Zajac/English 11

Outline

I. Introduction
- Imagine being in the Midwest and then seeing a giant dust cloud.
- General info about Dust Bowl
- Because the Midwest became a failing region, many dreams were crushed.

II. Body
A. When the Midwest was a thriving community, people as far as New York
came in hope of a better life, but soon turned downhill.
- 1. Land produced abundant crops (Dust 1)
- 2. Soon nothing would grow (1)
- 3. “Black Blizzards” started to appear. (1)
- 4. not using farming methods to prevent erosion. (wiki 1)
- 5. Deep plowing killed natural grasses (1)
- 6. Sod was destroyed (Southern Plains 18)
- 7. Soil eventually turned to dust (wiki 1)
- 8. Many did try to hang on (Depression 9)

B. Dust Bowl had a huge impact on American society and pushed many to a
breaking point
- 1. Many people fled to California, they were called “Okies” (California 22)
- 2. Those who stayed learned to live with droughts, cold and heat. (23)
- 3. Those who fled found little opportunity. (24)
- 4. Many had to wait a year to apply for citizenship (24)
- 5. Agricultural laborers (24)
- 6. Little Oklahomas (25)
- 7. No ones situation was better than others (Depression 11)

C. The United States government made many attempts to help those in dire need
and to restore the land.
- 1. Affected 100,000,000 acres (wiki 1)
- 2. Drought Cattle Purchase Program (Depression 14)
- 3. Price of cows (Diary 3)
- 4. Emergency Relief Approbation Act (About 45)
- 5. Reduction in soil blowing (47)
- 6. Overall view (Depression 15)
- 7. Abandoning farms (16)

D. The dust made simple tasks hard and even claimed lives.
- 1. Respiratory infections (Southern Plains 21)
- 2. Death Rate (21)
- 3. Attempts to stop dirt (About 1)
- 4. Newspaper reports (Diary 16)
- 5. Dust everywhere (20)
- 6. Economic devastation (Southern Plaines 27)
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E. There were many signs that the Dust Bowl was coming, but it was over
shadowed by the profits.
- 1. Weather Stations (Southern Plains 32)
- 2. Large Storm (32)
- 3. Length of Dust Bowl (wiki 1)
- 4. Slow increase in blowing dirt (Diary 18)

III. Conclusion
- The effects of the Dust Bowl will always be remembered throughout history.
- If settlers just realized what was slowly occuring, the Dust Bowl could have
been prevented.
- With government aid, the once barren land finally returned to grassland. The
dust finally settled back to the earth and ceased blowing.