Bowl? Economic depression coupled with extended drought, unusually high temperatures, poor agricultural practices and the resulting wind erosion all contributed to making the Dust Bowl. The seeds of the Dust Bowl may have been sowed during the early 1920s.
What stopped the Dust Bowl?
While the dust was greatly reduced thanks to ramped up conservation efforts and sustainable farming practices, the drought was still in full effect in April of 1939. … In the fall of 1939, rain finally returned in significant amounts to many areas of the Great Plains, signaling the end of the Dust Bowl.
What were the leading causes of the Dust Bowl?
What circumstances conspired to cause the Dust Bowl? Economic depression coupled with extended drought, unusually high temperatures, poor agricultural practices and the resulting wind erosion all contributed to making the Dust Bowl. The seeds of the Dust Bowl may have been sowed during the early 1920s.