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2/16 The Farm Crisis and Dust Bowl

In the 1920s widespread ownership of automobiles, radios, and other innovations
changed how Americans lived. Although many people benefited from the economic boom
of the 1920s, several groups did not share in the general prosperity, nor did all regions of
the country. Members of minority groups, newly arrived immigrants, and farmers often
struggled economically. During the 1920s, for example, laborers in manufacturing not
only outnumbered farmers but also acquired three times more actual wealth.

Complete the following tasks during class today.

1. Read page 603 and answer the following questions.
a. How much did farmers earn, on average, compared to the income of other
workers?

b. What factors contributed to this “quiet depression?”

2. Read each of the 3 documents and answer the questions that follow each one.
Doc 1

a. What is the correlation between production and prices?

b. What led to increases in production between 1865 and 1900?

Doc 2

a. Why were farmers upset with politicians?

b. What was the primary cause of falling prices?

Doc 3

a. Describe the difficulties faced by farmers on the Plains.

3. View: PBS- Uncovering the Dust Bowl

4. Read pages 635, 638-639 and answer the following questions.

a. What chain of events turned the once-fertile Great Plains into the Dust Bowl?

b. Which states lost population in the 1930s? In which direction did most people
fleeing the Dust Bowl move?

5. Complete Study Guide #2 & 3