StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

California geograph and history:Dust Bowl Myth and Fact - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
The economy had taken a downturn for the worst and the weather conditions were abysmal. It was at this time that many believe that a mass exodus, an “Okie” migration happened. In an effort to truly…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER98.1% of users find it useful
California geograph and history:Dust Bowl Myth and Fact
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "California geograph and history:Dust Bowl Myth and Fact"

Dust Bowl Myth and Fact The 1930’s were a particularly difficult time in America and for Americans. The economy had taken a downturn for the worst and the weather conditions were abysmal. It was at this time that many believe that a mass exodus, an “Okie” migration happened. In an effort to truly comprehend the true meaning of Okie, it is required that we understand who they really were. It is believed that there were two main types of migrants during the 20th century. During the period from1910 to 1920, the population of the migrants were economically well off, but were looking for better opportunities.

The “California Hype” was extremely appealing to these migrants. However, during the period of 1930s, these Okies were quite poor and desperate. Contrary to popular belief, it wasn’t the California hype, but the desperately poor condition of the Okies that made the decision for them to migrate. Even though the two groups of Okies, separated by time had different motivations to migrate, they were similar in a number of ways. They were young on an average, most of them (about 95%) were white and the rest black.

There is a lot of speculation and rumours regarding the Dust Bowl exodus in immigration. Often people have confused this weather event as drought. The dust bowl is the events that happened between the period of 1933 to 1935 covering a small area where Oklahoma, Texas, Colorado and Kansas meet. In Grapes of Wrath, it is shown that approximately 250,000 to 300,000 people were forced to leave. It is an inaccurate representation. In reality the exodus involved only 16000 people. It was generally believed that the Okie population migrated mainly due to the California affect; this is not true, as they migrated mainly due to desperate conditions and poor quality of life.

In a contrast to the families displayed in the Grapes of Wrath, the families that took Route 66 had about 4.4 members per household on an average. The road trip through California is described as extremely hard and full of difficulties. As a reader and viewer, one must question why these people took this route consistently if it was indeed so difficult and why no one bothered to look for alternate routes. California is often shown to be the land of dreams, a place where there are plentiful jobs and equal opportunities.

The truth was far from that. It was recorded that there were 6 men being unemployed for every job opening in California. Moreover, during the 1930s, California was in the middle of huge political chaos caused by the Great Depression. However, the struggles of the Okies were not that long. Two years later, post World War 2, the Okies returned to the plains, with plentiful rain and harvest lands. Unemployment became obsolete and prosperity once again returned to the plains.

Read More
Tags
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“California geograph and history:Dust Bowl Myth and Fact Essay”, n.d.)
Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/geography/1651337-california-geograph-and-historydust-bowl-myth-and-fact
(California Geograph and history:Dust Bowl Myth and Fact Essay)
https://studentshare.org/geography/1651337-california-geograph-and-historydust-bowl-myth-and-fact.
“California Geograph and history:Dust Bowl Myth and Fact Essay”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/geography/1651337-california-geograph-and-historydust-bowl-myth-and-fact.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF California geograph and history:Dust Bowl Myth and Fact

ADHD Facts and Myths

Several scholars and researchers have done detailed studies based on attention problems and related lifestyle changes experienced in individuals and identified it to be a behavioral problem and neurology had little to deal with it.... hellip; ADHD Facts and Myths Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a disorder of psychological development during the early childhood of children with a possibility to progress through the adulthood....
3 Pages (750 words) Research Paper

Native Inhabitants of the Northern California Region

In relating the history of California, the Yahi community is a major feature.... … CALIFORNIA history In relating the history of California, the Yahi community is a major feature.... The story of Ishi is fundamental in the history of California since it gives the roots of the people in that region.... Before the 1848-1855 california Gold Rush this group had a population of about 400.... Before the 1848-1855 california Gold Rush this group had a population of about 400....
7 Pages (1750 words) Essay

California's History of Segregated Education

In fact, the Mexican students were taught in crowded classrooms, while the Anglo students were taught in spacious classrooms.... Your name California's history of Segregated Education At the onset of the twentieth century, California attracted many Mexicans.... hellip; Segregations of the Anglos, and Mexican-America began after the Mexican population had grown, largely, in california.... For instance, Gonzalo Mendez and other Latino parents filed a case (in 1945) to end segregations, in california' public schools....
3 Pages (750 words) Essay

The Dust Bowl by Burns

The dust bowl The dust bowl is the name given by Geiger in 1935 to the area of the Great Plains in the United States of America and the environmental disaster which occurred there in the 1930s ( National Drought Mitigation Center, 2012).... This was when the strong winds lifted the light, loose top soil and swirled it around into dense, choking dust clouds.... In some area the dust was so dense it acted more like snow, forming high drifts, and even completely covering some farm buildings....
4 Pages (1000 words) Research Paper

Austin Farrer Can Myth be Fact

The origin of myth dates to the olden times and it is through explanation that it is learnt that myths are closely associated with reality and it is the analysis of the myth in a broad term Can Myth Be fact” by Austin Farrer Myths are tales that are known to be stories running since generations.... To strengthen this fact, it can be seen that principles exist for the physics of matter.... This physical law of water is not told to us by nature but it is rather through research and knowledge that we understand this fact....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay

The Western State of Oregon

A similar conflict exists in the california-Nevada border, with each group making claims on the limited water resource provided by the Truckee River Basin.... The western state of Oregon, to go along with four Southwestern states of Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico has similar climatic and geographic conditions....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

The Plains and The Dust Bowl Disaster

One of the most remarkable aspects of the dust bowl, and which speaks to the sheer... For most people, it seems apt fare for PBS or The Discovery Channel, but as a phenomenon that ordinary people were forced to… Yet it happened right here in the United States: cattle that starved with stomachs full of dust; people who died of dust pneumonia; plagues of snakes and Tarantulas stirred up by Nature's wrath.... Millions of tons of dust were picked up by the highest winds in the United States, rendering bare survival problematic....
11 Pages (2750 words) Research Paper

Archeology Research Paper

One of the most amazing things about archaeology is that it is an ever-transforming landscape that constantly causes humans to reconsider a majority of the strongly-held notions on the past, as well as the humans who populated it (Morell 3).... Projects such as the Knossos, in… , Tutankhamun's tomb, in Egypt, Machu Picchu, in Peru, Sutton Hoo, in England, The Rosetta Stone, in Egypt, the First Emperor tomb, in China and Akrotiri, in Greece, all managed to change the face of archaeology in a couple of ways (Morell 3)....
9 Pages (2250 words) Essay
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us